Agreed -- this is the point that seems underdeveloped in the YC methodology.
Would love help fleshing this out but in my mind, the framework consists of Messages, Channels, and Users. Your job is to test different combinations of those in order to most effectively communicate product/market fit.
When crafting a message, it's important to remember that there's only one question the customer cares about: "How does this help me reach my goals in the quickest and safest possible way?" The more of the thinking you do around this for them, the better your sales will be.
You will find better combinations of message/channel/target over time by developing relationships with your customer; listen to them and watch what they do, you will get important data that you can use to refine your product and to refine your pitch.
Getting users is such a topic that it is radically different from one startup to the next. Even two start-ups in the same area are likely to have very different plans for attracting and retaining users.
I don't believe thats true. your messaging to users [why do you want this?] and so on are good rules that can be learnt and iterated upon other peoples experiences.
