How to Ace the Y Combinator Application

The exact application that I used to get into the first-ever remote batch of Y Combinator

Well, I guess it’s just that time of the year.

Days are getting shorter. There’s a bit of a chill in the wind. And founders all over the world are burning the midnight oil to get their Y Combinator winter application done.

My Y Combinator journey was not a straight forward one.

For the record, I applied six times. Was offered an interview four times. Interviewed twice. Got in once.

This post publicly shares the exact application that I used to get into Y Combinator’s first-ever remote batch.

I’ve gone ahead and added some notes and commentary as someone who’s graduated the program and, now, knows a lot more about how YC functions.

But before I get to that… I’d like to offer some advice that I wish I had known three years ago:

1) Don’t try to hack it

Many people ask me what’s the “trick” or “hack” to get into YC. The hack is to build a great company.

Many of the YC applicants that I’ve spoken with spend hours trying to perfect every sentence of their application.