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How YOU Can Get Into Y Combinator in 2026 (live YC application walkthrough) #ycombinator — Transcript

by Kshitiz Sanghi · 6,758 words · 943 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Every founder dreams of getting funded
0:02by Y Combinator, but almost no one knows
0:04how. Today, you'll see the exact YC
0:07application that worked for Peter after
0:09three failed attempts. We are revealing
0:11what YC partners want, how to ace the
0:14interview, and how to make the perfect
0:16application video. I am joined by Peter
0:18Tribblehorn who's the founder of Hera
0:20video. Hera is an AI motion graphic
0:22designer where you can make amazing
0:24animations just by simple prompts. I am
0:27Shat Sanji, founder of V, where we use
0:29AI to help global brands like
0:31McDonald's, Papa Jones and KFC to run
0:34their delivery business profitably.
0:35Let's crack Y Combinator step by step.
0:40So Peter, what are we achieving today
0:42and why are you the right person to talk
0:44about it?
0:45>> So yeah, we're talking about our
0:46application to to Y Combinator, I think.
0:49So I think it's quite usual that you
0:50apply multiple times to to Y Combinator
0:52and get rejected most of the times. We
0:54got rejected four times. So I went
0:56through the application process four
0:58times, got three interviews and one
1:01acceptance. So I got quite trained in
1:04doing the YC application as I had to do
1:07it over and over again and try to
1:08thought about like what can can we
1:10improve. So I think by now I have a
1:12pretty good feeling on what you should
1:14do and not do in your in your YC
1:17application.
1:18>> Yeah. Yeah. And and if you can also talk
1:20about yourself, right? And what are you
1:21building at Hera?
1:22>> Sure. So um we're building an AI motion
1:25designer. We make it very easy to create
1:27animated videos. You can think of it as
1:29a cursor or lovable for animated charts,
1:33animated infographics, text animations.
1:35So you write a prompt and get an
1:37animated video out of it. That's how how
1:39it works on a um like on a on a in very
1:42basic terms. And I started to work on
1:44this because I previously worked with a
1:47lot of YouTube channels. So for example,
1:49Economics Explained, The Game Theorist.
1:51I worked at a company that acquired
1:53YouTube channels and there learned that
1:55motion graphics was always a bottleneck
1:57in production and the most expensive
1:59input. So, and that's why we why why we
2:02decided okay there now we have AI and
2:04there needs to be an AI native solution
2:06that makes this radically faster and
2:08cheaper and that's what we're building.
2:10>> Very interesting and as a content
2:12creator myself right we are already
2:13using your product and I think it's
2:16really solving the bottleneck that we
2:17have been facing for a very long time.
2:19Motion graphics, animations were very
2:20difficult. It used to take a lot of time
2:22and it was very expensive, right? And
2:24finding the right talent also was very
2:26very difficult. But with Hera, we just
2:28prompt and we get stuff, right? So
2:30that's pretty beautiful and I see like a
2:32very bright future ahead.
2:34>> Thank you for having
2:35>> Yeah. Yeah. So before we delve into like
2:38stepbystep question and answer, right?
2:40So YC application has multiple questions
2:42and we'll go through each one and we'll
2:44understand from your perspective why you
2:46wrote a particular answer and what YC
2:48partners are looking from each of the
2:50entrepreneurs right on those particular
2:52answers right I want to ask two things
2:54right first what is the YC deal right
2:56now right and second since you are part
2:59of this batch right which is about to do
3:01their demo day is it really worth is it
3:04really worth the hype right uh that
3:06everyone has these questions
3:08>> no for sure so Let's start with the YC
3:10deal. So when you when you get into YC,
3:13they invest in total 500K, so half a
3:16million uh US dollars. And for these um
3:19for these 500K, they get 7% um equity.
3:23And then I think it is 100 um like uh no
3:27375 um K convert at the valuation of the
3:31next price grout. So you don't know
3:33whether where it will be. I think can
3:34you can calculate like then additionally
3:36something something between 1 and 2%
3:39maybe 3% depending on your valuation but
3:41you can say like to to make like very
3:44like tangible you get 500k and in the
3:46end you end up giving 7 to 10% of your
3:49company
3:50>> got it got it got it pretty interesting
3:53yeah and and when when it comes to the
3:55hype right is YC worth the hype? Yeah, I
3:58mean it's I think the the hype around YC
4:02over the last years at least that's um
4:04how it feels to me got got bigger. Yeah.
