Not everyone was on board with the idea. Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, the same startup incubator where Lessin was farming for prospects, warned founders on an internal forum not to attend.
“You don’t need finishing school. You need to build something great, make your users happy, and have craftsmanship. We’re just here to make stuff. We’re not here to impress anyone by how fancy our shit is,” Tan wrote on X.
“The truly wealthy are wealthy in meaningful relationships and the outcome of actually making something people want, not bullshit appearances or impressing people or running power moves or playing zero sum dominance games,” he added.
Still, the class was free, and so was the wine. A few hundred founders applied for Etiquette Finishing School, and about 50 were accepted. Not everyone showed up.
One founder, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was there to learn to be “less feral.” A meeting with a Japanese conglomerate made him realize he had no idea how to be a “functioning adult in polite society.”