Dover YC Application

Summer 2019Active

Dover went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2019 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 2019
Industry: B2BRecruiting and Talent
Team size: 12
Status: Active
Launched: 2018

Founders

George CarolloFounder

What Dover does

Dover is on a mission to help every company build an amazing team. Every founder and business leader should have the tools and support they need to hire the right talent - fast. Dover combines powerful free software with flexible recruiting services to help startups and growing companies scale efficiently. Dover is built around two core offerings: Free Recruiting Tools: Dover's ATS is a lightweight but powerful applicant tracking system built for busy founders and hiring managers. It’s as easy to use as a spreadsheet but includes everything you need to manage your first 100 hires - without the bloat of traditional ATS platforms. Hundreds of companies use Dover’s free tools to streamline their hiring process and stay in control as they grow. Recruiting Partner Marketplace: When companies need help, Dover connects them with top-tier, fractional recruiters through our on-demand marketplace. Recruiting Partners are experienced, startup-savvy professionals who can step in quickly to manage sourcing, interviewing, closing, and more - without the cost or commitment of an agency or full-time hire. Dover went through Y Combinator in 2019, and today 500+ companies use our product to run a better hiring process. We've raised $23M from top VCs.

Dover's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Dover, Summer 2019 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Dover

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Your startup's all-in-one recruiting solution

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

We built Dover to combine a free, lightweight ATS tailored for early-stage startups with an on-demand marketplace to connect companies with experienced fractional recruiters. Our ATS replaces bulky traditional systems with something as simple as a spreadsheet but powerful enough for the first 100 hires. When startups need extra help, they use our marketplace to find recruiters who can manage hiring without full-time commitment or agency costs.

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

We live in San Francisco and remote. After YC, the company would be based in San Francisco with remote team members.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is the hub of early-stage startups and recruiting innovation, where our target customers and hiring experts are concentrated. Remote work lets us tap talent beyond the city, but SF anchors us for YC and investor access.

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 Dover YC application?

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