4:06So I think especially I'm from Germany
4:08and I think like three, four, five years
4:10ago YC was in Germany. People knew it
4:13but it was relatively new niche. Yeah.
4:16Just like in the in the entrepreneur
4:18community. Now I think every like
4:20everyone everyone knows YC. I think YC
4:22did a very good job on like the YouTube
4:24channel to to build up that hype. But
4:26yeah, I think honestly I think it it
4:28lives up to it. Yeah. And um so it's
4:30it's an amazing experience if you're an
4:32entrepreneur and I think everyone that
4:34starts a company will notice that that
4:36it's something very lonely because
4:39you're there on your own. You're not
4:40working with the team. You're doing you
4:42don't know every day if you're doing the
4:44like the right stuff and uh you're not
4:46knowing if you move in the right
4:47direction. And then I think one great
4:49thing about YC is that you're like with
4:51like a lot of people that are in the
4:53exactly the same situation, have the
4:55same challenges, ask themselves the same
4:57questions, have like the same
4:58perspective on on on things. So I think
5:02that's yeah, it lives up to to its hype
5:04and it's just great to to be around
5:06these these founders who are all every
5:09every and that's cool thing. Every YC
5:11founder you meet is like exceptional in
5:13in in in one particular area. So it's
5:16it's always super interesting and also
5:18the YC alumni network is very special.
5:20Yeah, it's very closely knit. You can
5:23reach a lot of people being like part of
5:25the YC community. But yeah, in short, I
5:27mean it definitely lives up to its hype
5:30and I I can just encourage like everyone
5:32who's who's serious about starting a
5:34startup to take the take the time to to
5:37apply because it's just like a
5:39no-brainer deal. I mean, the time it
5:41takes to to do the application, I mean,
5:44we can go through the questions in in a
5:45bit, but it's it doesn't take you maybe
5:48if you if you do it the first time, it
5:49might take you maybe like a couple of
5:51hours, but it's not that hard. It's not
5:54it's not that that much work you need to
5:55do. And when you get out of it, if you
5:57get in um it's just like a very uh
6:01asymmetrical uh payoff you get. So, I I
6:05encourage
6:05>> agreed and I think very similar opinion,
6:07right? So I am a YC alumni too are my
6:10current company VO is funded by Y
6:12cominator and I think the kind of
6:13mentorship that they give you that gives
6:15you a massive kickstart right in the
6:17world of entrepreneurship startups
6:18fundraising and uh key business uh
6:21principles that you should know right
6:22and I think the biggest I would say the
6:25biggest superpower of Y cominator is its
6:27community right that how everyone comes
6:29and support each other everyone is there
6:32to give the right advice everyone is
6:34just there to sort of uplift you and
6:36help you sort of become and make a good
6:38entrepreneur or a good company out of
6:40it. So I agree I agree Peter I think
6:42that's awesome. Uh now can we go to each
6:46of the questions right that Y combinator
6:48application asks and if you can present
6:50your screen and if you can go through
6:51your application right which got you
6:53into Y combinator this this batch I
6:56think that would be super helpful. No,
6:58for sure. Before I go to like through
7:00the questions, I think the like the most
7:03important thing uh in like the entire
7:05application is to communicate your idea
7:09very clearly in a very concise way. So
7:11you have to imagine that the YC partner
7:14that reviews your application reviews
7:16like thousands of applications and if
7:18you start like writing in very
7:20complicated terms or writing long
7:22sentences that people don't understand,
7:23you lose them. Yeah. you need to make it
7:25very easy to understand and I think
7:27people often when they try to sell
7:30something they try to use fancy words
7:32like to make it more sound more
7:34sophisticated and by doing that you
7:37actually achieve the opposite of what
7:38you want to achieve. So I would really
7:40encourage everyone and maybe now when we
7:42read do we think okay that's super like
7:44the like it's it's super unsophisticated
7:47how how I wrote it but I think that's
7:49actually the point yeah to make it as
7:51clear as possible that people
7:53>> understand what you're building
7:55>> agreed agreed
7:57>> and yeah so let me share my screen so um
8:01I mean just that's like the if someone
8:03hasn't seen that form so far let's
8:05that's everything there is uh so it's as
8:08I said not a questions. It's done
8:10relatively quickly. Um, and it's with
8:13the the founder section. So, they talk
8:15about um like who who the founders are,
8:17which is probably the most important
8:18thing in the application. So, I think
8:20that like on an on an um on a very very
8:23early stage startup where it's just an
8:24idea or like an idea with a bit of
8:26traction. The thing that YC and every
8:28investor ultimately invests in is in the
8:30founders because the you might end up
8:32pivoting. You might end up doing
8:34something entirely different but this
8:36can be still great investment if you are
8:38if they if the founders are great. So
8:40that's that's what I what why I think
8:42it's like the first first section. So
8:44first question is how long have the
8:46founders known another? Yeah. So I think
8:49you just say well whatever it is. Yeah.
