Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Use clear, specific language that accurately describes your product or service. Avoid jargon and vague terms.

If you don't have a website you can build one in 1–2 days without coding using tools like Framer. There are many good templates available for free.

If you have a demo, attach it below.

If you have an MVP, spend time to make a short 60–90 second demo video. It helps reviewers understand what your company does and shows you can build.

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

Expand your 50-character description with more details.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

Ideally YC would love to see your team in SF. If your business benefits from being in a different location, explain that in the following question.

How far along are you?

Provide a brief description of the company's current state using facts and numbers, ideally in a 3–5 bullet point list. Avoid fluff.

How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.

Ideally all cofounders are working full-time. Having left a strong job to work on the startup is a green flag - it shows you are serious.

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?

Answer each part of the question. Each response should contain factual numbers.

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?

Write one sentence on what inspired you to solve that problem.

Who are your competitors? What do you understand about your business that they don't?

List a few of your most promising competitors. If there are no direct competitors, list companies whose products are currently used to solve the user's problem.

How do or will you make money? How much could you make?

Briefly recap your business model and provide a Total Addressable Market (TAM) calculation.

Please describe the breakdown of the equity ownership in percentages among the founders, employees and any other stockholders.

Every founder should be essential. Giving a cofounder just 10% can signal they might not be motivated when things get tough. YC advice: aim for roughly equal equity splits.

If you had any other ideas you considered applying with, please list them. One may be something we've been waiting for. Often when we fund people it's to do something they list here and not in the main application.

YC sometimes prefers an alternative idea you list here. Add a few other promising ideas you have considered.

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The YC Startup Launch Checklist

A tactical checklist to gain clarity, validate faster, and ship sooner. Work through the steps below to validate your idea, learn from users, and decide what to build next. Also included: a curated guide to the YC application with tips and example answers.

What you'll learn quickly

How to validate your idea in the next 48 hours
What to focus on during early validation
What to ask users to uncover real pain
How to build the smallest MVP that proves value
How to generate early momentum fast
Mindsets that help you move fast without chaos

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Part 1

YC Startup Launch Checklist

Ensure you're solving a real, painful problem. Work through each section in order.

Problem foundation

Ensure you're solving a real, painful problem.

YC principle: Great startups are built on real problems, not ideas.

Define the user problem in one clear sentence: Write the core pain point from the user's perspective. Keep it concrete, specific, and emotion-linked rather than abstract.
Identify your primary user segment (be specific): Narrow it down. Instead of "founders," say "solo SaaS founders with no technical cofounder who struggle with validation."
Confirm it's a "hair-on-fire" problem, not a nice-to-have: Evaluate urgency. Would they try imperfect hacks today? Would they pay or spend time to solve it immediately?
List 3 ways users solve this today (their current workaround): Identify real alternative behaviors. Workarounds show how painful the problem is and reveal opportunities to outperform them.
Write a simple "Why now?" explanation: Strong startups have timing advantages. Describe what changed: technology, habits, regulations, costs - that makes your solution timely.

Founder clarity (10-minute exercise)

Align your thinking before building anything.

YC principle: Clarity reduces wasted months.

Write your startup hypothesis (Problem → User → Value → Channel): Form a simple, testable statement about what you believe. Think of this as your temporary "north star"; it guides your first 2 weeks of decisions.
Identify your riskiest assumption: This is the one assumption that, if wrong, collapses the idea. Calling it out early helps you design faster tests around it.
Define your "One Metric That Matters" for the next 30 days: Pick only one metric (not 3). It should measure real progress, like engagement, repeat use, or user conversations, not vanity numbers.
Write your temporary unfair advantage (even if small): Identify something that gives you early leverage: domain knowledge, access to users, speed, or insights others don't have.

Fast validation experiments

Replace guesses with real data within 48 hours.

Talk to 3–5 potential users (no surveys; real conversations): Aim for real stories. Conversations reveal motivations and frustrations you'll never see in survey checkboxes.
Collect problem stories instead of feature requests: Users describe problems better than they describe solutions. Look for patterns in what frustrates them today.
Ask: "How do you solve this today?": Workarounds are gold. They show willingness to act and highlight gaps your MVP can fill immediately.
Check willingness to pay (even if hypothetical): Frame this gently; you want to see if the pain has monetary value, not to pressure them into committing.
Extract 3 insights from each conversation: Summarize what you learned. The strongest insights are emotional, behavioral, or repeated across users.

Insight log (fill this after each conversation)

Key patterns:
Motivations:
Pain points:
Decision triggers:

Build the simplest MVP

Create the smallest version that proves value.

YC principle: If you're not embarrassed by your MVP, you launched too late.

