Getting Into Y Combinator - TWICE!

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Here’s my personal experience getting into Y Combinator and what I think you should do if you want to get in. BIG DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert, I don’t work for YC and haven’t been in one of the new, remote-only batches. YC is constantly evolving and improving their process for finding great companies, so I encourage you to get multiple opinions here and try and find advice directly from YC partners themselves. That being said, here’s what’s worked for me, and what I think is generally true about the YC application and interview process.
ABOUT Y COMBINATOR:
Y Combinator (YC) is an American seed investment startup accelerator launched in March 2005. It has been used to launch over 2,000 companies, including Stripe, Airbnb, Cruise Automation, DoorDash, Coinbase, Instacart, Dropbox, Twitch, and Reddit. The combined valuation of the top YC companies was over $300 billion as of January 2021. The company's accelerator program is held in Mountain View, California.
Y Combinator was founded in 2005 by Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, and Robert Tappan Morris.
From 2005 to 2008, one program was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and one was held in Mountain View, California. As Y Combinator grew to 40 investments per year, running two programs became too much. In January 2009, Y Combinator announced that the Cambridge program would be closed and all future programs would take place in Silicon Valley.
In 2009, Sequoia Capital led the $2 million investment round into an entity of Y Combinator to enable them to invest in approximately 60 companies a year. The following year, Sequoia led an $8.25 million funding round for Y Combinator to further increase the number of startups the company could fund.
Then, in 2011, Yuri Milner and SV Angel offered every Y Combinator company a $150,000 convertible note investment. The amount put into each company was changed to $80,000 when Start Fund was renewed.
In September 2013, Paul Graham announced Y Combinator would fund nonprofit organizations that were accepted into the program after having tested the concept with Watsi (while continuing to fund mostly for-profit startups).
In 2014, founder Paul Graham announced he was stepping down and that Sam Altman would take over as president of Y Combinator. That same year, Altman announced "The New Deal" for YC startups, which offers $150,000 for 7% equity.
Late in 2014, Sam Altman announced a partnership with Transcriptic to provide increased support for Y Combinator's growing community of biotech companies. Then in 2015, he announced a partnership with Bolt and increased support for hardware companies.
The YC Fellowship Program was announced in July 2015, with the goal of funding companies at the idea or prototype stage. The first batch of YC Fellowship included 32 companies that received an equity-free grant instead of an investment.
In January 2016, Y Combinator announced version 2 of the Fellowship program, with participating companies receiving $20k investment for a 1.5% equity stake. The equity stake is structured as a convertible security that only converts into shares if a company has an initial public offering (IPO), or a funding event or acquisition that values the company at $100m or more. The YC Fellowship was short-lived. In September 2016, then CEO Sam Altman announced that the fellowship will be discontinued.
ABOUT JOHN COOGAN:
I am the co-founder of soylent.com and lucy.co, both of which were funded by Y Combinator (Summer 2012 and Winter 2018).
I've been an entrepreneur for nearly a decade across multiple companies. I've done a lot of work in silicon valley, so that's mostly what I talk about. I've raised over 10 rounds of venture capital totaling over $100m in total funding.
I work mostly in tech-enabled consumer packaged goods, meaning I use software to make the best products possible and then deliver them to the widest possible audience. I'm a big fan of machine learning, python programming, and motion graphics.
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CONTACT:
You can get in touch with me via Twitter: / johncoogan
Disclaimer: This video is purely my opinion and should not be regarded as a primary source. I am not a financial advisor and this is not a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Always do your own due diligence.

[@CharlesWeill]

Great video, with many nuggets of YC application wisdom! Thank you for sharing your own story too, it made it extra relatable. I'll look back on this video next time I apply to YC.

[@RossyDourado]

John always loving your videos... Gsh your video library is GOLD❤

[@juliogomez15]

Great video, probably the best I’ve watched to date. The inverted pyramid model for responses is mind-blowing, very well thought indeed. Thanks for the great advice.

[@kenkioqqo]

I have a FinTech app I've been developing for a few months now and I think it will help a lot of people around the world. After watching this informative video, I am absolutely convinced that I need to join Y Combinator to get the mentorship I need to grow it into the kind of startup I see in my vision. Thanks a lot John.

[@michaelyementalmodels5706]

Great video! John Coogan was super helpful to us when we interviewed with YC!

[@user-mc2gm6fz9i]

The inverted pizza model is something i would employ in my presentations. Thank you John.

[@matthuang21]

Incredibly informative video - and even more impressive that you've gone through YC not once, but twice! Thanks for sharing John!

[@joaomarcelofurlan937]

That is really valuable information @john. Thanks for sharing your experience -- the part you mention you didn't get in for the first application is very inspirational for a first-timer like me.

