I think I'm saying that YC by design funds companies at a point where it's too early to reliably determine whether they're an outright fraud. And YC can't shut down anything; they invest relatively little money and take zero control over their portfolio companies. The best they can do is performatively kick companies out of the program, so they can't access Bookface or whatever.

I don’t think public disavowals by early investors are performative. I think that would go a long way to limiting the damage actually.

Fair enough. I mean, it's performative by definition! This company appears dead in the water. But you're right, sometimes the performance itself has value.

Let’s be honest, a VC fund would be backing Marlo, he’s got way more startup energy.