8:51Just don't over complicate it like we've
8:53been friends for four years. Nothing
8:56nothing fancy about that. Who writes the
8:58code or does any technical work on your
9:00product? I think that's probably like
9:02the first question where a lot of
9:04applications build that out because if
9:06there's if there's none if the if the
9:08the team didn't build the product
9:10themselves or is not able to build the
9:12product themselves, it's usually a hard
9:15no from from YC for good reasons. I
9:17mean, you need to be able to to iterate
9:19quickly, to ship fast, to um yeah, to
9:23just um like test your ideas quickly and
9:27having someone that can write code is
9:29like ultimately incredibly important
9:31even today even though we have white by
9:34coding apps. So very straightforward. I
9:36mean, think about it like also like the
9:38the slogan of YC is make something
9:40people want. Yeah. So that's the kind of
9:43the the the type of language they want
9:45to see in the application as well. Some
9:47very very simple simple language. Okay.
9:49Then um yeah I think that's the founder
9:51video. I think founder video also don't
9:53over complicate it. It's probably like
9:55people spend a lot of time on it. Just
9:57like spend a minute talking in front of
9:59a camera. Don't do any editing. Just
10:01talk with your with your co-founder
10:02about what you're building. And
10:04>> yeah. Can we also can we also like play
10:06the video once? Video is the most
10:08effective medium and we believe in the
10:09future there will be even more people
10:10that want to create video content. But
10:12creating motion graphics is incredibly
10:13timeconuming and expensive because of
10:15legacy software such as Adobe After
10:17Effects. This is why we're building Hera
10:18and AI motion design.
10:19>> We talk to 120 users and we know exactly
10:22what they want. First, people want to
10:24have great motion graphics easily and
10:26quickly. That's why in Hera, you simply
10:28describe what you want and our design
10:30agent will ensure great result in
10:32seconds. Second, people want to have
10:34control over their animation. That's why
10:36we have features like drag and drop to
10:37allow users to fine-tune their results
10:39with precision. Third, people want to
10:42get inspired. That's why we have a
10:43template marketplace and most of our
10:45templates today are created by our
10:47users.
10:47>> We have 60 paying users that made Hera
10:49part of their creative workflows. There
10:51are countless people on social media
10:53talking about Hera which led to our
10:54weight list growing to more than 30k
10:56people. We believe this shows that we
10:58are building something that people want
10:59and want to be a part of YC's next batch
11:02to accelerate our journey. I'm Peter. So
11:05very nice.
11:06>> I think like now looking at it again, I
11:08think what you should try to talk about
11:11is um like what you're building in like
11:14a couple of in a couple of of words.
11:17What are your progresses so far? So what
11:18have you achieved in ideally in a very
11:20short amount of time if you have
11:22traction say like give the numbers so
11:24for it was like 60 paying users 30k pe
11:27people uh on a wait list and show that
11:30you are like talking to your users and
11:32able to build the things that they want
11:34to see because that's ultimately what
11:37what makes a good startup right because
11:38we never know like what ideas will work
11:40or or don't work I think we need to
11:42always find out and like the only thing
11:43to do that is to talk to users and ship
11:45the and and and fix the problems uh that
11:48they're having with the problem with the
11:49product and yeah and then just just say
11:51that in in in in very easy terms and
11:54then uh you'll be fine. Yeah.
11:57>> Interesting. Interesting. I think uh
12:00till now it's the same uh thing right
12:02that come to the point quickly. Don't
12:04overexaggerate. Keep it simple. Keep it
12:06short. Okay. Okay.
12:08>> Then yeah then company. Yeah. So company
12:11name a pretty easy. Yeah. Then describe
12:14what your company does in 50 characters
12:16or less. I think that's the most
12:17discussed question in the application.
