YC Startups: What They Sell and How They Find Customers

Every few months, a new group of startups joins Y Combinator. Each one has a product, a buyer and a first idea about how to find customers. Taken together, they form one of the most useful public datasets for founders.

This guide shows how to study what YC startups sell and how they find customers, and how to turn the patterns into decisions.

Why study YC startups?

Because they are public, comparable and early. Y Combinator lists companies by batch on its companies directory, with short descriptions and filters. You can see what hundreds of young companies say they do, who they say it is for and how they position themselves.

Early companies also reveal early tactics. Founders often start with whatever works fastest, not with polished marketing. Looking at many of them shows which routes keep appearing.

What does this post include, and what does it leave out?

It explains a method, not a list of named companies. Company names, funding and traction change quickly, and we do not want to publish anything that is out of date or unverified. Use the method below with the current batch, and record your own findings from the directory and each company’s public site.

That is also why the title says to refresh each batch. The research is only as useful as the data in it.

How do you read the directory?

Start with one batch. Use the filters to narrow by industry, and open each company’s entry. Record the one-line description, the type of buyer and the stage. Then visit the company’s website and note what it says about customers and how to start.

Do this for a sample of 30 to 50 companies, across a few industries. That is enough to see patterns without losing days.

What should you record for each company?

Use a simple template.

Field	What to write
Batch and industry	From the directory
What it sells	One line, in your words
Who buys	Role and company type
Price signal	Free, self-serve, quote or unknown
First call to action	Book a demo, start a trial, join a waitlist
Visible channels	Content, community, outbound, partnerships, product-led
Proof shown	Customer names, case notes, integrations

Keep notes factual. Do not guess at numbers that the company has not published.

How do YC startups find customers? The patterns you usually see

Several routes show up again and again, in different mixes.

• Founder-led selling. Founders talk to customers directly and recruit early users by hand. Paul Graham’s essay Do Things That Don’t Scale describes this approach.
• Targeted outbound. Short, specific outreach to a narrow list of buyers.
• Community and content. Posts, tools or open-source work that bring a specific audience.
• Product-led growth. A free or self-serve product that spreads inside teams.
• Integrations and partnerships. Listings and partners in ecosystems where buyers already work.
• Launches and press. Public launches that bring a burst of attention.

Which routes dominate depends on the batch, the industry and the buyer. Your notes will show it.

What do they sell, and who do they sell it to?

Look for the shape of the offer: software for businesses, tools for developers, services for consumers, regulated products. Note how narrow the buyer is. Many early companies name a specific role or industry in their description, because a narrow claim is easier to prove and to reach.

Also note how they describe the problem. Companies that state a painful, specific problem tend to be easier to understand than those that describe a general platform.

How do you turn patterns into decisions?

Ask three questions. Which routes match my buyer and my stage? Which are cheap enough to test in a month? Which can I measure?

Then pick one or two to test. If your buyer is a named role at mid-sized companies, test targeted outbound. If your buyer is a developer, test community and content. If your product can be used alone, test product-led routes. Paul Graham’s essay Startup = Growth argues that growth rate is the measure that matters, so keep tests short and learn fast.

What should you not copy?

Do not copy a channel because a well-known company uses it. Do not copy numbers or claims that you cannot verify. Do not copy a pricing page without checking your costs. And do not assume that a tactic that works for a product with a free tier works for one that needs a sales call.

Gartner’s 2026 survey of B2B buyers found that 67% prefer a rep-free buying experience, which suggests that clear self-serve information matters for business products. Use that as a prompt to examine your own site, not as a rule.

How do you keep the study useful?

Refresh it every batch. Keep the template the same, so that you can compare. Add a column for what you tested and what you learned. Share the notes with your team, and review them before you plan the next quarter.

Y Combinator also publishes advice in its startup library. Read it alongside your notes, and treat it as a source of hypotheses to test.

Why do the same patterns appear in different batches?

Because the underlying problem is the same. A new company has a small team, little brand and a short runway. It needs a path to customers that costs more effort than money. Founder-led outreach, community work and product-led spread fit those limits.

Differences appear in how each batch uses new tools, such as new platforms for outreach or new ways to automate work. Watching those shifts helps you spot opportunities early, before they become crowded.

How should you use this with your own customers?

Use the study to form hypotheses, then test them with your own buyers. Ask customers how they found you, what they tried before and what convinced them. Compare their answers with what you see in the directory. Where they match, you have a promising channel. Where they differ, trust your customers.

The strongest go-to-market insights come from the intersection of outside patterns and inside evidence.

What should you do first?

Open the directory, pick one batch and record twenty companies in the template. Look for the three routes you see most. Choose one to test this month, and write down what you expect to see. After four weeks, compare your result with the expectation.

For related reading, see your first 90 days after a seed round, how funded startups book their first 100 sales meetings and our page for funded startups and YC companies. See also our go-to-market strategy service, or book a free go-to-market diagnostic.