Article · 8 min read

What Happens at YC

Y Combinator Free Beginner

This is the horse's-mouth map of how a batch actually runs, and it names the two levers you should grab in week one: your group partner (6 to 10 companies per section, group office hours every two weeks plus one-on-ones as often as you ask) and Bookface, where batchmates and alumni answer questions and make intros. Read it to know exactly whose office hours to book and why the founders in your section become your most useful network for years.

  • Your group partner runs a small section (6 to 10 companies), so office hours are intimate: book them early and often rather than saving your questions
  • Bookface and the 3-day in-person kickoff exist to make batchmates reachable from day one; start using them before you have a crisis
  • Demo Day is one of the rare moments top investors all focus on the same thing, so treat the whole batch as the run-up to it
Open on ycombinator.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. I got into an incubator or accelerator. What do I actually do in the first two weeks to set it up right?

Read with it

  1. Most YC content is about getting in; this piece is refreshingly about what to do once you are in, and it backs our whole... HubSpot Article · 15 min read Getting Into Y Combinator and Succeeding HubSpot for Startups
  2. Our answer says get your data room started early so Demo Day is not a scramble, and this is the concrete checklist to do it,... FounderFirst (Spotlight Insights) Article · 12 min read Fundraising Data Room Checklist: Structure, Templates and What Investors Actually Look For FounderFirst
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →