Clerky YC Application

Summer 2011Active

Clerky went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2011 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 2011
Industry: B2BLegal
Team size: 15
Status: Active
Launched: 2023

Founders

Darby WongFounder/CEO
Chris FieldFounder

What Clerky does

Clerky builds software to make legal paperwork easier for startups and their attorneys. From formation to fundraising to hiring - everything a startup needs. Thousands of top startups use Clerky to get legal paperwork done safely and efficiently.

Clerky's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Clerky, Summer 2011 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Clerky

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Makes legal paperwork easy for startups and their attorneys.

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

We build software that guides startups and their lawyers through the legal paperwork they need from formation to fundraising to hiring. Our product automates and simplifies complex legal forms so startups can get documents done quickly and correctly without the usual back-and-forth.

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

We live in Palo Alto and Burlingame, California with some remote team members. After YC, we plan to base the company in the Bay Area, where most of our team is and where most startups using Clerky are located.

Explain your decision regarding location.

We are close to startup hubs in Silicon Valley, which is where our main users and potential customers are. Being here allows us to stay connected to early-stage startups and attorneys to get real feedback and iterate fast.

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 Clerky YC application?

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