Give credit where it is due. You're an excellent salesman. Working on pitches for Demo Day helps the startups express clearly what they're working on. But, to the ear accustomed to your style, you can literally hear PG talking in other presentations.

That isn't cultish. That is taking good advice. YC is largely about giving good advice and putting people together.

This is nothing like the cultish following your essays and sometimes this community gets.

Remember the drama around the applications on this site last time? People took that way to seriously. And each of your essays spawns dozens of comments equivalent to "zomg, smartest thing evar".

But these two negative facets of this community don't actually make it into the YC program. That means you're choosing well, I suppose.

I firmly believe the #1 reason YC is good is the quality of the other founders and the alumni founders network.

It only makes you uneasy because it's written about you rather than something abstract like your core values, although that would be just as true. I'm sure Sam is equally uncomfortable with your description of him, even if he agrees with your assessment of what qualities you're looking for in a startup founder.

> It makes me uneasy too. Boy, did I cringe reading those bits.

Not meaning any offense, but boy am I glad to hear you say that.

It's funny you should put it that way, because just the other day I was describing YC to someone as a "reverse boot camp".

No one is no one's follower. Someone who thinks they are is a blind follower.

A better approach is for people to realize who's ideas they follow and why.