Founder who applied to YC 7 times shares 3 lessons on writing a winning application
garrytan · x · 2026-10-27
A founder who got rejected 7 times before joining YC shares what writing those applications taught him. YC reviewers spend only 10 seconds per app, but the repeated drafting helped him clarify what his team was uniquely good at.
- It all starts with you: at early stage, "you" are the product — show how your experience and unique insight connect to the idea.
- Prove trust with numbers: revenue or open-source stars don't lie and invite natural follow-up questions.
- A crisp one-liner: describe your customer, industry, and killer feature in 50 characters.
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