Inside the Silicon Valley etiquette class teaching founders charisma, couture, and caviar confidence

• A Silicon Valley VC is teaching founders how to dress and socialize. • Founders at a recent etiquette class were told they're "not exactly beloved" nationwide. • The caviar drew many curious questions from participants who had never tried it.

The image of Silicon Valley tech founders is being reshaped.

So says Sam Lessin, founder of Slow Ventures, a generalist venture capital firm, who hosted an "Etiquette Finishing School" for young Y Combinator founders and tech entrepreneurs to learn how to dress and socialize, as well as how to overcome their fear of fish eggs.

"The image of Silicon Valley is changing from the one portrayed in 'The Social Network,'" Lessin said in his opening speech on Wednesday, referring to the film about the founding of Facebook that portrays Mark Zuckerber