Two things, per Vivek and John: take "sell before you build" to heart, and find a community of founders to grind around. John says just "finding a community of founders to be around" and "grinding with other people just gives you so much more motivation."
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The founders' advice for builders outside YC. John's biggest single takeaway is the mantra itself: "really think about like selling before you build, like really take that to heart... it blows my mind how simple the idea is, but like it works." Beyond that, he points to environment — "just finding a community of founders to be around," because "grinding with other people just gives you so much more motivation." Vivek ties it to why they keep a hybrid in-person setup: "you can only do so much remote." The combination — the sell-before-you-build discipline plus the right community — is how he thinks you replicate "that YC intensity" without the batch.