I spend the last 7 years working in Venture Capital immersed in:

1) Learning how early-stage fundraising works (from the investor POV)
2) Building 3 accelerators with 250+ graduated startups - Eleven Alpha, Elevate, Pre-Accelerator
3) Building one of the top VC brands in Central and Eastern Europe - Eleven Ventures

Today I work with founders 1:1 to help them fundraise faster and easier.
I bring the perspective, playbooks and approach used by investors.

Drop me a DM or learn more on https://nikyanev.com/

YC application for S26 batch closes in 1 day.

I’ve compiled a YC Application Cheat Sheet with 20+ resources to help you prepare your application.

Here’s everything you can find in the cheat-sheet.
(drop me a comment below and I'll send it via DM)

𝟭. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗬𝗖 👑
→ How to Apply to Y Combinator (Paul Graham)
→ How to Apply And Succeed at Y Combinator (by YC)
→ 3 Tips to Nail the Y Combinator Interview (Garry Tan)

𝟮. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗬𝗖 𝗔𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝗶 ⭐
→ Getting Into Y Combinator - TWICE!
(by co-founder of Soylent and Lucy, raised $100m+)

→ A practical guide to get a YC interview
(by the CEO at ZOKO, raised $1.2m)

→ YC Application Breakdown and Guide
(by the CEO at Shogun, raised $114m)

→ How to get into Y Combinator according to the founders that did get in
(interviews of a dozen of YC founders)

𝟯. 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 ✍️
Dropbox (S07) raised $1.7b
GitLab (W15) raised $413m
Mixpanel (S09) raised $277m
Paystack (W16) raised $11.7m
Buffer (S11) Rejected

𝟰. 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀 📽️
Gitlab (W15) raised $413m
Weave (W14) raised $168m
Yummy (S21) raised $79.9m
Payflow (S21) raised $42.3m
DoorDash (S13) raised $2.5b
Zenefits (W13) raised $584m
Teespring  (W13) raised 61.9m
Campus Job (W15) raised $37.3m
Embark Trucks (W16) raised $317m

𝟱. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 📹
Too long to insert here

𝟲. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗬𝗖 💡
Too long to insert here

𝟳. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁
Too long to insert here

𝟴. 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴
→ YC Startup Assistant GPT

This cheat-sheet is totally free.
Just drop me a comment below and I'll shot you a DM.

Good luck in applying!

Nikola Yanev

I help founders find, pitch and close investors | Spent 7 years in VC | Daily posts to simplify your fundraising.

Here’s the only advisor agreement you’ll need. 👇

Absolutely free.

This is the Founder / Advisor Standard Template ("FAST").
Created by Founder Institute.

It’s an agreement that simplifies and standardizes equity-based compensation and roles for advisors in startup companies.

Here’s what this agreement defines:

→ The vesting schedule of shares
→ The type and amount of advisor shares
→ The services expected from the advisor
→ The notice period for agreement termination
→ The mechanism for advisor share acquisition
→ Non-disclosure clauses for confidential information

Here’s why this template rocks:

🟢 It simplifies advisory board creation
🟢 Simplifies advisor commitment levels
🟢 A clear equity compensation framework
🟢 Widely used by founders & advisors globally
🟢 Localizable to any jurisdiction without a lawyer (if the corporate law allows)
🟢 Includes a 3-month “cliff” for equity vesting to address unproductive advisors

And remember:

Don’t trust “advisors” blindly.
Get to know them first.
Build a relationship.

P.S. What are your requirements for choosing an advisor?
Join the conversation below. 👇

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Nikola Yanev's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreNikola Yanev's LinkedIn Performance

Nikola Yanev's Best Posts (last 30 days)