I’m the founder of StoryWorth, YC W2011. I’ve applied twice to YCombinator, once in 2008 (with a cofounder) and once in 2011 (solo), and was accepted both times. From time to time, applicants interviewing for the latest batch reach out to me for advice. Here is what I tell them.
It’s even faster-paced than you expect.
Before my first interview, I’d read that the interviews were incredibly fast-paced. For my second interview, you might have thought I knew what to expect. And yet, both times I was surprised by the intensity of the interview (and you will be too!).
You will be interviewing with several YC partners, and they will actively steer the interview. If you have multiple cofounders, different partners may each ask you questions simultaneously. One founder may be discussing implementation details while another covers marketing strategy.
It’s great to be prepared to give a demo, but expect to be interrupted with questions and comments as soon as you start. You will not have a chance to walk through a polished presentation.
Trim your answers down to 30 seconds.
Before any interview, it’s always a good idea to prepare answers for the toughest questions you might get asked.
For the YC interview, I recommend one additional step: trim each of your answers down to 30 seconds.
As my friend Aleem Mawani puts it:
Lead with the punchline of the answer. The first sentence should be the most important, the most impactful, the most direct. Everything after that is supporting evidence. So they should keep it under 30 seconds AND lead with the best because they’ll likely get cut off before they can say the best if they don’t lead with it.
The YC partners are optimizing for getting as much data as possible in a short amount of time. As soon as they have a rough sense for where your answer is going, asking you a completely different question gives them more information than filling in the dots.
It’s okay to say you don’t know.
YC partners have a very low tolerance for BS, and they’re very good at detecting it, so your best strategy is always to be as straightforward and honest as possible.
If they ask you a question to which you don’t know the answer, better to admit that than to stumble through an answer you’re making up on the fly.
Some ways of doing this are better than others. “Huh, I’d never thought of that” is not as confidence-inspiring as “You know, that’s something we’re still figuring out. We’ve tried X, we’ve been thinking about Y, but we need to test it. We’d love your advice on that.”
You'll likely think you failed.
Both times I applied, I came out of the interview thinking I’d bombed. And yet, both times I made it through.
The YC partners have a tough job narrowing down the pool of applicants. If they think your team has potential, they will push you harder.
In fact, as a founder your confidence will be tested on a daily basis, so observing how you react to pressure is a good indicator in and of itself.
If you feel like the interview isn’t going your way, the worst thing you can do is let that throw you off.
No matter how you think the interview is going, do your best to stay calm and confident — you may in fact be doing just fine.
Keep in mind that I last applied to YCombinator five years ago. Since then, the process has only gotten more competitive, and I’m certain that the interview process has evolved. With that in mind, I encourage you to reach out to founders from more recent batches as well.
