Draft YC Application

Summer 2011Inactive

Draft 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: B2BProductivity
Team size: 1
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2012

Founders

Nathan KontnyFounder

What Draft does

Draft is a streamlined online word processor with version control. Draft offers clean saves of drafts instead of the usual autosave jumble, clear version control between multiple users, easy importing from popular file services like Dropbox and Evernote, and something pretty unique - an editing service. Built by one-man Y Combinator team Nathan Kontny (previously the cofounder of Inkling and Cityposh), the web app puts solo writing first. Its interface makes a point of looking nice, with the words you write appearing in large, plain-text font on a light-gray background.

Draft's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

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

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Draft

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Simple version control and collaboration for documents

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

Draft is an online word processor focused on solo writers and teams who want clear version control and collaboration. It saves clean drafts instead of autosave messes, shows differences between versions, and imports from Dropbox and Evernote. We also offer an editing service integrated with the product.

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

We currently live in Chicago, IL, and the company would remain based remotely after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Being remote from Chicago lets us build Draft independently and stay close to the users and partners we understand. We want to stay flexible and avoid disruption.

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 Draft YC application?

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