Slow Ventures holds a “finishing school” to help founders learn how to be imaginative

Slow Ventures hosted a three-hour “etiquette school” this week, covering topics like the perfect handshake, public speaking, and office decorum. There was also a fashion show in which models participated in different looks for different occasions, followed by a final lesson on caviar and wine.

The San Francisco Standard reports A few hundred founders applied for the free program, which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco’s Financial District, and 50 founders were accepted. Most of the attendees were male.

The idea apparently started as a joke, with Slow Ventures sparking interest at Y Combinator’s demo day. While YC CEO Gary Tan reportedly asked the founders not to attend, Tan posted on X He “had no problem with Slow Ventures,” while writing, “You don’t need to finish school. You need to build something great, delight your users, and enjoy the craft.”

One unnamed founder told The Standard they came to learn how to be “less brutal”.

“Technology is no longer fun and cute,” Sam Lesin, general partner of Slow Ventures, reportedly told the audience. “It’s taking people’s jobs and changing environments. Everyone is threatened by it, which means you need to say, ‘I’m here and I respect you,’ rather than ‘I’m here and I’m being intentionally disrespectful.'”