Genius YC Application

Summer 2011Acquired

Genius went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2011 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: Summer 2011
Industry: ConsumerContent
Team size: 101
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2012

Founders

Tom LehmanFounder/CEO
Ilan ZechoryFounder

What Genius does

Genius is the world's biggest encyclopedia of music. Powered by its community, in-house creative team, and the artists themselves, Genius serves music knowledge to over 100 million people each month on Genius.com and everywhere music fans connect across the internet. Founded in 2009, Genius began as a platform for annotating rap lyrics. Over the years, it has expanded its mission to include more than hip-hop, and more than just lyrics. Every song has a story that needs to be told, and the biggest names in music - including Frank Ocean, Lorde, and Lin-Manuel Miranda - come to Genius to give the world insight into their art.

Genius's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

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

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Genius

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Music Intelligence

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

We built Genius, a platform that lets users annotate song lyrics with context and explanations. It started focused on rap but now covers all music genres and includes artists contributing directly. Our product organizes music knowledge and surfaces insight around songs.

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

We live in Brooklyn, NY, and after YC we will keep the company based there.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Brooklyn has a vibrant creative community and a strong music culture, making it the right place for us to work closely with artists and fans.

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 Genius YC application?

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