[jforman]

I had assumed they did this already. As much as we hate to admit it, pitching (or "running a process" — see comments below) is critical to the success of a company and therefore a required skill for founders. And YC seems to be an ideal place to build a collective set of best practices.

[akharris]

The program isn't actually just - or even mainly - about the act of pitching. There's an entire process around running a successful fundraise that changes from round to round and company to company.

Pitching is part of that process, and what we've learned is that the A pitch is a different thing altogether from seed pitches. We have a lot of work to do to get great at that, and I'm grateful for the help we're getting from alums who have gone through it before and have been giving us advice.

[jforman]

Indeed, "running a process" is the important skill, which includes the deck, storytelling, etc. I was using "pitching" loosely.

[staticautomatic]

It's not critical to the success of all the companies that don't raise money.

[jforman]

I think everybody is aware that if you never need anybody else's money (as in ever, which includes an IPO), you can write your own rules.

Although YC companies seem by definition to already not be included in that group.