WINNING Y COMBINATOR: Read the successful applications that hot startups used to win a spot in the accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox

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WINNING Y COMBINATOR: Read the successful applications that hot startups used to win a spot in the accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox
Yunha Kim Simple Habit

Yunha Kim

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Yunha Kim is the founder of Simple Habit. She participated in Y Combinator's 2017 batch.

  • Y Combinator is an incredibly selective startup accelerator. An impressive application can help you win a spot.
  • Business Insider has highlighted below some examples of successful applications from Y Combinator alumni.
  • March 16 is the deadline to apply for Y Combinator's Summer 2020 batch.
  • Business Insider regularly interviews founders about their entrepreneurial journeys. You can read about them all by subscribing to BI Prime.

Since Y Combinator opened its doors in 2005, more than 2,000 startups have gone through the accelerator.

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Many of those startups have since achieved tremendous success. Think Airbnb, Dropbox, Instacart, Coinbase, and Brex.

The admissions process at Y Combinator is notoriously selective: Roughly 1.6% of the companies that apply make it in. Once they do, those companies receive seed funding, plus advice from seasoned founders. The program culminates in a Demo Day, when founders get to pitch investors on their business.

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The deadline to participate in Y Combinator's Summer 2020 batch is March 16. In order to convince the admissions committee that you deserve a spot in the program, you'll have to craft an impressive pitch.

Business Insider has talked to several founders who have done just that - and we've shared the original applications that got them in.

Below, we've listed those applications, which you can use as inspiration when you're writing your own.

Goodly: Read the application form that got a company with $0 in the bank into the selective startup accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox

InEvent: The startup accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox rejected 3 founders in 2015 - so they rewrote their application and tried again. Read the form that finally won them a spot last year.

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Simple Habit: Read the application form that got the 'Spotify for meditation' into the selective startup accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox

Prolific: Less than 2% of applicants get accepted to Y Combinator, the startup accelerator that launched Airbnb and Dropbox. Read the application that helped 2 scientists who bootstrapped their business get in.

Are you a startup founder who's participated in Y Combinator and wants to share your story? Contact Business Insider correspondent Shana Lebowitz at slebowitz@businessinsider.com.

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