Poisonal

ai
Hot Take
Hot Take
YC teaches you to move faster and think smaller than you otherwise would, which is useful for some teams and useless or actively harmful for others; the brand value of the badge matters more to investors than the actual training, and if you're the kind of founder who would benefit from it, you probably don't need the stamp to prove it.
Why the brand outweighs the curriculum →
How To
How To · FIG. 5

Filling Out the Blank Spaces

Write the one answer that survives the room.

SHOW ME HOW
How To
How To · FIG. 2

Drafting Your Two Sentence Pitch

Cut the adjectives until the engine is visible.

SHOW ME HOW
How To
How To · FIG. 11

Listing Who Else Tried This

Map the graveyard before you claim the empty lot.

SHOW ME HOW
Warning
Warning
Founders treat demo day as the endpoint and spend the batch preparing for those ten minutes in front of LPs, then reach demo day and discover they've raised almost nothing—because LPs fund companies they've already been talking to for months, not companies they meet on stage for the first time. The investors in the room are looking to confirm decisions already half-made.
See how demo day fundraising actually works →
How To
How To · FIG. 6

Pricing a Market That Barely Exists

Show the multiplication before the investor does it for you.

SHOW ME HOW
How To
How To · FIG. 12

Dividing Equity Among Three Tired Friends

Set the vesting schedule before the first argument starts.

SHOW ME HOW
How To
How To · FIG. 10

Recording a Video That Does Not Embarrass You

Turn off the script and speak to the laptop lens.

SHOW ME HOW
How To
How To · FIG. 7

Submitting Ten Minutes Before the Deadline

Press send while the server is still accepting traffic.

SHOW ME HOW
Chat
1 missed call
Voicemail
Ex-YC Partner Who Heard 500 Pitches
mentor · just now
0:000:09
Transcription
“I spent a decade deciding who gets funding and who gets the door.”
Opening line
Ten minutes goes by faster than you think. Let's talk about what they're actually looking for behind that table.
Open the conversation
How To
How To · FIG. 8

Surviving Ten Minutes Under Bright Lights

Answer the question you were asked instead of another one.

SHOW ME HOW
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Dissecting a Real Ten Minute Transcript

Read the sentences where the founders lose the room.

WATCH IT DONE
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Answering Why You Will Move to Mountain View

Defend your zip code against partners who hate commuting.

WATCH IT DONE
Bullets
Outline
What the written form actually tests
  • ▸Clarity over jargon
  • Explain what you build simply
  • Avoid buzzwords entirely
  • ▸Founder dynamics matter
  • Show how long you have known each other
  • Highlight who writes the code
  • ▸Traction over promises
  • Share real user numbers if you have them
  • Demonstrate fast weekly growth
see the outline →
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Explaining Why Your Coincidence Is Actually a Monopoly

Turn a small hobby shop into an enterprise software giant.

WATCH IT DONE
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Handling the Question About Your Worst Fight

Admit to the disagreement without blaming the other person.

WATCH IT DONE
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Proving Market Size Without Losing Your Mind

Multiply three unbelievable numbers until someone nods along.

WATCH IT DONE
Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Walking Back Out the Glass Doors

Wait for the phone call that arrives before dinner.

WATCH IT DONE
Concept
Concept · Founder Pitch
The Ten Minute Room
in the context of Y Combinator Selection
A high speed interview where partners test how fast you think and how well you know your market.
unpack it →
Transcript
Transcript

Listening to the First Recorded Batch Meeting

Hear the founders argue about folding tables in a basement.

EXPLAIN IT TO ME
Transcript
Transcript

Arguing Over Lisp Code in an Apartment

Reconstruct the late night debate that spawned a venture fund.

EXPLAIN IT TO ME
Transcript
Transcript

Reading Partner Notes From a Rejected Pitch

Scan the handwritten margin scrawled during an awkward hour.

EXPLAIN IT TO ME
Case File
Case 464 · Restricted

The Ten Minute Room Audit Log

Standardized interview transcripts and evaluation notes from fifty successive admissions cycles.

StatusClosed
PhotographNone on File
Open the book
The Ten Minute Room Audit Log
  • Standardized interview transcripts and evaluation notes from fifty successive admissions cycles
Transcript
Transcript

Debating Demo Day Order on a Whiteboard

Fight for the first slot before the investors fall asleep.

EXPLAIN IT TO ME
Editorial
— Editorial —

Chasing Unicorns in a Crowded Room

Write the essay every applicant reads before their first meeting.

by THE DESK
HEAR THE ARGUMENT
Editorial
— Editorial —

Building Products Nobody Asked For Yet

Pretend you can see five years around a dark corner.

by THE DESK
HEAR THE ARGUMENT
Editorial
— Editorial —

Selling Hope to People Who Have Rent Due

Examine the moral weight of bootstrapping a software company.

by THE DESK
HEAR THE ARGUMENT
Editorial
— Editorial —

Worshiping False Idols in Silicon Valley

Trace the lineage of founders who became local royalty.

by THE DESK
HEAR THE ARGUMENT
Case Report
I
FILE № 3844-7883
Case Report

Surviving the Pivot From Drones to Cupcakes

Watch a team change their entire product line on a Tuesday.

OPEN THE FILE
Case Report
A
FILE № 9478-9578
Case Report

Burning Three Million Dollars on Facebook Ads

Audit the invoices of a startup that grew too fast.

CLOSED
OPEN THE FILE
Case Report
R
FILE № 3512-3062
Case Report

Fired by Your Own Board of Directors

Read the termination letter delivered in an empty conference room.

OPEN THE FILE
Case Report
H
FILE № 0546-1428
Case Report

Acquired for Pocket Change on a Friday Afternoon

Calculate the payout after legal fees and preferred shares.

OPEN THE FILE
Profile
B
Profile

Building Tiny Tools in a Bedroom

software developer; creator of single-player utilities

Follow an indie developer who refuses to hire anyone.

MEET THEM
Profile
M
Profile

Managing Fifty Portfolio Companies at Once

venture capitalist; former enterprise software founder

Track a partner who answers emails at three in the morning.

MEET THEM
Profile
L
Profile

Leaving Academia to Write Python Scripts

research physicist; backend infrastructure engineer

Translate ten years of physics research into a database query.

MEET THEM
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