12:20Um I think here so we landed here with
12:23AI motion designer. Uh we had very
12:26different like as I said we did like we
12:28did four applications and this always
12:29changed. I think here it's simply like
12:32just try to put it as simple as
12:35possible. Yeah. It's um if you use
12:38complicated words here that are abstract
12:40like I don't know AI platform to
12:43transform whatever that doesn't work.
12:46You need to make like super easy to
12:48understand and like super clear and and
12:50speak to like the 50 character limit. A
12:52lot of people do and I think what also
12:54works is do like this um lovable for X
12:57cursor for X. And I think that that also
13:01this can also work well if if it's if
13:03the if the analogy fits and if people
13:05can understand okay that that makes
13:07sense. So like we also had like lovable
13:09for motion graphics here once and I
13:11think that also uh that also makes
13:13sense. Um but um yeah but don't but but
13:18then you also need to find like the the
13:20the like lovable for X works because
13:22everyone knows lovable and everything
13:24okay everyone can agree like lovable is
13:26an amazing outcome but if you don't you
13:28have to pick like an amazing outcome
13:30company. So not everyone knows this
13:32company doesn't it doesn't work. Um
13:35yeah, but also he just try to be to make
13:38it as clear and simple as possible uh
13:40what what you're building. Yeah. Then
13:42company URL nothing special about that
13:45link to the product quite easy. And then
13:47what is your company going to make? Uh
13:49so I'll maybe read read uh quickly
13:51through Hera makes professional motion
13:53graphics accessible. The only
13:55alternative today Adobe After Effects is
13:58complex and time consuming. parallels
14:00anyone to produce professional quality
14:02visuals in seconds with our template
14:04marketplace that grows with each user
14:06and the design agent that ensures good
14:08design. So I mean reading through it I
14:10think like the to this is kind of the
14:12first two sentence
14:14make kind of sense. So we that's that's
14:16what we that's what we are building
14:18that's the current uh solution that is
14:21quite important to understand for for
14:22for our problem that like what are
14:24people using today and then what the
14:26user user gets gets out of it. Yeah. And
14:29you see it's like three sentences so
14:32relatively relatively concise.
14:34>> Agreed. Agreed. And I think uh the
14:35comparison with Adobe After Effects
14:37right also make it uh clear to the
14:40viewer right that it's a big opportunity
14:42and there is an incumbent which is not
14:44working to solve for that problem. So a
14:46startup startup can really enter and
14:48sort of take that market just like Figma
14:50did.
14:51>> And it also shows the the YC um and
14:54that's probably another important thing
14:55is like what they call this unique
14:56insight. Yeah. So that you as a founder
14:59know something about a space that not
15:02most people don't know and you know that
15:04because you worked in that field because
15:07you you you had to suffer the pain
15:09yourself and that's something really
15:12really good because that's something
15:13that that that other people can't copy,
15:16right? So you the insights that you have
15:19as founders are incredibly important and
15:21if you can show that in your answers
15:23that you know your space incredibly well
15:25and know people know stuff other people
15:27don't know that's uh something where he
15:30likes a lot. So if you if you have
15:31something like that uh say that yeah so
15:33then where do you live now like pretty
15:35straightforward um explain your decision
15:38regarding location. Yeah I think don't
15:40over complicate these questions I think
15:42it's uh pretty easy. So progress how far
15:45along are you? Yeah. 60 paying users who
15:47are part of their creative workflow. 35k
15:49organic rate signups, 5K MR, just give
15:51the metrics. If you have if if you have
15:53the metrics, just give the metrics. And
15:55I think that's the because that's that's
15:57the that's the way how to objectify it.
16:00>> A lot of a lot of people also get
16:02confused here whether they should also
16:04mention the retention numbers or not.
16:06Yeah, I mean if you have retention
16:09that's great because that's something um
16:12we um I think when we applied the third
16:15time that's why YC rejected us because
16:17we didn't had uh retention numbers yet
16:20because we just got like paying users.
16:22So if you have retention numbers I would
16:23also mention it here because it's like a
16:25very very important KPI. So for us like
16:28the retention we was like still we
16:30didn't had that usage for a lot of a lot
16:32of times. So you can't you can't really
16:34talk about retention, but if you have
16:36retention, that's that's great. Say,
16:38"Yeah, how long have you been working on
16:39this?" Just say, "Yeah, it's I mean, YC
16:43always wants to see that you're able to
16:45build things in a in a short time. So if
16:47it's if you just work on work on
16:49something for a week and you made like
16:51great progress, that's something they
16:52they would like to see because they they
16:55feel okay, they can make a lot of
16:56progress than also during the batch. And
16:58if you work on something for like three
16:59years um and don't have any revenues, I
17:03think it will be it will be tough. Yeah.
