INTRODUCTION

People often ask us what happens at Y Combinator. Here is an overview of what happens during the YC program and the benefits you get as a YC founder. You can read more about why you should apply to YC here.

THE YC PROGRAM

YC is a three month program. We now run YC four times a year, in the winter, spring, summer, and fall. Here’s what happens during the three months of YC:

The Goal

The overall goal of YC is to help startups really take off. They arrive at YC at all different stages. Some haven’t even started working yet, and others have been launched for a year or more. But whatever stage a startup is at when they arrive, our goal is to help them to be in dramatically better shape 3 months later.

For most startups, better shape translates into two things: to have a better product with more users, and to have more options for raising money.

Startups at all stages benefit from the intensity of YC. That’s probably the best word to describe the atmosphere. For 3 months, it’s all startup, all the time. Everyone around you—us, the other founders in your batch, the alumni, the speakers, the investors—wants to help your startup succeed. In that atmosphere it’s hard not to be highly motivated. And that kind of extraordinary motivation is what one needs to do something as difficult as starting a startup.

Many founders describe the 11 weeks leading up to Demo Day as the most productive period in their lives. Though YC continues after the 3 month cycle, and the alumni community is an increasingly valuable resource, those 11 weeks are still the most important thing. You can’t make people something they’re not, but the right conditions can bring out the best in them. And since most people have way more potential than they realize, they’re often surprised by what they’re capable of.

Funding

YC invests $500,000 in every company on standard terms. Our $500K investment is made on 2 separate safes:

• We invest $125,000 on a post-money safe in return for 7% of your company (the “$125k safe”)
• We invest $375,000 on an uncapped safe with a Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) provision (the “MFN safe”)

Groups

During the batch, startups are sorted into 4 groups. Each group is led by YC partners who advise the founders in one-on-one and group office hours. Each group is split into sections (6-10 companies), so that founders get the benefit of an intimate setting within the larger batch.

Office Hours

Much of what takes place at YC happens during office hours. Partners host group office hours every two weeks and one-on-one office hours as often as founders want. What startups talk about at office hours depends on the stage of the company and where they are in the YC cycle.