The Ultimate Y Cominator Interview Preparation List: 50+ Questions

Preparing for your Y Combinator interview? You are in the right place.

YC interviews are notoriously intense, taking just 10 minutes to convince some of the world’s sharpest investors that your startup is worthy of funding. With acceptance rates hovering around 1-2%, every answer counts.

This comprehensive guide features 50+ real YC interview questions organized into seven important categories, from company vision and market fit to team dynamics and tough questions designed to test your thinking.

Whether you’re a first-time founder or a repeat entrepreneur, these questions, drawn from the insights of successful YC applicants and partners, will help you practice, perfect your pitch, and walk into interviews with confidence.

Real questions asked by YC partners, organized by topic, so you can prepare thoughtful, concise answers that showcase your startup’s potential.

Let’s prepare you to make those 10 minutes count.

Category 1: Company & Vision (“What”)

1. So, what are you working on?
2. Explain what you do in one clear, jargon-free sentence.
3. What is the company’s long-term vision?
4. If you succeed, what will happen in the next 10 years?
5. Why is now the right time for this idea?
6. What will you build first?
7. What is new or innovative about what you do?
8. If your company makes the headlines in a major newspaper in 5 years, what will it cover?

Category 2: Problem & Solution (“Why”)

9. What problem are you solving?
10. Who has this problem? Be specific.
11. How do you know this is a real problem? What’s your proof?
12. How do people solve this problem now (without your product)?
13. What is your unique insight into this issue? What do you understand that others don’t?
14. Why is this a must-have solution, not just a nice solution?
15. What have you learned from early adopters about this issue?

Category 3: Traction & Metrics (“Evidence”)

16. What’s your progress so far?
17. How many users do you have?
18. How much do you earn?
19. What are your key metrics? (e.g. MRR, DAU, WAU)
20. What is your growth rate from week to week?
21. What is your user retention? (Show me group analysis).
22. What is your CAC and LTV? What is your payback period?
23. How do you know people will really like your product?
24. Tell us about your best users. What makes them the best?
25. If you don’t have users, what have you done to validate the idea?
26. What are the main things users ask for?
27. What have you learned from your metrics so far?

Category 4: Go to Market & Growth (“How”)

28. How did you get your first 1,000 users?
29. What specific, recurring channels are working for you right now?
30. How do you scale user acquisition?
31. What is the biggest challenge to your growth?
32. What are your plans for the 3 months of YC? What’s your goal?
33. How can you make $100K in MRR? What is required?
34. Why don’t you grow faster?

Category 5: Market & Competition (“Where”)

35. Who are your main competitors?
36. How are you different from them?
37. What would you do if Google/Apple/Amazon launched a competing feature tomorrow?
38. What’s your moat? How do you defend against competitors in the long term?
39. What is the total addressable market size? How do you calculate it?
40. Why will you win in this market?

Category 6: Team (“Who”)

41. Who is on the team and what is your role?
42. How did the founders meet? How long have you known each other?
43. Why are you the right team to build this? What is your unfair advantage?
44. Who does what? What is equity sharing and why?
45. Have you worked on a project together before?
46. What is the biggest disagreement you’ve had as a team?
47. Who on the team have you known the longest? Who is the newest addition?
48. Are you all working on this full time?
49. What is your biggest weakness as a team?

Category 7: Tough Questions & Curve Balls

50. What is the biggest risk to your business?
51. What’s the worst case scenario?
52. Which part of your plan are you least confident about?
53. Tell me something true and no one will agree with you.
54. What will you do if we don’t fund you?
55. If you could start over, what would you do differently?
56. What questions do you have for us?

Your Next Steps: From Preparation to Interview Day

You’ve now seen the question, here’s how to use it effectively:

Practice out loud. The YC interview moved quickly. Practice answering each question in 30-60 seconds until your responses feel natural, not rehearsed. Record yourself or practice with a co-founder to identify unclear explanations or nervous habits.

Know your numbers coldly. YC Partners will track your metrics. Memorize your growth rate, retention group, CAC, LTV, and burn rate. If you stumble on basic numbers, it indicates that you are not on top of your business.

Prepare follow-up. Each answer can raise three more questions. Think deeply, if you say “we are growing 15% week over week”, be prepared to explain which channels are driving that growth and whether that growth is sustainable.

Stay honest and humble. YC values ​​self-awareness over courage. If you don’t know something, just say so. If you make a mistake, admit it and explain what you learned.

Ready to take your startup to the next level? Whether you get into YC or not, getting your business fundamentals in order is critical. doola’s AI Business-in-a-Box™ helps founders handle formation, compliance, bookkeeping, and taxes, so you can focus on building and growing.

Good luck with your YC interview. You’ve got this.