YC Application Video in 2026: Founder Video and Demo

The YC application video is one minute of the founders talking to the camera, and nothing else. As of 2026, Y Combinator's application video page says it "should be 1 minute long and should contain nothing except the founders talking," that every founder should be in it, and that you should speak from bullet points, not a script. A product demo is a separate, optional part of the application. This guide covers both: the founder video YC asks for, and a short demo video that shows your real product fast.

What YC asks for in the YC application video

YC's instructions are short, so read them in full on ycombinator.com/video. The rules, quoted:

• What to say: "please introduce yourselves, explain what you're doing and why, and tell us anything else you want to about the founders or the project."
• Length and content: "The video should be 1 minute long and should contain nothing except the founders talking."
• No demo here: "This is not the place to submit a demo or promotional video." The page adds: "For this video, we want to hear how the founders communicate."
• Everyone appears: "If you have more than one founder, have all of your founders in the video."
• Remote teams: "If you can't be in the same room at the same time, screen record a video call instead."
• No script: "Do not recite a written script: Use bullet points instead." And: "Reading a written script doesn't help your application or convey communication skills."

The same page links four founder videos from past batches (Campus Job and Flip from W15, Zenefits and Teespring from W13). Watch two of them before you record. They are plain: people at a table, talking.

Why the founder video matters

Paul Graham's essay How to Apply to Y Combinator, still hosted on YC's site, describes how a partner reads an application. On the video he writes: "(Statistically we're much more likely to interview people who submit a video.)"

The essay also explains the reading conditions. In his example, a partner reading 1,000 applications in 10 days has to get through about 100 a day, so "you have to be exceptionally clear and concise. Whatever you have to say, give it to us right in the first sentence, in the simplest possible terms." The essay is about the written answers, but the same rule fits the video. The partner watching yours has watched many others that day.

Two more lines from the essay apply directly:

• "We're immune to marketing-speak; to us it's just noise."
• "I care more about the founders than the idea, because most of the startups we fund will change their idea significantly."

So the YC founder video is not a pitch and not an ad. It's a sample of how you talk about your own company.

How to plan your minute

YC gives you the topics, not an order. Here is one way to use the 60 seconds. The timings are a suggestion, not a YC rule.

1. Names and roles (about 10 s). Each founder says their name and what they do on the team. One sentence each.
2. What you're making (about 10 s). One matter-of-fact sentence. Graham's example of a good answer is "A database with a wiki-like interface, combined with a graphical UI for controlling who can see and edit what." Say what it is, not how big it could be.
3. Why you (about 20 s). How you met, how long you've worked together, what you know about this problem that most people don't.
4. Where you are (about 15 s). Users, revenue, what shipped last week. If you have no numbers yet, say what you've built.
5. Close (about 5 s). Stop. No tagline.

Write these as five bullets on a card. Then talk through them, out loud, three or four times before you record. You should know the order, not the words.

Who says what

Split the bullets so every founder speaks. A video where one founder talks and the other nods doesn't show how you work together, and YC asks to see all of you. If one of you is the technical founder, let them explain what they built. It's usually the most convincing part.

Setup: record the founder video in an afternoon

You don't need a crew. You need to be heard and seen clearly.

• Camera: a recent phone or a laptop webcam is fine. Put it at eye level, landscape, on something stable.
• Sound: this matters more than the picture. Record in a small room with soft furnishings, close the windows, and turn off fans. If you have a cheap clip-on mic, use it.
• Light: face a window or a lamp. Don't sit with a window behind you.
• Framing: all founders in one shot, from the chest up. Sit close together.
• Remote founders: YC explicitly allows a screen recording of a video call. Use speaker view or gallery view so both faces stay visible.
• Takes: do several and send the most natural one, not the most polished one. A small stumble is fine. A recited paragraph is not.
• Length: stay at about a minute. YC says one minute; going long costs you.

YC's public pages don't list a file format or upload method for the video. Check the field in the application form before you export.

Mistakes that cost you

• Reading a script. YC says it directly: reading "doesn't help your application." It shows in the eyes.
• Putting the demo in the founder video. Screen recordings, slides and product shots belong in the demo field, not here.
• Marketing-speak. "We're transforming the way teams collaborate" tells the partner nothing. Say the product in plain words.
• Leaving a founder out. If someone is on the application, they're in the video.
• Editing it into a production. Music, titles, B-roll and jump cuts every two seconds work against you. YC wants to hear you talk.
• Bad audio. An echoing room or a laptop fan makes a good minute hard to watch.