[@simonmuriithi3378]

This is a gem. You shared all the insights I needed to apply.

[@TheLastCodebender]

Awesome John, love these insider tips! ps. Nice t-shirt 😁

[@webook6963]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and insights. Our first application to YC was rejected with feedback on not knowing who the team really are. However YC were very willing to help founders with creating a profile to understand them better. We think it's totally important to be part of the program even if the investment is not taken. The guidance, library and network at YC is a great place for all the startups who has a global market. We are working on applying again this month.

[@AbdulJabbar-pv1xu]

Hi! How did it go this time?

[@_zeketorres]

Fantastic startup advice and insights, thank you so much John!!

[@minimoneydocs]

The advice you give here 8:21 and here 9:53 are invaluable!

[@ymvtech]

You'd find the book The Lean Startup useful. It's pretty much about 8:21 i.e. aim to establish a feedback loop (Build - Measure - Learn)

[@80Vikram]

That was super useful video, thanks for sharing

[@ivammagalhaes7155]

Thanks for sharing, John!

[@nicetrymate813]

this channel is the best, joint-favourite with Gary Tan's

[@HalfIdeas]

Nice job. Some great tips on how the application process works.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Thanks Greg!

[@willdepue1071]

Had no idea you started soylent. Loving your channel.

[@__goyal__]

Loved your analogy!

[@abhishekkumar-oo9jo]

Thanks for sharing these :)

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Your welcome! They’re really fun to make.

[@almercy]

Thank you for a succinct summary. Regarding the team, can I apply as a sole founder and still include other team-members (advisors & consulting that could potentially become cofounders in the future) in my deck?

[@WTK839]

You literally answered a question I've been looking to know the answer to for months! " Do I get the $125K before or after the 3 months" 1:46

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Glad to help out!

[@newmankramer1903]

Great Video John. Watching second time. Can you make follow up video about YC and new 500k deal. I know it is win win for both founders and YC but would love to hear thoughts.

[@tarabooartarmy3654]

I'm really, really glad YC has gone remote. YC is something I could never have done before because I have a husband and kids I will not leave. I'm struggling to find a team. I have two ideas I'm excited about, and I've gotten super positive feedback on them from people I've interviewed about them (actual potential customers, not people I know) but I just can't find any technical co-founders who believe in the ideas. I've talked with dozens of coders, but they all want to be in SaaS, and they think my SaaS solution is "too hard".

[@JohnCooganPlus]

hmmm, you might want to consider learning enough about programming to build an MVP yourself. Then you'll at least have a demo to show more technical folks what you're thinking about.

[@Estheticallyb]

Thank you for this great video

[@ajb7530]

The sharks from Shark Tank rejected the company Ring. The founder sold the company to Amazon, I believe was for a billion dollars

[@warrenwu8947]

Thanks that was super helpful~

[@londontreece7828]

This information was the best and most useful by far!! Thank you so much! I've already got some work built-up on my project, but do you think applying alone as a sole founder is ok? I would like to bring others on to build a team, but should I try to do it before or after applying?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

YC does accept solo founders, but you need a good reason for going solo. A bad reason is “no one wants to work with me”, a good reason is “i have experience as a successful solo founder”.

[@londontreece7828]

@@JohnCooganPlus Thank you!

[@samir_ask]

Hey John, very great video. I'm still waiting. Tomorrow is the last day for invitations.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Good luck! Let me know if I can help at all!

[@GUILLAJP]

Wish I saw this before I applied. time to rework things before the March deadline

[@queuebit]

Thanks for continuing to share great insights from your experiences. How has becoming a dad (I think you mentioned that a few videos ago), impacted your approach to Lucy / being a co-founder?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Well, it’s only been 6 weeks, so I don’t really know the long term effects. But so far, not a whole lot has changed. I think the biggest thing would be that it makes it a lot easier to visualize long time horizons. In my twenties, even a few years in the future seemed far off. Now, it’s pretty easily for me to visualize 20 years in the future, because that’s when my son will likely be in college. So basically, you’re getting more long-term thinking reps in, which makes you more long-term minded generally. Just a feeling though.

[@queuebit]

@@JohnCooganPlus Thanks. Have fun, keep delivering and get some rest.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

@@queuebit For sure! Thanks a lot!

[@Alice8000]

Pretty good stuff bro.

[@NijatTalks]

Amazing video.

[@benedictambrose7681]

Thanks for sharing

[@kelechi8043]

Hello John, i’m extremely curious. The 3rd cofounder who was on the fence and would only join if accepted into YC, did you go ahead to work with him?. what advice would you give someone in that exact same situation with a cofounder? Thanks!

