Hey, my company went through YC in Winter 2023. I'll answer the questions based on my experience, your mileage may vary
1. No daily stand ups but we do have multiple events every week during the batch. Some of these include telling your batch mates and the YC partners about your progress and your next steps to keep everyone accountable.
2. At least once a week during the batch, and you can request more 1-on-1 time if necessary
3. If someone has to force you to find PMF, then as a business owner you are doing something terribly wrong. The decision to pivot is ultimately on you, I've only heard stories of YC partners trying to get you to pivot when you are working on something that's very obviously a waste of time (think tarpit idea).
When I went into YC, our product was a sales tool (https://usedouble.com/), we worked on it through the batch even though progress was slow. The partners never really told us to pivot but had great feedback on what different directions to try.
After demo day, we decided to pivot to an AI coding tool (https://double.bot/) and explaining our rationale to them, and they agreed (can expand more on this, and I've also written about it here: https://docs.double.bot/blog/pivot)
4. In Winter 2023, some of the smaller events were remote. The big in-person events could not be attended remotely.
5. You don't have to do anything but then again, I don't know why you'd choose not to be in SF during the entire batch. This is one of those things were the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Attend every event, make as many connections as possible, that is how you get the most value out of this experience.
6. I recommend checking out Zoom / Google Hangouts. If your particular industry requires face-to-face meetings, I had a friend who was flying a lot during the batch meeting people (manufacturing space).
7. You may differ your demo day and pitch on the next batch, but I find that most companies choose to focus on their strengths and pitch that on demo day. Most companies have really impressive teams, which can be more appealing that even a nice MRR chart, specially early stage.
Hope this helps! Also sounds like you're working on something interesting and have already found traction. If you'd like an extra set of eyes on your YC application, email me: gonzalo[at]double.bot