YC 지원서 Q&A 분석

작성일: 2026-07-24 목적: YC 지원서 질문 + 합격자 답변 패턴 분석

YC 지원서 주요 질문 (15개)

Part 1: 기본 정보

Q1. What is your company going to make?

  • 한 문장으로 제품 설명
  • 구체적일수록 좋음
  • “AI platform” → “AI that auto-fills customs forms for Korean exporters”

Q2. Why did you pick this idea to work on?

  • 개인적 연결고리
  • 시장 인사이트
  • “왜 지금?” 타이밍

Q3. What will you do first if we give you money?

  • 첫 3개월 계획
  • 구체적 마일스톤
  • MVP + 첫 고객 확보

Part 2: 팀

Q4. Who are the founders?

  • 이름, 역할, 배경
  • 핵심 역량 강조

Q5. How long have you known each other?

  • 관계의 깊이
  • 함께 한 경험
  • 신뢰 증명

Q6. What are your roles?

  • 명확한 역할 분담
  • 상호 보완적 스킬
  • CEO/CTO 구분

Q7. Are you open to relocating to San Francisco?

  • YC는 SF 기반
  • “Yes”가 정답
  • 비자 이슈 있으면 설명

Part 3: 시장 & 제품

Q8. Who are your users?

  • 구체적인 페르소나
  • 시장 크기
  • 접근 방법

Q9. What’s new about what you’re making?

  • 차별점
  • 기존 솔루션과 다른 점
  • 기술적 우위

Q10. What are your competitors?

  • 정직한 경쟁사 인정
  • 차별화 포인트
  • “경쟁사 없음”

Q11. How will you make money?

  • 비즈니스 모델
  • 가격 전략
  • 단위 경제학

Part 4: Traction & Progress

Q12. What have you built so far?

  • MVP, 프로토타입
  • 데모 링크
  • 기술적 성과

Q13. Do you have revenue?

  • 정확한 숫자
  • MRR/ARR
  • 성장률

Q14. How many users do you have?

  • 활성 사용자 수
  • 성장 추세
  • 사용자 피드백

Q15. What’s the most impressive thing you’ve done?

  • 사이드 프로젝트
  • 기술적 도전
  • 창업 경험

합격자 답변 패턴

1. “What is your company going to make?”

좋은 답변:

"We're building AI that auto-generates customs
documentation for cross-border traders in Asia.
Currently, exporters spend 8+ hours per shipment
on paperwork. We cut it to 10 minutes."

패턴:

  • 구체적 문제 (customs documentation)
  • 타겟 명확 (cross-border traders in Asia)
  • 수치로 pain point (8 hours → 10 minutes)
  • 추상적 (“AI platform for trade”)

2. “Why did you pick this idea?”

좋은 답변:

"I'm from Korea and served in military logistics.
I saw firsthand how painful cross-border paperwork
is. My co-founder studied accounting and
built fintech tools. We realized this is a $300B
problem with no good digital solution in Asia."

패턴:

  • 개인적 경험 (군 물류)
  • 팀 연결고리 (공동창업자 회계 배경)
  • 시장 크기 ($300B)
  • “왜 우리” (unfair advantage)

3. “What will you do first?”

좋은 답변:

"Month 1: Interview 50 Korean exporters, build
waitlist. Month 2: MVP for one document type
(commercial invoice). Month 3: Beta with 10
customers, iterate based on feedback."

패턴:

  • 구체적 마일스톤 (50명 인터뷰, 10명 베타)
  • 단계적 접근 (한 문서부터)
  • 고객 중심 (피드백 기반 반복)
  • “build the platform” (너모 추상)

4. “Who are your users?”

좋은 답변:

"Primary: Korean SME exporters shipping to
Southeast Asia (50,000+ companies). Secondary:
Freight forwarders who handle documentation for
multiple clients. We'll reach them through KOTRA
(Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)
partnerships and trade associations."

패턴:

  • 구체적 세그먼트 (Korean SME exporters)
  • 시장 크기 (50,000+ companies)
  • go-to-market (KOTRA partnerships)
  • secondary market (freight forwarders)

5. “What’s new about what you’re making?”

좋은 답변:

"Existing solutions like Descartes and Flexport
focus on US-Europe routes and cost $500+/month.
We're building for Asia-specific regulations
(Korean customs, ASEAN import rules) at $50/month.
Our AI is trained on 10,000+ Korean trade documents."

