One open-source API for startup data across Y Combinator AND a16z - 6,600+ companies with funding, stage, IPO/M&A exits, and founders. Filter by VC (yc/a16z/all), batch, industry, country, or search. Grab a free API key, read the docs (curl/Node/Python + Swagger), and build in 30 seconds. Plus the full web app: map, analytics, funding data, a live hiring board, and AI tools.
Just shipped an improved version of the vector search for companies! Take a look & let me know what you think!
I also put it as main agentic search bar on the main page of ExploreYC, from reading all comments this is one of the most loved features and I think it deserves more visibility
how do you actually check if your idea's been done before? like - gpt it, google it, ask friends, dig through YC's directory, or just.. cross fingers and build?
asking because i built ExploreYC trying to fix exactly that... through semantic search on over 8.6k startups, but genuinely curious what people reach for before a tool. what's your move?
I was prepping my YC application. I wanted to know: has anyone already done this idea?
YC's search gave me nothing useful. So I spent a weekend scraping their Algolia API, built a local database, ran embeddings against my pitch... and found 3 companies that had tried it.
before my last two launches I wasted weeks building before checking who else was in the space. don t be me. here s the 30-min competitor check I do now, all free tools:
1. search PH archives (5 min)
search your keywords on Product Hunt. sort by launch date. note how the top 5 positioned themselves the gaps in their taglines are your opening.
Used the GStack by Garry Tan [https://github.com/garrytan/gstackv] from Y Combinator to build a list of issues, improvements, features, fixes everyone can work on!
If you would like to contirbute, you can find it all at: https://github.com/KonstantinMB/...
