AeroFS YC Application

Summer 2010Acquired

AeroFS went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2010 batch as a B2B company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Summer 2010
Industry: B2BInfrastructure
Team size: 40
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2012

Founders

Yuri SagalovFounder/CEO
Weihan WangFounder/CTO

What AeroFS does

AeroFS enterprise file sync and share & collaboration solution deploys on your infrastructure. Your files remain secured by your own security protocols, removing the risk associated with relying on your vendors to secure your data. The service has a Dropbox like user experience. Now, both the end user and the IT team can both get what they are looking for out of a file sharing tool. We are funded by some of Silicon Valley's best investors and entrepreneurs: Avalon Ventures A16Z Seed YCombinator SVAngel Chris Sacca (Lowercase Capital) Maynard Webb (COO eBay) Jerry Yang (Founder Yahoo!) Paul Buchheit (Founder FriendFeed) We're hiring! You will have the opportunity to work as part of a small team. This means that you will be "CEO" of whatever you create. Our size gives us agility in ways that large companies do not have: We push out code almost daily (on a desktop platform!) to thousands of users. We're not just building a company; we're building a family. Many of us are new to the area, so company trips, get togethers, and BBQs are par for the course!

AeroFS's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

AeroFS, Summer 2010 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

AeroFS

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Secure Enterprise Collaboration

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We are building an enterprise file sync and sharing solution with a Dropbox-like user experience that runs on the customer's own infrastructure. This keeps their files secured by their own security protocols, giving IT teams control over data security without compromising ease of use for end users.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live in Palo Alto, CA and plan to base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Palo Alto gives us access to talent and investors familiar with enterprise security and collaboration. Being in Silicon Valley means we can move fast and stay close to early enterprise customers and partners.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real AeroFS YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from AeroFS's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like AeroFS would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.