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How to get into Y Combinator (even if you're broke, unqualified, and barely have a product) Some of the wildest YC entries ever: 1. Faked a launch The AirGarage founders didn’t even have a working product. They made a landing page, got a few people to sign up, and manually handled things behind the scenes. It was enough to show YC that people wanted what they were building. 2. Applied 13 times. Got in on the 14th. One founder just kept improving their pitch every time YC said no. Same idea. Just better storytelling and clearer results. Eventually, they got accepted. 3. Moved to SF with no backup plan One founder bought a one-way flight, arrived with a half-baked prototype, and started sleeping on couches. They got into YC anyway. Sometimes showing you’re all in makes a big difference. 4. Got customers before writing any code A B2B founder pitched their product before building it. Sold $30K worth of contracts with just a deck. Wrote the code after the YC interview. 5. One line of code = $10K idea A founder made a tool that saved Stripe devs a few seconds - but that small win scaled big. He used that tiny tool to prove he could build useful things. It worked. 6. Sent physical boxes to YC partners Instead of just applying online, a team mailed personalized packages with demos and handwritten notes. It stood out. 7. Got rejected, so built something better IndieHackers got turned down by YC. So Courtland Allen built it anyway. YC later bought it. He joined - just on his terms. 8. Used meme websites as proof A founder showed YC how they ran meme pages with millions of views. The content didn’t matter. What mattered: they knew how to grab attention and keep it. 9. Became a customer just to study competitors Before building anything, they bought from every competitor, took notes on what sucked, and used that research in their pitch. Showed they knew exactly what needed fixing. 10. Used FOMO in the interview At the end, one team said: "We're raising anyway — would love to have YC help us grow faster." It worked. Trying to get into YC? Don't just build. Show you're serious. Show you move fast. And prove people want what you’re making.