Grouper YC Application

Winter 2012Inactive

Grouper went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2012 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 2012
Industry: ConsumerFood and Beverage
Team size: 11
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2011

Founders

Michael WaxmanFounder/CEO

What Grouper does

Grouper is a social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends: 3 guys and 3 girls (or 3 guys and 3 guys, etc.). Grouper started in New York in the summer of 2011 and now organizes Groupers in major cities across the US. Members have shared tens of thousands of drinks. The company was founded by Michael Waxman, a Yale grad and developer who formerly started language-learning company Batiq, and Tom Brown, an MIT engineer who was an early employee at MoPub (acquired by Twitter for 350MM). The founding team also includes Challen Hodson and Kristen Badal. Grouper was funded by Y Combinator in the Winter 2012 batch.

Grouper's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Grouper, Winter 2012 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Grouper

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

We set up drinks between 2 groups of friends: 3 guys and 3 girls.

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

Grouper is a social club platform that arranges group dates by setting up drinks between two groups of friends, typically three guys and three girls. Our service matches groups rather than individuals to make dating more natural and social. We run these organized gatherings in major U.S. cities, helping people meet through their friends in a relaxed setting.

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

We live in New York City, and the company would remain based here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

New York is where we started Grouper and where our initial users are. It's a major social and dating hub, making it the best place to build and grow this product.

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 Grouper YC application?

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