How to get into Y Combinator.
Actionable lessons from founders who got in, a guest interview with YC’s CEO, and a free grader for your draft.
Taught by the founders of Pair AIYC W23AI feedback that helps you win.
Paste a draft answer. The grader reads it across five qualities and names the sentence doing the least work.
- Specificitynumbers, names, dates
- Evidenceproof, not claims
- Clarityone idea a sentence
- Concisenessevery sentence earns it
- Insightwhat only you know
The question
How do or will you make money? How much could you make?
We’re targeting a massive market opportunity. Plumbers pay $10 a quote. Early interest has been strong. They buy about 10 a month. We only need 1% of a $2T market. There are 2,800 in San Francisco alone. That would build a huge business for us over time. That is $1M a year from one trade, one city. Then HVAC, then electrical, then the next city.
- SpecificityName the customer and the price.
- EvidenceReplace the adjective with a number.
- ClaritySomething the reader can count.
- ConcisenessDo the arithmetic for them.
- InsightShow where it goes next.
Real applications that got in.
Applications from admitted YC companies, annotated line by line, so you can see a working answer before you write yours.
See the applications →A guest interview with YC’s CEO.
Garry Tan on how applications are read from the selection side: what stands out, and what gets skimmed past.
Garry TanCEO of Y Combinator
Loved by founders.
I genuinely think Batchstack is the single greatest resource for any founder who wants to get into a top accelerator program like Y Combinator… it's important to democratize this information so founders half way around the world — like myself in Australia — can have the same odds of acceptance as founders who grew up in Silicon Valley.
Bob Criner
Co-Founder & CEO, Stralis Aircraft · YC W23
This course is easily worth paying a couple thousand dollars for given how many critical insights it contains… I genuinely cannot believe it's free.
Charles Weill
CEO, CreatorML · YC W23
If you are a first time founder, this course will be the difference between getting into a top accelerator program or not.
Nicolas Raga
CEO, Clearest Health · YC S23
Start the free course today.
Frequently asked questions
01Is the course really free?
Yes. It is completely free, with no credit card required and lifetime access to every video and to the application grader. There is no paid tier and nothing is held back.
02Why is it free?
In the founders’ words: “Both Jason and I come from low-income households and were the first in our families to go to college. … If we were to charge for this course, we would be financially gatekeeping it from founders like ourselves who need it the most.”
03Who teaches the course?
The course is taught by Y Combinator alumni who went through YC as founders (Pair AI, W23). You are learning from people who got in, from the applicant’s side.
04What will I learn?
You learn the whole accelerator application: who should apply, the written application question by question, the founder video and the demo, and the interview. The lessons work through real admitted applications, and the course includes a guest interview with YC’s CEO.
05Is this course helpful if I don’t want to join a startup accelerator?
Yes. Most of what it covers, from what you are building to what your traction actually shows, comes down to questions any founder should be able to answer about their company. Working through them sharpens how you position yourself to customers, employees and investors, whether or not you ever apply to a program.
06Is this affiliated with Y Combinator?
It is independent of Y Combinator and not endorsed by it. The instructors are YC alumni who went through the batch themselves (Pair AI, W23), and Garry Tan appears in a guest interview.