buildspace YC Application

Summer 2020Inactive

buildspace went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2020 batch as a Education 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 2020
Industry: Education
Team size: 5
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2020

What buildspace does

we’re the largest place where you give your idea a shot. and, we mean any idea - a hip-hop album, short film, a novel, some indie software, a youtube channel - whatever. no idea is too big or too small. it all starts with nights & weekends. it's six-weeks where you can start any idea from zero on your nights and weekends, and by the end you'll have your first fans, revenue, downloads, whatever. in 2023: - 12M+ ppl saw our content across Instagram and Twitter. - more than 30,000 people joined nights & weekends to work on their own ideas. - 1,000 people flew to meet us and others like them for 3-days. and, we had 1,000 people come out to one of our physical, 3-day events. to get a sense of what this all looks like in practice, see our video for season four [here]( we even built a [physical campus]( for people who want to go full-time on their idea and need place to figure it out -- again, we don't care how big or small the idea is. overall, it's been a journey. so, now what? in 2023, we built up massive distribution. it was all about creating really high-quality content + experiences. but, it was all very one-off. in 2024, we're fully focused on taking all our learnings and building a world class product. a product that can help millions pursue their passions and build their ideas. and, we're looking for talented engineers and designers to help us figure it out.

buildspace's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

buildspace, Summer 2020 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

buildspace

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

we're the place where people build cool shit

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

We run a platform where people commit to building their ideas over six weeks, mostly nights and weekends. Our product combines high-quality content, community challenges, and physical events to help anyone - from software makers to musicians or filmmakers - get their first fans and early traction.

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

We live and work in San Francisco, and the company is based there too.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where the creative and technical communities we serve converge. It's ideal for hosting our in-person events and building close relationships with early users and collaborators.

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 buildspace YC application?

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