17:05So um that's that's um kind of it's
17:08always like the they measure kind of
17:10progress in how much can you can you
17:12accomplish in like as little time as
17:15possible. So yeah. Yeah. Then then the
17:18question on the tech stack simply just
17:21say what you're using. Yeah. Don't over
17:23complicate it. I think it's but I think
17:25it's just like a it's just like a check.
17:28I think YC just wants to check with that
17:30question if you're really like building
17:31the product yourself and know know what
17:33you're doing. Are people using your
17:35product? Yeah, pretty straightforward.
17:37How many active users do you have? And
17:39then you just skip the metrics. Yeah, 60
17:41paying customers. There you go. Um do
17:44you have revenue? These are thing just
17:46yes no questions. So you can just where
17:49does your revenue come from? Yeah. So
17:50then just I mean here it's pretty pretty
17:52straightforward. So you simply just say
17:54what it is. Yeah. Don't and and and just
17:57try to don't over complicate it, right?
17:59So if you if you have revenue, try to
18:02make it as easy to understand as
18:03possible for the for the reader what's
18:04going on. Don't don't write like long
18:06paragraphs.
18:08Um then um yeah, any that's if you're
18:12applying with a Yeah, got it. Okay. Here
18:15yeah, this question if they they ask you
18:17like how what what changed um towards
18:19the last time you applied. So you can uh
18:21then simply say okay we launched on 5th
18:23March retained 60 paying users got 35k
18:26or white list signups um improved
18:29product. So just that they know if they
18:31reviewed the application like in for a
18:34previous batch
18:34>> basically there also they want to see
18:36progress right there also they want to
18:38see progress whether did you make made
18:40any improvements or not uh on on the
18:42reasons why you were rejected last time.
18:44>> Exactly. Yeah, because they I I don't
18:46know how it works exactly, but I assume
18:48they have like some kind of CRM where
18:50they say, "Okay, this this is the
18:51applicant. This is the reason why we
18:53rejected them." And then they probably
18:55if you apply again, they look at that
18:56reason and you want they want that this
18:58reason has been addressed. Uh so you
19:00should take that take that uh and the
19:03good thing is once you um once you um uh
19:08got an interview, you actually get uh
19:10feedback from YC why they rejected you
19:12if you get rejected. And that's that's
19:14that's most of or always in our case is
19:16very helpful feedback and makes it quite
19:19easy to to know what your priority
19:21should be for the next months. Yeah.
19:24Irrespective if you want to get into YC
19:26or not and so and then you can also you
19:29should then also address this um in the
19:31next application.
19:33Why did you pick this uh idea to work
19:36on? Do you have domain expertise in this
19:38area? How do you know people need what
19:39you're making? Uh I I read it quickly
19:41through we started working on a
19:43different idea in video production 5
19:44months ago where we talked to 120 video
19:47creators. We learned that motion
19:48graphics is the biggest pain. Peter
19:50brings in customer empathy and network
19:53as he acquired and manage big YouTube
19:54channels. Jia can develop soft video
19:56software quickly as he built beyond
19:59leading web-based video creation
20:00software for enterprises. So this
20:03question essentially asks what is your
20:05unique insight in that space and we are
20:08saying we worked on a different idea we
20:10talked to a lot of users we learned
20:12something that a lot that most people
20:14don't know and we are the right team to
20:17solve that problem that we found found
20:19and that's how I would how I would how
20:21it's structure uh this this answers why
20:24why do you think that this is the
20:26problem worth solving and assuming it is
20:28a problem worth solving why are you the
20:30right people to solve that um and if you
20:33can get this across that that's that's
20:36>> and I think it's written again very
20:37simply and it very very well talks about
20:40the super uh power of both the founders
20:44right yeah
20:44>> Peter has sort of worked with massive
20:47channels right and he knows that this is
20:49a massive part of the video production
20:52process right similarly the other pro
20:54other founder uh Chia right has
20:57genuinely built a video production tool
21:00right so I I think it's um you are
21:02basically telling that you are the best
21:03people to solve this problem and you
21:05also know that this problem is very very
21:06genuine. This is not a madeup problem.
