Getting into Y Combinator is an experience that can change the story of every single startup. As a matter of fact, on average, every year YC graduates two unicorns (30 in the last 15 years). We started investing in YC startups during the 2016 winter demo days. Later, we funded companies that went to YC after a pre-seed round. Over the years, we noticed that getting into Y Combinator for European startups seems to be difficult to the point that most of them give up without even submitting the application. To provide European startups with specific advice to fill in the application and prepare for the interview – the two required steps for admission into the YC acceleration program – we asked Michael Seibel, YC CEO, to be our guest in a chat with Pi Campus CEO, Marco Trombetti.
Michael is not only YC CEO, he is the co-founder of Twitch (sold to Amazon for almost $1B) as well as a few other companies. He is a great advisor, who helped dozens of startups get into YC (including Airbnb), and a very kind person, who supported us in setting up our venture firm and then became a friend.
About Y Combinator Acceleration Program
Each year Y Combinator runs two batches of its acceleration program and receives between 12,000 and 15,000 applications per semester. Ten percent of applicants get interviewed and 200 to 300 are admitted to the acceleration program. The program consists of 3 months of hard work to get startups in their best possible shape and refine their pitch to present them to investors on the demo days.
Joining YC means entering a community of 5,000+ founders where you can ask for advice, find leads to sell products to both YC and non-YC companies, access an investor database, and have the benefit of exclusive deals. Furthermore, an after-acceleration program, an exclusive job posting site, and the YC growth fund are also made available to participants.
Key Components of a Successful Application to Y Combinator
According to Michael, there are 5 key components to a successful application. Unfortunately, most of the time those ingredients are missing in the files submitted by startups. Here they are, in short:
- technical founders, who can build what they plan to;
- existing relationship between founders, such as prior collaborations of the founders;
- progress over time, despite the overall time spent on the project;
- knowledge of the market, which is issues addressed by the startup that others are ignoring;
- communication skills, because successful founders are required to talk and motivate more than work on what they planned to build.
How to Improve Your Chance of Admission to YC
If your startup has all the previously listed components, you have “more than 50 percent of chances to get in”. To increase the probability of getting admitted, you can join the free online Startup School. Stats shows that 44 percent of the startups admitted to YC acceleration programs have already followed this path. The sooner you join the school, the better.
When to Apply for Y Combinator
If you are were wondering whether it’s the right time to get into Y Combinator, the answer is: yes it is. Due to COVID-19, batches have been moved online since the beginning of 2020, which was not a diminutio: mentors have been able to provide 15 percent more office hours during the online programs. Finally, US investors are now used to investing via Zoom, and a few of them, including Accel and Sequoia, started programs to invest in European startups over the last months. You don’t even need to incorporate in the US: the YC legal team will take care of making your company easy to invest into .
It doesn’t even matter if the application deadline is over: at YC every application will be evaluated, but obviously, first-comers get more attention. Applications close in November for the Winter program and in March for the Summer program. Learn more about the next batches on the Y Combinator Apply page.