[@inaki1027]

Hi John, we are currently filling our application and are worried we are leaving important features our product has by focusing too much on being short and to the point. What is your tip on this?

[@ramashishrural]

Great 👍 Insights

[@tamakikaitk9566]

Thnx for sharing

[@sumandangol0286]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *🚀 Introduction to Y Combinator and Personal Experience* Introduction to the video content and the speaker's experience with Y Combinator. - Overview of what Y Combinator is and how it aids startups. - Mention of the speaker's two startups that went through Y Combinator. 02:08 *🌐 Y Combinator Program Details* Detailed insights into Y Combinator's operational method and the value it provides to startups. - Y Combinator offers a straightforward application process, avoiding the traditional investment complexities. - The program culminates in a Demo Day where startups pitch to potential investors. 04:28 *🌟 Key Criteria for Y Combinator Acceptance* Explanation of the essential criteria for Y Combinator acceptance. - Importance of having a dedicated team and a compelling business idea. - The misconception that startups need significant traction or revenue to apply. 07:23 *📈 Preparation for Y Combinator Interview* Strategies for preparing for a Y Combinator interview and maximizing startup progress. - Emphasis on showing tangible progress in the startup rather than focusing solely on interview prep. - Insights into the interview questions focusing on problem, solution, and market potential. Made with HARPA AI

[@thedigitalceo]

Amazing video! I heard they don’t really accept founders who apply solo. How do you suggest finding a team if the right people aren’t around? Also what type of ownership percentages do you recommend between you and a team? Thanks for an amazing video!

[@JohnCooganPlus]

They do accept solo founders, but sometimes it's harder to build a company alone. Being able to convince people to come on your company building journey is a key skill, since it applies to co-founders and also employees even after you're a big company. The more balanced the equity ownership between the founders the better in my experience.

[@photon2724]

try YC's Co-founder matching. It's got a lot of people looking for co-founders. Its like tinder for co-founders without paywalls, spotlights, and other nonsense.

[@gerryjohnson5000]

Great video! I submitted an application for the SU2021 class and I feel good after watching your video that I hit the points you made. I’m a bit anxious as the deadline for hearing back is May 7th and I haven’t heard back yet. My question is do they respond back if you don’t get in or only if you do. Thank you.

[@samir_ask]

I have the same question

[@TeganBurns]

Update?

[@bassileid1247]

You shouldn’t care. You should be charging forward. If they reply they do. If not charge forward. You should almost forget about the YC app soonest you submit it and focus on dominating your startup.

[@w_aisegara9470]

Hi john, how are you? Sorry for bothering, I'm from abroad and considering going there and meet YC, can you give me some advice? And how can i get contact with YC? Thankyou 🙏

[@ayanbanerjee4119]

What is the time they reply after an application is submitted if you could answer?

[@cano4458]

We should just have enough money to pay for the trip and an accommodation correct? Do we get the investment before the 3-month retreat so we can pay for the stay by any chance?

[@emperormickmaxwell2833]

Do they not have like virtual ways for incubator sessions? I thought they do.

[@MosbarRemix]

Did they pay for your rent in San Francisco

[@arindamsahoo822]

If my company doesn't have co founder will i get rejected.. like i am only founder of my company and 5 member holding esops.. so will i get rejected

[@JohnCooganPlus]

You could totally get in. You just need one of two things: 1. A good reason why going solo is best for you and your company OR 2. A clear plan to find a co-founder. Either can totally work.

[@massifaqiri6711]

Can you apply as a one-person team?

[@nasavideosinhindi6339]

I want to test my idea first before applying it to yc. Or I should apply to yc with just the idea . I am s solo founder

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Hmm, it can’t hurt to apply. But building a founding team is really important. You might be more likely to get in with a working prototype, but a strong founding team is the most important. Solo founders do get in, but it’s less common. Most YC companies have at least 2 founders.

[@nasavideosinhindi6339]

@@JohnCooganPlus addicting videos... Share with us more insight.it helps a lot..

[@virx7944]

What about solo team though? Current I am building the mvp and currently dont see the need to get a co founder yet

[@JohnCooganPlus]

It’s much harder to get funding as a solo founder. It does happen, and there are plenty of successful stories of solo founders building massive companies, but investors (especially YC) like to see that you can build a team. Recruiting talented people to your team and working with them effectively is going to be incredibly important as the company grows, so demonstrating that you can recruit great people who compliment your skill set is a great sign. Most MVPs are much stronger when they have two people working on them, like a designer and an engineer. Or it could be helpful to find someone with sales experience to go and validate that your MVP is actually viable by talking to customers. Again, it’s totally possible to build a great company as a solo founder, you should just be really sure that’s what you want to do and have a good reason to do it.

