The relevant distinction:
science is about accumulating (edit: and systematizing) knowledge;
engineering is about building things, possibly but not necessarily using the knowledge accumulated by science.
Then the accumlation of knowledge that a YCombinator startup does when it goes out and interviews users of their product is science?
Possibly, I suppose that depends on how one would classify the “butterfly-collecting” aspect of science.
The relevant distinction:
science is about accumulating (edit: and systematizing) knowledge;
engineering is about building things, possibly but not necessarily using the knowledge accumulated by science.
Then the accumlation of knowledge that a YCombinator startup does when it goes out and interviews users of their product is science?
Possibly, I suppose that depends on how one would classify the “butterfly-collecting” aspect of science.