패턴:

  • 구체적 경쟁사 (Descartes, Flexport)
  • 차별점 명확 (Asia-specific, 가격)
  • 기술적 우위 (10,000+ documents trained)
  • 가격 전략 ($50 vs $500)

6. “What’s the most impressive thing you’ve done?”

좋은 답변:

"I built a side project that auto-translates
Korean web novels into English using LLMs. It
gained 5,000 users in 3 months with zero marketing.
I also led a military logistics team of 20 people,
managing $2M in equipment across 5 bases."

패턴:

  • 구체적 성과 (5,000 users, 3 months)
  • 기술력 증명 (LLM side project)
  • 리더십 (군 물류 팀)
  • 수치로 임팩트 ($2M equipment)

아이디어 단계 팀 특별 팁

Traction 없을 때 강조할 것

1. 빠른 실행력

"I built an MVP in 2 weeks using [tech stack].
It's not perfect, but it works. Here's the demo:
[link]"

2. 시장 리서치

"I interviewed 30 potential customers. 25 said
they'd pay $X for this solution. Here are their
names and companies."

3. 기술적 성과

"I published a paper on [topic] at [conference].
I also have 3 patents pending in [area]."

4. 관련 경험

"I worked at [company] where I saw this problem
firsthand. I know the market because I lived it."

국제 창업자 (한국) 팁

1. 영어로 명확하게

  • 복잡한 한국어 개념 피하기
  • YC 파트너가 이해할 수 있는 맥락으로
  • “군 복무” → “military service, led logistics team”

2. 한국 시장 어필

  • 한국은 테스트 베드로 완벽
  • 작지만 첨단 시장
  • 글로벌 확장 가능성

3. 비자/이주 계획

  • SF relocation 계획 명확히
  • 비자 이슈 있으면 솔직히
  • “We’ll figure it out” → 구체적 계획

흔한 실수

1. 너무 추상적

“We’re building an AI platform for businesses” “We’re building AI that cuts customs paperwork from 8 hours to 10 minutes for Korean exporters”

2. 시장 크기 과장

“This is a $1 trillion market” “There are 50,000 Korean SME exporters spending $2B annually on documentation”

3. 경쟁사 무시

“We have no competitors” “Flexport does this for US-Europe at $500/month. We’re Asia-specific at $50/month”

4. 팀 역할 불명확

“We both do everything” “I’m CTO building the AI. My co-founder is CEO handling sales and partnerships”

5. traction 과장

“We have tons of users” “We have 50 beta users, 10 paying $50/month”

비전통적 배경 팀 맞춤 답변 예시

Q: “What is your company going to make?”

"We're building AI that automates cross-border
trade documentation for Asian exporters. Currently,
shipping from Korea to Southeast Asia requires
8+ hours of paperwork per shipment. We cut it
to 10 minutes with AI trained on Asian trade
regulations."

Q: “Why did you pick this idea?”

"I'm from Korea, served in military logistics,
and studied engineering. I saw how painful
cross-border paperwork is. My co-founder studied
accounting and built fintech tools. We realized
Asia's $7.9T trade market has no good digital
documentation solution."

Q: “What will you do first?”

"Month 1: Interview 50 Korean exporters through
KOTRA partnerships. Month 2: Build MVP for one
document type (commercial invoice). Month 3:
Beta with 10 customers, iterate. Target: $5K MRR
by month 4."

Q: “Who are your users?”

"Primary: Korean SME exporters to Southeast Asia
(50,000+ companies). Secondary: Freight forwarders.
We'll reach them through KOTRA, trade associations,
and Korean exporter communities."

Q: “What’s new about what you’re making?”

"Flexport and Descartes focus on US-Europe at
$500+/month. We're Asia-specific (Korean customs,
ASEAN regulations) at $50/month. Our AI is trained
on 10,000+ Korean trade documents. No one else
does this for Asia."

Q: “What’s the most impressive thing you’ve done?”

"I built [side project] that gained [X users]
in [timeframe]. I also led a military logistics
team of 20 people, managing $2M in equipment.
My co-founder built fintech tools processing $400K
in cards annually at a Fortune 500 bank."

핵심 takeaway

  1. 구체성이 왕 — 숫자, 이름, 링크
  2. 개인적 연결고리 — 왜 이 문제인가
  3. 빠른 실행력 — MVP, 데모, waitlist
  4. 정직함 — traction 없으면 솔직히
  5. 팀 시너지 — 왜 너희인가

다음 단계: 실제 지원서 작성, 피드백 받기