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A quiet field journal for the founders Y Combinator said no to. Share your story, read the others, and get an invite to the club when it opens.
The club, coming soon
YC Rejects Club is a small, verified community of founders who didn't quit after the 'no.' Share your story, get verified, and get an invite when it's time.
Waitlist · founders only
The way in is a story.
We only invite founders who've shared their rejection here. No lurkers, no observers, no press — just people who've been in the arena themselves. Submit yours and you're on the list.
“Link-sharing tool that overlays a call-to-action on any URL you share.
"We realized that all along, we were applying for the sake of getting in, hoping that YC would solve all our problems." — Michael Cheng's LinkedIn post on turning down a second YC interview after his first rejection. Sou…
“Local recommendations platform matching travelers with authentic hyperlocal experiences.
"Five years ago today, we were rejected by YCombinator. A couple of our competitors were mentioned in our interview and they were both sold for cents on the tens of millions they raised in VC. Rejection isn't a time to q…
“Social media scheduling and analytics platform for creators and small businesses.
"We were rejected." — Joel Gascoigne, in Buffer's own blog post publishing their full unsuccessful YC application. Buffer went on to become one of the most-cited profitable, remote, transparent SaaS companies of the deca…
“Localization tool for developers to ship products in new languages without managing translations.
"Mid-2024, we submitted our first Y Combinator application, and a few weeks later the rejection email came." — Max Prilutskiy, in his personal blog post about eventually being accepted after being rejected first. Source:…
“Browser-based video editor for creators and marketers, now serving 10M+ users.
"We got rejected from YC S19! Bummer, right? … In hindsight, maybe we were too early for YC and their decision was just. It is also good to remember that the goal of a startup is not to get into YC. The goal of a startup…
“Urban exploration platform helping neighbors discover local places and connect through activities.
"My niece has been staying with us for six months and it's fucking killing me!" — Jabari Bell's blowup during his YC W19 interview, recounted in his own Substack post about the experience. giya did not receive funding an…
“Browser-based coding environment and AI agent for building software.
"By that time we had seen three YC application rejections in total. We were never even invited to do an interview." — Replit's founder Amjad Masad, in his blog post about the eventual W18 acceptance after three prior rej…
“Online coding school for kids; earlier attempts included a textbook marketplace and a PPE marketplace.
"I got rejected by Y Combinator 4 times before finally getting in on my fifth application." — Tamir Shklaz's LinkedIn post. Prior attempts included Quillo (textbook marketplace) and Insupply (PPE marketplace) before land…
“Drag-and-drop static web hosting that lets anyone put a file online in seconds.
"When nobody picks you, you have a choice — stop waiting to be picked. I decided to stop. Without those stamps of approval, I genuinely believed I didn't matter." — Elston Baretto in an on-the-record interview about foun…
“Affordable primary and urgent care coverage delivered to hourly workers through employer payroll.
"'Don't you have a co-founder?' — knew I'd gotten rejected immediately, spent next 9 min getting advice." — Joseph Kitonga's Substack recap of his 2019 YC interview. He was eventually accepted into S20 the following year…
Why this exists
Most rejected founders write the post-mortem in private and never share it. The survivor-bias on tech twitter is loud; the rest of us are not. This is where we put the other side of the story — because the rejection was the start, not the end.