Paul Graham writes:

I sent the YC partners an email saying I was growing increasingly impressed with one of the startups in the current batch and asking what they thought of them, and Harj Taggar replied with this brilliant piece of VC boilerplate...

Here's the letter: 

From: Harj Taggar

To: Paul Graham

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your note and sending ⟨startup⟩ our way, we really appreciate it and always enjoy meeting with YC founders. Keep 'em coming!

We loved ⟨founder⟩ and are impressed by both his background and the progress he has made thus far. It's exciting to see entrepreneurs tackling "real-world" problems in important areas, which aligns well with our investment thesis.

However it's currently a little early for us to step in here. We'd like to see ⟨founder⟩ show a few more proof points and validate a couple of the core assumptions underlying the business. We've offered to introduce him to a few value-add partners, within our network, who we think could really help him work through and shape some of the strategic issues he'll face in the coming months. We plan on keeping in close touch and will be circling back once he's at a more appropriate stage for investment.

On a separate note, I feel like we could be doing more to help YC companies. We're in awe of what you've built over there at the Y and we'd love to grab a coffee and talk more about how we could be helpful to both the companies and you.

Best,

Harj

Key words: little early

Circling back isn't a bad notice.   If they take 3 weeks to circle back, yes.  If at the Monday partner meeting they circle back on Tuesday, no.  Inside VCs, it takes convergence/(coagulation??) to decide on investments. Getting the buy-in from the partnership shouldn't take more than two weeks, more than three, your chances drop below fundability and you should move on.

I agree, circling back isn't of itself a bad thing.

Timing is everything. The longer something takes, the more likely it won't happen.