The YC demo video: show the real product, fast

The demo is optional, and it lives in its own place in the application. YC's founder video page says: "If you have a demo for your product, there is a separate place in the application for that."

YC's interview guide defines the word: "By demo, we mean a working version of whatever you've built or plan to build." It also says that for interviews, "If it's software, have it loaded up and ready to screenshare with us," and for hardware, "If it can't be in the room with you, have a demo video available."

YC's public pages don't give a length limit or format for the demo, so the rules below are judgment, not YC policy. The partner has already read your one-sentence description and watched your founder video. The demo's job is to prove the thing exists and works.

What a good Y Combinator demo video does

• Shows the product in the first few seconds. No logo animation, no title card, no slide about the problem.
• Does one real task, start to finish. Sign in, do the thing your one-sentence description promised, show the result. That's the whole video.
• Uses the real product. Real screens, real data where you can share it. A Figma mockup reads as "not built yet."
• Cuts the waiting. Trim loading spinners, typos and the moment you hunt for a button. Don't speed up the whole thing; cut the dead seconds.
• Stays short. Aim for under a minute. If the task takes longer, you're showing too much.
• Says what's happening. A short voice-over or a few captions help the partner follow without guessing. Keep it plain: "Here I paste a contract. It flags the three clauses that differ from our template."

Two shapes that work

Pick one, based on how much you need to explain.

A demo cut (about 60 s): one task, start to finish, on your own recording. Best when the product speaks for itself and the task is the point.

A pitch cut (about 45 s): the problem in one line, your real screen solving it, one piece of proof (users, a number, a quote from a customer), and what you're building next. Best when the task alone doesn't show why it matters.

Both use the same raw material: one screen recording of you doing the task.

How to record the demo

1. Write down the task in one sentence. "Upload a bank statement and get a categorized report."
2. Prepare the account. Use a clean demo account with believable data. Close other tabs, hide bookmarks, turn off notifications.
3. Set the screen size. Record at a normal resolution and zoom the browser so text is readable on a laptop screen. A partner should be able to read your UI without pausing.
4. Record the task three times with whatever screen recorder you already use. Go at normal speed.
5. Cut it down. Keep the best take. Remove every second where nothing changes on screen.
6. Add a voice or captions, then watch it once with the sound off and once on a phone.

If you want help with shot choices and pacing, our film shots and motion vocabulary pages explain the terms editors use.

A checklist before you submit

Founder video:

• About one minute, founders only, every founder on screen
• Spoken from bullets, not read
• Clear audio, faces lit from the front
• One plain sentence about what you make

Demo video:

• Real product in the first seconds
• One task, start to finish
• No dead time, readable text
• Under a minute

This batch's dates

As of October 17, 2026, YC's apply page says it is accepting applications for the Winter 2027 batch, which runs January to March in San Francisco. The on-time deadline is November 2 at 8pm PT, and people who apply before it "will get a decision by December 11." YC also says it will still consider late applications. Dates change every batch, so check the apply page and the FAQ before you plan around them.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the YC application video?

One minute. Y Combinator's application video page says the video "should be 1 minute long and should contain nothing except the founders talking."

Should I put a product demo in the YC founder video?

No. YC's video page says the founder video "is not the place to submit a demo or promotional video," and that a product demo goes in a separate place in the application.

Do all cofounders need to be in the YC application video?

Yes. YC asks that all founders appear in the video. If the founders can't be in the same room at the same time, YC says to screen record a video call instead.

Can I read a script in my YC application video?

No. YC's instructions say "Do not recite a written script: Use bullet points instead," because reading a script doesn't show how the founders communicate.

Does the YC founder video affect your chances of an interview?

Yes. In his essay How to Apply to Y Combinator, Paul Graham writes: "Statistically we're much more likely to interview people who submit a video."

Is a Y Combinator demo video required?

No. The demo is optional, and YC's application has a separate place for it, apart from the founder video.

How long should a YC demo video be?

Under a minute is a good target, though YC's public pages give no length limit for the demo. A YC demo video works best when it shows the real product in the first few seconds and does one task, start to finish.

The founder video is yours to make on a phone. The demo is where most people get stuck between a raw recording and something a partner will watch to the end. Demo Editor turns that screen recording into a finished pitch or demo cut, with voice-over, and you check the storyboard before it's made. Packs start at $49 for 4 videos.