Remove 90% of your original feature ideas: Strip the product down to its proof-of-value core. Every extra feature slows you down without increasing validation.
Define one core action the user must complete: This is the backbone of your MVP. Everything should guide the user toward completing this action.
Build a version that takes < 48 hours (manual/no-code acceptable): Speed matters. Use no-code, docs, or even manual operations - the goal is learning, not engineering.
Define "MVP success criteria" before shipping: Make this measurable. e.g., "3 users complete the core action twice in a week." It prevents emotional decision-making.
Plan one experiment to get the first 10 users: Keep it simple - DM people, post in niche communities, reach out directly. Early acquisition must be scrappy.

Create early momentum

Move users from interest → engagement → learning.

YC principle: Momentum is a strategy. Startups win by learning faster than everyone else.

Set up a simple waitlist (email only): One field is enough. Lower friction increases sign-ups and keeps the loop fast.
Share a small teaser with your audience (friends, communities): Don't overthink this. Share your problem statement or mockup. Early interest validates your direction.
Start capturing insights from every sign-up: Every user tells you something; track patterns, motivations, and expectations.
Document 10 insights + 3 decisions made: Insights are useless until they influence what you build. Write decisions clearly and commit to them.
Celebrate a small win (keeps momentum high): Momentum prevents founder burnout. Acknowledge progress to stay motivated and consistent.

Founder mindsets (daily reminders)

Essential habits that help you move fast and learn. Learn by doing.

Move fast, talk to users faster
Ship before you feel ready
Focus on one thing that moves the metric
Prioritize learning over perfection
Kill ideas that don't drive progress

Part 2

YC Application Guide

A curated guide to the YC application: what to emphasize, how to answer each section, and what strong answers look like. Answer directly, use facts and numbers, and tell a cohesive story.

High-level recommendations

Answer questions directly, clearly, and concisely: Base your responses on facts and numbers. Use simple language and avoid marketing buzz. Most answers should be 1–5 sentences long.
YC invests in people, so focus on your team and what makes each of you exceptional.
Share insights and obstacles that you discovered while working on the idea.
Good application should be a cohesive, compelling story.
Last, but not least: be honest.

This guide curates lessons from publicly available YC content and from insights shared by YC-backed founders. Needle is not affiliated with Y Combinator.

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The YC Startup Launch Checklist

What you'll learn quickly

How to validate your idea in the next 48 hours
What to focus on during early validation
What to ask users to uncover real pain
How to build the smallest MVP that proves value
How to generate early momentum fast
Mindsets that help you move fast without chaos

YC Application Guide

A curated guide to the YC application: what to emphasize, how to answer each section, and what strong answers look like. Answer directly, use facts and numbers, and tell a cohesive story.

High-level recommendations

Answer questions directly, clearly, and concisely: Base your responses on facts and numbers. Use simple language and avoid marketing buzz. Most answers should be 1–5 sentences long.
YC invests in people, so focus on your team and what makes each of you exceptional.
Share insights and obstacles that you discovered while working on the idea.
Good application should be a cohesive, compelling story.
Last, but not least: be honest.

The YC Startup Launch Checklist

What you'll learn quickly

YC Startup Launch Checklist

Problem foundation

Founder clarity (10-minute exercise)

Fast validation experiments

Insight log (fill this after each conversation)

Build the simplest MVP

Create early momentum

Founder mindsets (daily reminders)

YC Application Guide

High-level recommendations

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Good examples

What to avoid

Company url, if any:

If you have a demo, attach it below.

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

Good examples

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

What to avoid

How far along are you?

Good examples

What to avoid

How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.

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?

Good examples

What to avoid

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?

Good examples

Who are your competitors? What do you understand about your business that they don't?

Good examples

How do or will you make money? How much could you make?

Good examples

What to avoid

Please describe the breakdown of the equity ownership in percentages among the founders, employees and any other stockholders.

Good examples

What to avoid

If you had any other ideas you considered applying with, please list them. One may be something we've been waiting for. Often when we fund people it's to do something they list here and not in the main application.

Learn more

Validate with real conversations

The YC Startup Launch Checklist

What you'll learn quickly

YC Startup Launch Checklist

Problem foundation

Founder clarity (10-minute exercise)

Fast validation experiments

Insight log (fill this after each conversation)

Build the simplest MVP

Create early momentum

Founder mindsets (daily reminders)

YC Application Guide

High-level recommendations

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Good examples

What to avoid

Company url, if any:

If you have a demo, attach it below.

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

Good examples

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

What to avoid

How far along are you?

Good examples

What to avoid

How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.

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?

Good examples

What to avoid

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?

Good examples

Who are your competitors? What do you understand about your business that they don't?

Good examples

How do or will you make money? How much could you make?

Good examples

What to avoid

Please describe the breakdown of the equity ownership in percentages among the founders, employees and any other stockholders.

Good examples

What to avoid

If you had any other ideas you considered applying with, please list them. One may be something we've been waiting for. Often when we fund people it's to do something they list here and not in the main application.