All Questions
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- Please enter the url of a 1 minute unlisted (not private) YouTube video introducing the founder(s).
- Who writes code, or does other technical work on your product? Was any of it done by a non-founder?
- How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet? Have any of the founders not met in person?
- Please tell us about an interesting project, preferably outside of class or work, that two or more of you created together.
- Please tell us in one or two sentences about something impressive that each founder has built or achieved.
- Please tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage.
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- How far along are you?
- How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time?
- When will you have a prototype or beta?
- How many active users or customers do you have? How many are paying? Who is paying you the most, and how much do they pay you?
- We're interested in your revenue over the last several months. (Not cumulative and not GMV).
- Anything else you would like us to know regarding your revenue or growth rate?
- If you are applying with the same idea as a previous batch, did anything change? If you applied with a different idea, why did you pivot and what did you learn from the last idea?
- If you have already participated or committed to participate in an incubator, "accelerator" or "pre-accelerator" program, please tell us about it.
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- Why did you pick this idea to work on? Do you have domain expertise in this area? How do you know people need what you're making?
- What's new about what you're making? What substitutes do people resort to because it doesn't exist yet (or they don't know about it)?
- Who are your competitors? What do you understand about your business that they don't?
- How do or will you make money? How much could you make?
- How do users find your product? How did you get the users you have now? If you run paid ads, what is your cost of acquisition?
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- Have you formed ANY legal entity yet?
- Please list all legal entities you have and in what state or country each was formed (e.g. Delaware C Corp, Mexican SAPI, Singapore Pvt Ltd, etc.).
- Please describe the breakdown of the equity ownership in percentages among the founders, employees and any other stockholders. If there are multiple founders, be sure to give the equity ownership of each founder and founder title (e.g. CEO).
- Have you taken any investment yet?
- How much money do you spend per month?
- How much money does your company have in the bank now?
- How long is your runway?
- Is there anything else we should know about your company?
If you are applying with the same idea as a previous batch, did anything change? If you applied with a different idea, why did you pivot and what did you learn from the last idea?
How 13 YC companies answered the "If you are applying with the same idea as a previous batch, did anything change? If you applied with a different idea, why did you pivot and what did you learn from the last idea?" question from the YCombinator Application.
— 13 answers
Metlo(S21)
Full applicationWe did not apply for the last batch.
Dendron(W21)
Full applicationThe most notable changes: working on Dendron full time, launched the tool, and have active users. The idea is still the same but the implementation is different. Instead of building a standalone app, Dendron launched as an extension inside VSCode. This let me avoid much of the undifferentiated scaffolding work required to build a text editor and focus on Dendron's features around hierarchies.
Virtually(S20)
Full applicationWe’ve applied before with different iterations of the same company. Our biggest learning has been that just selling online courses doesn’t cut it for most content creators. In order to attract high-ticket customers, online educators must turn to provide premium options to their students which includes real-time support either in 1-on-1 or group setting rather than just pre-recorded video. On the consumer side, we learned that for consumers to pay high-ticket prices ($1,000+) for any online educational program, it has to have very high ROI, often meaning transformational for their life and/or career. We’ve decided to double down on empowering career education, specifically mid-career education.
Prolific(S19)
Full applicationWe haven't applied previously.
InEvent(S19)
Full applicationWe applied in 2015. At that time we had just started and we had only 8,000 dollars in ARR Since then we have increased our revenue to more than one million dollars.
OpenPhone(S18)
Full application* Launched and grew the product to 1,500 users. * Started getting paying customers (32 people). * Went from a three-tier pricing model to a simple $10/month plan. * Launched billing in the app and improved our funnel conversions. * Matured our thoughts about our distribution strategy. * Launched new features to delight users.
Goodly(S18)
Full applicationThis is our first time applying :)
bxblue(S17)
Full applicationFirst time ;)
The Flex Company(S16)
Full applicationThis is my second time applying to YC. (I was in the Fellowship W16 batch)
Paystack(W16)
Full applicationBy the last application, it was just a prototype, now we’re already running live transactions and we’ve released additional libraries.
80,000 Hours(S15)
Full applicationWinter 2014. Team: Added a hacker, Peter Hartree, and a hustler, James Norris. Traction: 173 significant plan changes vs. 20 previously. Product: Created a 40 page online career guide and prototype web app. Domain expertise: Have coached another 100+ people, further testing our key content. Distribution: Will secured a $150,000 book deal with Penguin and a column in Vox.com. The book is finished and will be published in August 2015.
Shotput(S15)
Full applicationN/A
GitLab(W15)
Full applicationNo