[@virx7944]

@@JohnCooganPlus first off thanks for SUPER DUPER well thought reply and I totally get the point you are saying. I am actually the non technical person but has been learning and close to 80% complete on the mvp of making an app (3 months now). I guess I am going to launch the app to the market place first then see how it goes from there.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

@@virx7944 yeah, the good news is that actually having an MVP will make recruiting a co-founder way easier. I think that’s what happened with Dropbox. The file syncing space was super crowded but all the products sucked, so Drew built a great MVP and then Arash joined soon after. Since you’re lightly technical, you have a lot of good options, you could bring on someone who’s a brilliant technical mind to really push things forward, or you could become the lead developer yourself and hire someone with a sales skill set. Both paths are made much easier by the fact that you can actually build something yourself instead of just being the “idea guy”.

[@virx7944]

@@JohnCooganPlus Yeah, i think everyone can talk about ooh yeah I got the next big thing, but have no stuff to back it up the statement with. Planning to apply to Ycombinator winter 2022. How are you doing?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

@@virx7944 good luck with the application. Can’t believe 2022 apps are coming up! It’s going to be 10 years since my first company went through. Crazy. Things are good though! Entrepreneurship is a great career!

[@mansafamara]

nice shit bro.

[@grzegorzkwasniak9091]

Some segments in the video are stamped not adjacent to each other

[@SyedSunnyhellobuoy]

Do they invite everyone for an interview?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

No, only if they like the application.

[@ayanbanerjee4119]

Great Learning

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Thanks for watching

[@coachnextdoor]

I don’t understand why you need a founding team though.

[@NikolajKuntner]

I'm not in the US, but I'm a proponent of functional programming and so I like the name.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

It’s such a good name. At first they called it “Cambridge Seed” which is super generic. Y Combinator is great because it really only attracts the right kind of people. YC is heavily international by the way, especially now that everything is online!

[@NikolajKuntner]

@@JohnCooganPlus They can keep Cambridge Seed for when they branch into the porn business.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

@@NikolajKuntner hahah, yeah, not a great name

[@TheLambo123254]

6:30 , 8:57 , 9:59 , 11:25

[@hirenpatel9662]

Which movie is that?

[@szuhanchou6307]

Head Over Heels

[@andytoh-toh6488]

any viewers here got in?

[@YuenXii]

great video. love soylent btw

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Thanks! Great to hear that!

[@showbikshowmma3520]

Brother can i have a 5 minutes of meeting with u? It will be a huge honor 🙂

[@davidflavin]

Nooooooo.... why a team and not solo founders?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

YC accepts solo founders all the time. But you need to make it clear that you can work with people. There are plenty of successful companies with only one founder, there are no successful companies with only one employee. Solo founders have to go an extra step to prove that they can work in a team.

[@davidflavin]

@@JohnCooganPlus phew! Okay that's great. I thought it was some screening requirement. In my plans I include vacancies I'd fill when the right people and circumstances come together. I'm hoping there's a Simon Cowell like genius there who puts me together with some of the other guys and we form the startup worlds One Direction!!

[@JohnCooganPlus]

@@davidflavin they won't find a co-founder for you, but if you want a co-founder, they will definitely encourage you to make that your top priority. Drew Houston didn't have a co-founder when he applied to YC with DropBox, but getting a co-founder was his top priority.

[@adeseunadeniran4559]

You got in because you were.....

[@abhishekdev258]

Ginkgo Bioworks is not a good example.

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Why?

[@Channelsdotbiz-yd8bl]

I know how... Skin color 😢

[@photon2724]

Bro created soylent. We found ground zero for the 'Soy Boys'.

[@rutujkulkarni7487]

Hi John. Thanks for making these videos, they’re amazing. I’m a co-founder of a biotech startup based in India and I’m thinking about applying to YC. Can I get in touch with you on email?

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Sure! My email is on the about page for my channel.

[@leonine5681]

I have a budding question would it be possible if I were to contact you via email?👍 Also once again this video was great THANKS

[@JohnCooganPlus]

Happy to help out! Twitter DM is best, but my email is just my first name at my full name dot com.

[@leonine5681]

@@JohnCooganPlus thank you

[@onetouchbook]

@@JohnCooganPlus Will you please review my Ycombinator application?

[@kenkioqqo]

I have a FinTech app I've been developing for a few months now and I think it will help a lot of people around the world. After watching this informative video, I am absolutely convinced that I need to join Y Combinator to get the mentorship I need to grow it into the kind of startup I see in my vision. Thanks a lot John.

[@photon2724]

I think that's a recipe for disaster. You should not have the mindset that you NEED YCombinator to succeed.

[@IT-sq5rj]

And how did you go?