Make your YC application stand out (Spring 2025 edition)
Every batch, many founders get rejected due to basic application mistakes, missing key criteria that YC partners explicitly look for. We learned this the hard way, which is why we built YC Score. Simply upload your draft PDF or fill out our YC-mirrored form. Our AI analyzes your responses against 25 critical factors that can make or break your application, from technical credentials to market validation. For instance, when YC partner Dalton Caldwell notes that teams with technical founders have "5x better odds," you need to know before submitting. YC Score flags these deal-breakers and shows…
Make your YC application stand out (Spring 2025 edition) launched on February 6, 2025 with 13 votes, #1,198 of 5,999 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
In plain words
YC Score is an AI tool that evaluates Y Combinator applications by analyzing them against 25 critical factors known to influence acceptance decisions. Founders upload their draft application PDF or complete a mirrored form, and the tool identifies potential weaknesses—such as missing technical credentials or insufficient market validation—based on insights from YC partners and successful founders. It flags deal-breakers and provides guidance on how to strengthen responses before submission.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Every batch, many founders get rejected due to basic application mistakes, missing key criteria that YC partners explicitly look for. We learned this the hard way, which is why we built YC Score. Simply upload your draft PDF or fill out our YC-mirrored form. Our AI analyzes your responses against 25 critical factors…
Does a similar job
all alternatives →
Y Combinator Co-founder Matching2021 · ycombinator.com · ▲642YC’s free online platform to help you find your co-founder
The Y Combinator Database2017 · ycdb.co · ▲866The definitive database of YC companies with all the metrics
- IM
More ai this month
the category →
Paintings by AI models: programs run through a simulation of oil paint.
AI · 20d ago · stillwet.art
PixVerse R2▲381A real-time world model you can explore and change
AI · 29d ago · world.pixverse.video
Source: Show HN post ↗ · launch text quoted in part
Launched alongside, February 2025
the whole month →
Screen Studio 3.0▲1,832Beautiful screen recordings with instant shareable links
Growth · 2025 · screen.studio
- IG
I was at FB/Meta from late 2013 to early 2023, mostly working in the compiler/runtime spaces. I got hit in the spring 2023 layoff wave. I immediately started making games in my newfound free time (a lifelong interest, and I even worked in AA(A?) back ca. ~2000), and in October 2023 I stumbled upon the idea of a roguelike pachinko/plinko game inspired by Luck Be A Landlord. Things snowballed quickly, I started talking to publishers, then worked like crazy through all of 2024, almost the hardest I've ever worked in my career, and launched the game in December 2024. It's sold…
Work · 2025
i wanted to change the habit of reaching for my phone in the morning and doomscrolling away an hour so i built an app to help me. now i have to literally touch grass before accessing my most distracting apps the app is built in swiftui, uses the screen time apis provided by apple and google vision to recognise grass or not i'd love to get your thoughts on the concept.
Life & fun · 2025 · touchgrass.now