Custora YC Application

Winter 2011Acquired

Custora went through Y Combinator in the Winter 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: Winter 2011
Industry: B2BAnalytics
Team size: 11
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2012

Founders

Corey PiersonFounder
Jon PospischilFounder

What Custora does

Custora is an advanced segmentation platform designed to help online retailers better understand and market to their customers. We’re on a mission to remove the “mass” from marketing with software tools that focus on customers as individuals with unique needs and interests. Our software employs the state-of-the-art in customer analytics methodologies and integrates directly with marketing tools (ESPs, display, Facebook Custom Audiences, Google Customer Match) to help marketers deliver more relevant, meaningful communications. We’re excited to work with some of the leading retail innovators including Teleflora, Bonobos, 7 for All Mankind, and many more retailers spread throughout the world. Our offices are located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. We work hard, work together, and care deeply about building a meaningful business, collaborative team, and exceptional culture that we’re proud to be a part of. And yes, we're hiring. Check out for details.

Custora's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Custora, Winter 2011 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Custora

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Predictive analytics for e-commerce marketing

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

Custora is an advanced segmentation platform for online retailers. It helps marketers understand individual customer behavior and target campaigns more precisely by integrating customer analytics directly with marketing tools like email service providers and Facebook Custom Audiences.

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

We live in New York City, and we plan to base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

New York gives us direct access to major retailers and marketing teams who are our customers. Being close to them helps us build a better product and sales pipeline.

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 Custora YC application?

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