The Y Combinator application asks for a one-minute video of the founders talking. YC's instructions are short: every founder in the video, no written script, and nothing in it except the founders themselves. No demo, no music, no promo edit. A phone or a laptop camera is enough, and if your co-founders are in different cities, YC is fine with a screen recording of a video call.
We're FogLine Visuals, a video production company with a studio at 855 Folsom St in San Francisco. We film launch videos, product explainers and founder content for startups. So this advice comes from people who sell video production: you don't need a production company for your YC application video. You need a quiet room, decent light and one minute of your team being itself. Below is how to get that right, and which videos are worth producing once you're in.
The YC application video at a glance
- Length: 1 minute
- Who: every founder. If you can't be in one room, screen record a video call
- What to cover: who you are, what you're building and why, anything else about the founders or the project
- Script: no written script. YC asks for bullet points and natural talk
- Not for: demos or promotional videos. The application has a separate place for a demo
- Equipment: nothing special. A phone or laptop is plenty
- Source: YC's application video page, ycombinator.com/video (checked October 2026)
What YC says about the video
YC's page says the video "should contain nothing except the founders talking." The point is to hear how the founders communicate, which is why YC asks you to talk spontaneously, the way you would with a friend, instead of reading a script.
YC partner Dalton Caldwell covered the video in an older Startup Library talk on applying. He has seen applicants send videos that run far past the limit, and his answer was simple: "One minute is the perfect amount of time." He also pointed out that when a co-founder is missing from the video, it "speaks volumes." His main ask was to follow YC's directions for the video: "I swear it matters."
Paul Graham wrote in How to Apply to Y Combinator that YC was statistically much more likely to interview founders who submitted a video. The essay is old, but the logic still holds. The video takes an hour to make, and it gets watched.
How to record it: a simple setup
Light
Sit facing a window, not with your back to it. A window behind you turns faces into silhouettes. Daylight from the front or slightly to the side is the easiest good light there is. Switch off colored lamps so you don't get mixed light on your faces.
Sound
Sound matters more than picture. People forgive a soft image much faster than an echo or fan noise. Pick a small room with soft things in it (a sofa, curtains, a rug) rather than an empty office or kitchen. Turn off the AC, close the windows and keep the phone within arm's length. If you have a clip-on mic or wired earbuds with a mic, use them. Record ten seconds and listen back on headphones before the real take.
Framing
Shoot horizontally. Put the camera at eye level on a stack of books or a cheap tripod: not handheld, and not a laptop looking up at you from the desk. Sit shoulder to shoulder so everyone fits, with a little space above your heads. Look at the lens, not at yourselves on the screen.
File
Record in 1080p, not 4K. A one-minute 4K clip can run to a few hundred megabytes, and upload forms usually limit file size. Check the current upload instructions in the application before you record.
What to say in 60 seconds
One minute is roughly 150 spoken words for the whole team, not per founder. A structure that fits:
- Each founder: name, background and role in the company, about ten seconds each.
- What you're building, in one plain sentence a non-expert would understand.
- Why you: what you know or have done that makes you the right people for this.
- Where you are: users, revenue, a pilot, what you've shipped. Specific beats big.
- If there's time: how you met. Paul Graham once suggested that how the founders met and got into the idea is one of the best things to talk about.
Write these as a few bullet points on a card behind the camera, not as sentences. Do three to five takes and send the one where you sound most like yourselves, not the most polished one.
Mistakes YC partners keep seeing
- Reading a script. It sounds like reading, and YC asks you not to.
- Going over a minute.
- A missing co-founder. If someone can't be there in person, record a video call instead.
- Sending a demo or a promo video instead of the founders talking.
- Adding music, titles, B-roll or logo animations. YC asked for founders talking and nothing else.
- Bad sound: echo, street noise, a laptop fan.
- A bright window behind you.
- Talking to the screen instead of the camera. Looking at each other when you hand over is fine.
Should you hire a video team for the application video?
No. A produced video works against you, because YC wants to see how you talk without an edit. Lights and cinema cameras won't improve your chances. A clear minute will. If you're in San Francisco and can't find a quiet room, a studio is fine, as long as the result stays one unedited conversation between the founders and the camera.
Where a video team does help
The product demo
The application has a separate place for a demo. A clean screen recording with a voiceover usually does the job. Show the product working, not a pitch. Hide notifications, use realistic data and get to the core flow early.
Your Launch YC post
After you're accepted, companies launch throughout the batch on Launch YC, YC's launch page, and posts often include a short launch video. That's where a founder-led launch video earns its keep: the YC community watches it, and you reuse it on X, LinkedIn and your site. We wrote about planning one in How to Plan a Founder-Led Launch Video for X and LinkedIn.
YC at a glance (October 2026)
- Batches: four a year (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall), in San Francisco
- Open now: Winter 2027 (January to March). On-time deadline November 2, 2026 at 8pm PT, decisions by December 11
- Later batches: Early Decision lets you apply now for Spring, Summer or Fall
- Late applications: still considered
- Interview: a 10-minute Zoom call with YC partners, all founders present
- Standard deal: $500K, made up of $125K for 7% plus $375K on an uncapped MFN SAFE
FAQ
Got into YC and planning your launch? See our studio in SoMa, how we make founder launch videos, or tell us what you need.
Sources
Francisk Hanchar
Founder, FogLine Visuals
Francisk Hanchar is the founder of FogLine Visuals, a video production company in San Francisco. He produces video podcasts, launch videos and event coverage for startups, and hosts The Bay Signal.
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