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What YC Is Really Betting On?
An X-ray of 793 YC startups
128 followers
An X-ray of 793 YC startups
128 followers
What does the average YC company actually look like? I scraped 793 startups and 1,625 founder bios from the last 5 batches to find out. 27 interactive charts covering: which industries are surging, which are dying, what founders have in common, how partners pick companies, hidden themes in descriptions, and the exact statistical profile of a "default" YC startup. Some surprises: YC funds direct competitors in the same batch. And every partner has a type. Free. No login
What YC Is Really Betting On?
This is seriously impressive work. I've been meaning to dig into YC trends like this for a while.
If there's any way I can contribute or help, I'd love to be involved. I'm especially interested in understanding underlying YC patterns more deeply.
What YC Is Really Betting On?
@shreya_chaurasia19 Thanks, happy to collaborate.
Agnes AI
Great analysis for YC portfolios! now question is here - how could my start up successfully break into YC? lol
What YC Is Really Betting On?
@cruise_chen I've never been to YC, never applied, and I'm definitely not a consultant.
But if the data says anything, here's the formula:
→ Be AI-first (88% of YC companies are)
→ Sell to businesses, not consumers (66% are B2B)
→ Have a co-founder (68% are duos)
→ Don't be a wrapper, build something with real technical depth
→ Pick a boring industry nobody's looking at such as construction, insurance, legal
→ Be in SF (helps but not required)
Good luck! 😄
just interested, is there any information on age?
What YC Is Really Betting On?
@malac Not yet, but I can try to add it.
minimalist phone: creating folders
Cool, I will be sharing this with the team, they are trying raise money, some stats will be helpful for them. Thank you for sharing :)
What YC Is Really Betting On?
@busmark_w_nika Glad you liked it!
Hey nice work, interesting insights! What is your definition of "wrapper"?
What YC Is Really Betting On?
Thanks @janschutte, "wrapper" means a company whose core product is primarily an application layer on top of a third-party foundation model (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) with minimal proprietary AI of its own. Essentially a UI/UX or workflow around an existing model.
ConnectMachine
It is interesting to note that almost 70% of the teams are only two-person.
What YC Is Really Betting On?
@syed_shayanur_rahman Yes and 3+ teams have the highest FAANG rate (32.8%), highest PhD rate (10.2%), most SF-based (62.8%) and they hire the least.