Gainful YC Application

Winter 2018Active

Gainful went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2018 batch as a Consumer 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 2018
Industry: ConsumerFood and Beverage
Team size: 30
Status: Active
Launched: 2017

Founders

Jahaan AnsariFounder/CTO

What Gainful does

Gainful is performance nutrition that unlocks your full potential. We provide personalized products and 1:1 Registered Dietitian support to empower active people to reach their unique goals by transforming their health. Founded in 2017, Gainful is backed by some of the world’s best venture investors (including Y Combinator, BrandProject, and Courtside VC). Our current products are Personalized Protein, Personalized Hydration, Personalized Pre-Workout, and our line of Performance Boosts (Collagen, Creatine, and Fiber).

Gainful's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Gainful, Winter 2018 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Gainful

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Personalized Performance Nutrition

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

We make personalized nutrition products tailored to individual goals. Our flagship product is Personalized Protein, and we've expanded to personalized hydration, pre-workout, and performance boosts like collagen and creatine. Customers answer a quiz and get formulas made for their needs, plus access to 1:1 Registered Dietitian support.

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

We live in New York, NY, and the company is based here now and will remain based here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

We are rooted in New York because our team is here and that's where we found early product-market fit. The city's ecosystem helps connect with our active, health-conscious target users.

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 Gainful YC application?

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