Jason Freedman on X: "Also, YC realized that you could help every single founder be a better fundraiser instantly by having them follow this little process:

1. Stop all fundraising activity/distraction

2. Write code and talk to users for ~3 months

3. Grow in users and revenue quickly

4. Make" / X<br>Post

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Jason Freedman on X: "Also, YC realized that you could help every single founder be a better fundraiser instantly by having them follow this little process:

1. Stop all fundraising activity/distraction

2. Write code and talk to users for ~3 months

3. Grow in users and revenue quickly

4. Make"

span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:content-['·'] [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:px-1 [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:shrink-0 min-w-0 overflow-hidden">Jason Freedman

@jasonfreedman

11h

PG used to personally edit/polish/rewrite every startup’s pitch.

It was called the vertebrae session. About a week before demo day.

He did it for my S09 batch where there was like 28 companies.

I then saw him do it for my W12 batch which was like 100 companies.

It was Show more

span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:content-['·'] [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:px-1 [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:shrink-0 min-w-0 overflow-hidden">Paul Graham

@paulg

14h

Talked to startups at YC for 7 hours straight. I think that's about the limit. I didn't quite saturate demand, but I got within about 20 founders of it.

161<br>64K

Jason Freedman

@jasonfreedman

Also, YC realized that you could help every single founder be a better fundraiser instantly by having them follow this little process:

1. Stop all fundraising activity/distraction

2. Write code and talk to users for ~3 months

3. Grow in users and revenue quickly

4. Make your growth the first or second bullet point in your vertebrae.

That, today, is basically what YC does for every single company.

It's not what people think YC does by the way. For everyone that only sees the pre-demo day social media blitz. They think YC is a hype machine.

But founders who start YC all get the same treatment, starting instantly. Like same day as the interview. The instructions are:

Please focus right now on building your product, launching as soon as possible, and getting users. Let's tackle the hardest part of your startup first. Make sure we learn the hard lesson at the beginning. Go travel to your customer so that you can hear from them directly.

It's ALL just doing the thing. None of it is hype. THAT's the core YC.

The vertebrae at the end which frames the demo day pitch/fundraising pitch is the result of investing in talented builders who just spend 3 months focused only on building and selling.<br>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:content-['·'] [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:px-1 [&>span:not(:empty)~span:not(:empty)]:before:shrink-0">6:53 PM · Aug 12, 2026755Views

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Jason Freedman@jasonfreedmanFollow<br>GP Orange Collective - The YC Unc Fund | YC alum: S09 and W12 | Investor in Starcloud, Corgi, Mastra, Ironclad, Steadily, Browser-use and 100+ more

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