Getting backed by Y Combinator
36 days between submitting an application and getting $500,000
TLDR I’m writing to share my experience as a startup founder. I’ll periodically share updates about my journey building Fern. Support my team’s open-source project by leaving a star on GitHub! ⭐
Y Combinator is the best program for creating top-end entrepreneurs that has ever existed.
- Marc Andreessen, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Y Combinator’s Standard Deal
In November 2022, my co-founders and I applied to Y Combinator (YC), an accelerator program that backs early-stage startups with a $500,000 investment.
How does the investment work? You give up ~10% of your company for $500,000. The terms of the “Standard Deal” are:
$125,000 for 7% of your company
$375,000 at terms you will negotiate with other investors in your next investment round (i.e., an uncapped safe with a Most Favored Nation provision)
Founders don’t accept the YC deal because of the money.
They do it because it increases their odds of success.
36 days to get $500,000
We submitted our application to YC on November 16, 2022. Just 36 days later, we received a wire transfer for $500,000 💸.
The Winter 2023 Batch
YC hosts two 3-month programs — one starting in January and the other in June. We’re in the Winter 2023 (abbreviated to W23) batch with 200+ companies and 500+ founders. On Demo Day, April 5th/6th1, we’ll get in front of 1,500+ investors and media to pitch our companies—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
What support does Y Combinator provide? That’s a topic for a future update 😉.
Thanks for following my journey,
Danny
P.S. Want to request a topic for me to write about next time? Share it here.
The number of companies participating in a YC batch has doubled in the last five years. As a result, Demo Day grew from a 1-day event to a 2-day event—just like Prime Day 😉.
This shows you've got a lot of swagger
Nice work! That is a high bar and exclusive company you're with. Good luck!