21:08>> Exactly. And I think I mean I think what
21:10you have to keep in mind is that YC
21:13receives a lot of applications and there
21:15are probably also applications that did
21:17something very similar to what we are
21:19doing like I assume there might be like
21:20hundreds of applicants that do something
21:22with uh video editing. So, and then you
21:24basically just need to sell the team and
21:27say, "Okay, if there are like 100 people
21:29that want to build something in this in
21:30this team, why are you the team to
21:33succeed um in that in that space?"
21:35Especially if you go into like a into
21:37like an area where a lot of startups
21:39already are. Yeah. So, that's um
21:42something to to to keep in mind.
21:45Um yeah, who are your competitors? Um
21:48what do you understand about your
21:50business that they don't? Yeah, very
21:52interesting questions. Uh um the our
21:55answer Adobe After Effects is the only
21:57alternative to professional motion
21:58design. Its complex interface limits
22:00motion design to pro to pro users. As
22:02Hera is a I native we make motion design
22:05accessible. So um here we say okay we
22:08know what the alternative is. Yeah
22:10because we talk to the users. We know
22:12what the problem is with that and we
22:15know how how to how to make it how how
22:18to fix that problem. And I mean you
22:20could you could talk about every
22:22question in the application here. You
22:24could write essays about this. But keep
22:26keep in mind that the that the reviewer
22:28has only like two or three minutes to to
22:30go through that. So keep it to every
22:33question like to just a couple of
22:34sentence and you don't have to talk
22:36about everything you know. I think
22:37that's that's also something that is
22:39kind of for for founders probably hard
22:41because you're working like on like
22:42you're um have been obsessed with this
22:45problem with that space for like so much
22:47time and you want to share everything
22:49you know about the space but if you do
22:50that you will lose like the people you
22:52should try to make it like as concise
22:54and clear as possible again. Yeah,
22:55>> agreed, agreed. I think that's a great u
22:57I would say metric, right? Somebody only
22:59has two three minutes to read it. So,
23:01stop writing paragraphs. Stop
23:03overexlaining. Uh come to the point
23:06quickly in the most simplest language,
23:08right? So that anyone having 2 three
23:10minutes is able to genuinely understand
23:12what you're building.
23:13>> How do you how do how do you or will you
23:16make money? How much could you make? So
23:18it's essentially a market sizing
23:20question and the question that you at
23:22least thought about how to monetize uh
23:24your your business and I think for some
23:27businesses this might be a more crucial
23:30question. I think for us not so much
23:32because I mean software subscription is
23:35a very proven way how to to monetize a
23:38software. So and I think YC doesn't
23:41expect you to innovate on that. you can
23:44but I but they don't expect and
23:46sometimes like the the the markets that
23:49you're building the software for are
23:51very small today. Yeah. And which is not
23:54a bad thing. Maybe they will grow very
23:56significantly in the in the in the
23:58foreseeable future. So that should so
24:00you should say that here we we chose
24:01that we simply say okay how many content
24:04creators are in the world today and how
24:05much revenue could we make per content
24:07creator. Um and then um how much revenue
24:11could that be? So obviously YC wants a
24:14huge outcome. Yeah. So they are looking
24:15like like for billion dollar outcomes.
24:19So there needs to be like a reasonable
24:21path on how you how you can make a lot
24:24of revenue. Um and ideally you're also
24:26in a market that that grows uh like we
24:30believe or like there reports that the
24:32number of content creators will grow in
24:34the future. So um yeah you you should
24:37also say that too and again make it easy
24:40to understand. Then um which category
24:42applies best? Edwaz, it's just a drop
24:45down. Any other ideas? Um it's act we
24:49said here no. So they ask you if you had
24:51any other ideas you considered applying
24:53with, please list them. Yeah. One may be
24:55something we've been waiting for. We
24:57said no here because it was our fourth
24:59application and we have been working on
25:01this for a year. So we know we don't say
25:02okay we also have these five five other
25:05ideas. Um but if you apply like with
25:08something where it's um on with an idea
25:11that you haven't worked for that much
25:13time, you should actually um list the
25:16ideas. I think it's a good thing um
25:18because as I said ultimately YC invests
25:21in the founders and if they don't like
25:23your idea at all but but they have here
25:25something and just like just something
25:27that picks their interest and they think
25:29you're an interesting founder but I
25:30don't like the idea but here's an idea
25:32that actually sounds interesting that
25:33could make the difference that could get
25:35get you the interview. So, um yeah, I
25:38would just if you if you if you have a
25:40couple of other ideas, um just just list
25:42them here and it might be something that
25:45uh that that helps you
25:46>> make sense. Okay.
