Breaker YC Application

Winter 2017Acquired

Breaker went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2017 batch as a Consumer 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: Winter 2017
Industry: ConsumerContent
Team size: 1
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2016

Founders

Leah CulverFounder/CTO

What Breaker does

Breaker is a podcast listening and discovery application. Most podcasts are free, but serious publishers are spending big budgets to make high quality audio content like Serial, which hit 100 million downloads and made podcasts mainstream. 67 million Americans are already listening to podcasts a month. Breaker wants to sign exclusive deals to distribute the best premium podcasts and charge users $6 per month. First, its goal is to build a huge listener audience by making the best podcast consumption app. It launched today, and will offer podcasters ways to connect and get feedback from their community, and analytics about what content performs best. It has a stunning 67% retention rate after a month for beta users. If it can convince people to pay for what’s often free, it could become the preferred place for podcasters to talk.

Breaker's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Breaker, Winter 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Breaker

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

A podcast company.

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

We are building a podcast listening and discovery app that helps users find and engage with podcasts in a social way. Our app lets podcasters connect with their audience and provides analytics on what content performs best. We're focusing on building a great experience that increases retention and podcast engagement.

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

We live and work in San Francisco, and after YC the company will remain based here.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where we live and where most podcast and tech talent is concentrated, which helps us build and grow quickly.

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 Breaker YC application?

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