We were already meeting our users over the previous year, including at the DNC and Inauguration. We had ambivalence to continue to do so city-by-city because, as we were warned by others, it didn't scale. PG gave us permission to continue these efforts, and to "do things that don't scale." It was one of the greatest pieces of advice we ever received.

I talked with one of the founders of Hackruiter (YC S10) last weekend and he told me Paul gave them the same advice! The two founders (or "the Hackruiters" as PG would say) are scheduling days completely full of half-hour 1-on-1 in-person meetings in different cities with people who might be interested in joining a startup. This is one of the most un-scalable processes I can imagine.

By the by, I was very impressed with the founder I talked to (Nick), and I would suggest that if you are a superb developer who is itching to join an existing startup, get in touch with Hackruiter. If they think you are a good fit, they may very well be able to either make the right connections on your behalf or at least point you in the right direction.

He told them, but they did it.