Gotta say, Sam, I'm finding hope in my cynical old heart. What I liked: Listening, and acknowledging there is a problem, is an excellent first start. That's p

Gotta say, Sam, I'm finding hope in my cynical old heart. What I liked: Listening, and acknowledging there is a problem, is an excellent first start. That's progress for YC, which up until now seemed to have its head in the sand. The quick roll up of what you've heard most recently, also good, shows it's more than lip service. *Acknowledging publicly that confidence shows differently for women than for men is enormous. I've had people try to claim I'm not confident in my product. Outrageous! Some other thoughts: Female founder events are nice, but let's see PG and the Old VC boys show up there too, so it isn't a pink ghetto. Earmark your startup founders conference to be 50/50 male/female. Or some such realistic but achievable number. Understand that women need special help fundraising. The signals, games, and rules are male created, and male oriented. Women are at a distinct disadvantage in the fundraising process as a result. I have found most women cannot give good fundraising advice, because they have not raised money, or have they invested money. Would love to see YC write about this, specifically for women. A rule book, if you will. There's probably more, but as you keep engaging us, I'll keep thinking. To those who might still be angry/cynical: This is a start. I believe we have to allow room for organizations and people to evolve and change their minds, lest we all freeze into pre-arranged points of view. I hope that doesn't happen, because the world needs all of us right now to tackle the challenges we face. Let's see what happens. This is more than we've seen out of the valley in quite some time.