On May 5, 2022, I was sitting in front of my computer, Zoom open. We had managed to get an interview with Y Combinator, and it was time for our 10-minute call. In the days leading up to it, we prepared poorly for the interview. That’s not a typo—we really didn’t do it well. Even though we spoke with YC alumni who gave us advice and practiced a bit, in my opinion, we weren’t in sync as a team, and that showed clearly in our pitch.

But then interview day came and, honestly, I was very nervous. I can’t imagine how it must feel in person, since online you can pull little “tricks”: having notes open in Notion to remember key points, or catching a breath while your cofounder talks without it being too obvious.

When you join the call, after a brief intro from the partners, they ask the inevitable: “What are you building?” You can be sure this question always comes up in every YC interview.

We were given two strategies to approach it:

  • Option A: Use it to communicate everything relevant about your startup and team. They probably won’t interrupt, so it’s your chance to explain concisely why you’re a solid bet.
  • Option B: Just respond with a slogan.

Today, I’d say Option A is better—but always keep it concise.

Another common mistake when presenting your startup is not having a clear objective for the interview. As a founder, you must educate the investor on why you’re a good bet (team, traction, competitive advantage, track record, etc.).

After that first question, the conversation can go in any direction. In our case, we had no revenue and had recently pivoted to another product without traction. That was a serious mistake—not because we lacked traction, but because the new product was just a copy of another startup. It didn’t come from an insight from our potential users or a personal problem.

So when they asked us how we planned to scale, we didn’t know what to say. If you’re copying a product, you’re very likely unclear on many things.

We also, unintentionally, exaggerated our user count. Even though the YC partners didn’t mention it during the interview or in their feedback, I feel it was obvious from our answers that they lacked coherence.

Because of all this, the 10 minutes felt endless and, at the same time, flew by.

Honestly, they didn’t ask extraordinary questions. All the answers you need to give boil down to three key points:

  1. What problem are you solving?
  2. Who are you solving it for?
  3. Why is your team the right one?

If we’d had clear answers to these, we probably would have succeeded. But having them clear usually means you’re actually building a real business—something we weren’t doing at that time.

Extra Material

This was advice given to us by one of Plerk’s cofounders (YC Alumni). I still keep it because it’s such a key, concise summary of what TO do in a YC interview:

  1. They will start with the question “What are you doing?” After that, time is yours. Imagine you’re a lawyer giving your opening statement. Share your one-liner, describe what you do, and how you’re doing it. Keep going until you run out of important, fact-based things to say, or until they interrupt with a question. (This happens fast).
  2. Have your vertebrae. Imagine you’re in an elevator with Jeff Bezos—you have 4–5 sentences to impress him. That’s your vertebrae. Don’t leave the interview without saying them. They may not ask directly, so find a way to weave them into other answers.
  3. If you’re not a solo founder, make sure the whole team speaks during the interview. The CEO is expected to talk 75–85% of the time.
  4. Have fun. You’re talking about your company, so you’re the expert.