25:47>> Yeah. Um and then um equity. I think
25:51that's like pretty pretty
25:52straightforward. We know to don't need
25:54to get through it. Like did you
25:55incorporate? What's the ownership split
25:57between the founders? I think also here
25:59don't innovate on it. Just do like 50/50
26:02equity split between the founders. We
26:04were at the time um fundraising. Yeah.
26:07So when we did these this application,
26:09so we said that that we started the
26:11fundraising process and uh received uh
26:14term sheets. That's if you have that
26:17that's that's obviously good because
26:19that puts some urgency on YC's end
26:21because then they think okay they will
26:24uh raise a round they will raise a
26:25preede round pretty likely. So if we
26:28want that's probably like also where
26:29they knew in our application that this
26:32will be our last application to YC
26:34because you probably don't raise like 1
26:36million and then you could do that as
26:38well and then go to YC but it's much
26:40more unlikely. So um if you have if you
26:44if you are fundraising then it's good if
26:47you have like term sheets or something
26:49like that.
26:49>> Agreed. Agreed.
26:51>> Take a look.
26:51>> Okay. I think this is like a good to
26:53have not a mandate for sure.
26:55>> No, it's a good to have. It's a bonus.
26:57Yeah, most if you have this then
26:59amazing, right? If no, if not then it
27:01doesn't matter.
27:02>> Yeah, it doesn't matter
27:03>> at this stage.
27:03>> Yeah, you you shouldn't do like a
27:06>> you shouldn't try to trick YC. Yeah. And
27:10say you have term sheets if you don't
27:12have them. You really should.
27:13>> I think you should not try to trick YC
27:15in any of the questions, right?
27:16>> In any of the but it's but but it might
27:18be tempting um every to to do that. But
27:22I think it's it's a really bad idea.
27:24>> It's a bad idea. It's it's can it can
27:26really uh harm harm your reputation.
27:29>> And I think YC has a massive
27:32detector, right? If you
27:34anywhere, then they going to detect it
27:35for sure. And uh and it's not even
27:38ethical, so there's no point doing it.
27:40>> Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. No I
27:42mean, that's the most important thing.
27:44Okay. And then here, like I think these
27:45are not so important questions. What
27:47convinced you to apply to YC? Did
27:49someone encourage you to apply? Have you
27:51been to any YC events? So here we simply
27:53just like listed like all the people
27:55that went to YC um that we talked to. So
27:58um it's a probably a good sign to for
28:01them to that they know okay you are you
28:03have friends uh from the YC community so
28:06you know what you are what you're going
28:08into. How did you hear about Y
28:10Combinator friends? Yeah and I think
28:11that's just like legal questions. No I
28:14think that's about it. Have any should I
28:16anything uh double down on anything else
28:18that we didn't touch about? I think this
28:21was uh pretty straightforward, right?
28:23Maybe we can do a summarization, right?
28:25On what are the key two three points
28:27which everyone should have and I think
28:29that would be it. We can keep it simple
28:31and short as as the YC application
28:33genuinely uh requires you to be.
28:36>> Yeah. Got it. Okay. So then the first
28:38thing is make them understand what
28:40what's your idea. Yeah. And try to make
28:42that as easy and simple as as possible.
28:46Yeah. That's the first thing. Second
28:48thing is show them that you're able to
28:50move quickly, that you're able to build
28:53a working product, you that you're able
28:55to talk to users and then you're able to
28:57adapt to that feedback feedback quickly
29:00and show them why you are the best team
29:02to to to solve this this problem. Yeah.
29:05What is your unfair competitive
29:07advantage? What's your unique insight?
29:10Um and communicate in that in in the
29:12application. If you do these three
29:14things, um, you have you're basically
29:17maximizing your chances of getting an
29:20interview, it's still, I mean, the the
29:22the the number of applications that YC
29:24gets is incredibly high. And even if you
29:26have like the perfect application and a
29:28great idea, you might still not get in.
29:31That that happens. Um, so um yeah, but I
29:35think if you did these three things,
29:37you're maximizing uh the chances.
29:39>> Awesome. Awesome. I think let's just do
29:41like a bonus segment right to end this
29:43conversation. Yeah.
29:44>> On how to crack the interview, right?
