​​Y Combinator Interview Questions
​​A shortlist and mix of important questions we’ve picked up from several other sources.
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​​Questions general & vision

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  • ​​What are you working on?
  • ​​Why did you choose this idea?
  • ​​Who needs what you’re making?
  • ​​What have you learned so far from working on it?
  • ​​What was the hardest challenge you experienced thus far?
  • ​​How do you know they need it?
  • ​​What obstacles will you face and how will you overcome them?
  • ​​Six months from now, what’s going to be your biggest problem? 
  • ​​What resistance will users have to trying you?
  • ​​How will you overcome that resistance? 
  • ​​What are the top things users want?
  • ​​What are the key things about your field that outsiders don’t understand? 
  • ​​If your startup succeeds, what additional areas might you be able to expand into? 
  • ​​What do your users get out of your app?
  • ​​What is your main challenge right now / What’s our biggest problem right now? 
  • ​​You did Startup School. What did you learn in those 10 weeks? (if relevant)
  • ​​How did you start out, and tell me more about your pivot? (if relevant)
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​​Competition

  • ​​What, exactly, makes you different from existing alternatives?
  • ​​Who are your main competitors?
  • ​​What’s your competitive edge or approach that will help you become a monopoly? 
  • ​​Why isn’t someone already doing this?
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​​Growth / Metrics

  • ​​Create an overview with the most important metrics for your business and know them by heart
  • ​​Who’s your next hire?
  • ​​What is your growth like? (think about what you want to highlight here)
  • ​​How do you define an active user?
  • ​​How do teams as a whole use your app?
  • ​​What is your retention like?
  • ​​Why do reluctant users hold back?
  • ​​How will customers and/or users find out about you?
  • ​​Where do new users come from?
  • ​​What has surprised you about user behavior? (It is helpful to bring a printout of a few key graphs and metrics)
  • ​​What’s missing to make you grow faster?
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​​Team

  • ​​Why are you the right team?
  • ​​Who’s the CEO?
  • ​​Who’s responsible for what?
  • ​​What are your weak spots as a team?
  • ​​Would you move to SF?
  • ​​Will you continue to build out your product/business if you’re not accepted?