YCInsight

YC Insights is a research and learning resource for founders who want to learn from Y Combinator’s public material without searching through hundreds of scattered pages. It brings together essays, founder interviews, Request for Startups posts, rejection case studies, S-1 filings, and other public YC material into structured guides, databases, and downloadable playbooks.

The site is organized around the questions founders commonly have when applying to YC, deciding what to build, and preparing for the YC interview process. Every guide links back to its original source, making it easy to verify the underlying material rather than relying on summaries alone. All content is free to read and download.

Key Features

YC Application Guides

Work through YC’s application questions with structured guidance rather than starting from a blank form.

• Covers every application form question
• Includes examples of strong and weak answers
• Helps founders understand what different questions are asking
• Links back to the underlying public YC material

RFS Playbooks

Turn YC’s Request for Startups ideas into practical frameworks for evaluating and building potential startups.

Each RFS playbook breaks an idea down into:

• Customer
• Wedge
• MVP
• 90-day plan

This gives founders a structured way to move from a broad startup opportunity to an initial product and execution plan.

Founder Profiles

Explore 60+ public founder stories with sourced context from YC-related material.

The collection helps founders study how different entrepreneurs approached building their companies, including the circumstances, decisions, and experiences described in the original public sources.

Rejection Case Studies

Study applications that did not make it through YC rather than looking only at successful companies.

The collection includes 32+ rejection examples, giving founders material for understanding potential weaknesses and patterns in unsuccessful applications.

Free Founder Tools

YC Insights also includes practical tools for application and startup preparation:

• Answer generator
• Interview simulator
• SAFE calculator
• Pitch deck builder

These tools complement the research library by helping founders apply what they learn.

Downloadable Playbooks and Cheatsheets

Access prep material without a paywall.

• Cheatsheets
• Interview preparation notes
• Downloadable PDFs
• Structured playbooks

The resources can be saved and reviewed separately from the website.

Built For Founders Doing YC Research

YC Insights is designed for founders who want to go beyond isolated startup advice and study patterns across YC's public material.

It can be useful for:

• First-time founders researching YC
• Applicants preparing their application
• Founders preparing for interviews
• Entrepreneurs comparing startup ideas
• People studying YC's startup recommendations
• Researchers analyzing companies across different batches and stages

Common Use Cases

Preparing a YC Application

Use the application guides to work through each form question and compare examples of stronger and weaker responses.

Evaluating What to Build

RFS playbooks provide a structured way to examine startup opportunities through customers, wedges, MVPs, and a 90-day execution plan.

Preparing for the Interview

Use the interview simulator, prep notes, founder profiles, and application research to prepare for the types of questions and decisions involved in the YC process.

Learning From Rejected Applications

Study 32+ rejection case studies to understand examples where applications did not make it through, alongside the broader application material.

Researching Startup Patterns

Explore broader collections covering batch packs, vertical packs, pivot stories, first-customer reports, and annual state-of-YC databases. These collections make it easier to compare companies across types and stages.

Sourced From Public Material

The main focus of YC Insights is organization rather than creating another layer of unsupported startup advice. Each page links to its original source, allowing readers to trace claims back to the public material they came from.

The site is an independent resource and is not affiliated with Y Combinator. Its content is based on public YC material, with sources attached so founders can verify the underlying information themselves.

Learn From YC Material Without the Research Overhead

YC Insights brings scattered public YC material into one searchable library of application guides, founder stories, RFS playbooks, rejection examples, databases, tools, and downloadable resources. For founders applying to YC or simply studying how startups are evaluated and built, it provides a more organized way to learn from the material already available publicly.