29:46Assuming everything is sorted, you have
29:49the application, you are selected and
29:50you have a you have the famous 10-minute
29:53YC interview. What what happens in that
29:55interview and how to win that interview,
29:58Peter?
29:58>> Yeah. So, it's a Zoom call like this
30:00here. You're sitting there and you you
30:02typically get like the invite like just
30:04like a Google Meet invite or a Zoom
30:06invite one to two days before the
30:08interview. Then as you said it's like a
30:1010-minute interview. You go into the
30:12Zoom and typically previous interviews
30:15run late so they join like 5 to 10
30:17minutes later and then you will sit
30:19there with your co-founder and one or
30:21two partners from YC and it's a
30:2410-minute interview and you want to get
30:25as much as poss like you want to talk as
30:28much about the problem and get as much
30:30information across as possible. So as in
30:33the interview try to answer the
30:35questions in a very clear and concise
30:38way. So don't really try to just give
30:41like a very quick answer to all of the
30:43questions and let the partner decide
30:44what is the next question they ask
30:46because they will probably ask the
30:48questions where they have doubts about
30:51your application and you want to have
30:52the opportunity to eliminate these
30:56doubts. So and if you just talk about
30:58what you want to talk about in the
31:01application you basically lose the
31:03chance of removing uh the doubts that
31:06the that that the partner has. you get
31:08in and then the first question is always
31:10what are you working on or what are you
31:11building and then you and then you say
31:14in two in in one or two sentences what
31:17you're um what you're what you're
31:19working on like very in a very concise
31:21way and what you can also do is add
31:23another and that's kind of like
31:24something that that worked well for us
31:26is you say what you're working on and
31:28then you ask you give like something
31:30very interesting that that triggers a
31:32follow- on question so for ideally
31:34that's traction so we then said we're
31:36building error and AI motion designer.
31:38Uh you can think of it as lovable for
31:40animated videos. We just launched one
31:42week ago and we got 60 paying users and
31:45that's something tell me more about that
31:47and that's so you can kind of direct the
31:50it's kind of a balance. Yeah, you want
31:51to direct the interview so that you can
31:53get the things across that you that you
31:55think are very imp impressive and
31:57something that that the interviewer
31:59should know in your application. But at
32:01the same time, you want to get their
32:04questions where they where they don't
32:06feel comfortable or where they have
32:07questions where the application is is is
32:09not clear for them for them yet. And and
32:11yeah, and then just try to answer all
32:13the questions in a very clear and
32:14concise way. And if you don't know
32:15something, say you don't know it. Yeah,
32:17that's I think that's the worst thing
32:19that you can do in the interview is have
32:21a question where you don't have an
32:23answer to and then say try to make
32:26something up because then they know then
32:27they will know okay he or she is
32:29bullshitting there doesn't know the
32:31question and that's the the worst thing
32:33so just say I don't I didn't think about
32:35that we didn't think about that so far I
32:38don't know it's much better than
32:40bullshitting and before the interview or
32:43if you get an interview what I suggest
32:44everyone doing is reach out to as any YC
32:47people, you know, and ask them to do a
32:49mock interview and we did probably 20
32:52mock interviews and you you because
32:54every YC founder went through like an
32:57interview at least once so they they
32:59know everyone prepared once so they know
33:01how the interview works and then you can
33:04uh you maximize yeah the chance and you
33:06get kind of used into like this
33:0710-minute interview rapid fire questions
33:10because it's something it's not like a
33:12job interview at all. Yeah. It's not
33:13like a 45 job interview where you get a
33:15question and you talk for three minutes.
33:17So, it's a very different setting. Um,
33:18and having like a few mock interviews
33:20helps you um prepare. And yeah, and if
33:23anyone is applying um to YC and got an
33:26interview, you can also reach out to me
33:27and we can also do a do a do a mock
33:29interview. I think it's the most helpful
33:32thing to maximize your chance getting
33:34>> I think that would be super helpful for
33:36all our viewers. I think uh what you
33:38have told is pure gold. really really
33:40helpful and I think uh uh very very
33:43thankful right that you showed your own
33:45application right which basically brings
33:46in the relatability the authenticity
33:49right that whatever you are telling is
33:50something that you have actually did
33:52right so I think uh this is super
33:54valuable Peter and thanks thanks again
33:57for coming to the pod and I think this
33:59is the pod
34:00>> no thanks for hosting
34:01>> stop procrastinating
34:02>> start day.

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