Hum YC Application
Hum went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2013 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 2013
- Industry
- B2BProductivity
- Team size
- 11
- Status
- Inactive
- Launched
- 2013
Founders
Dann PettyFounder
What Hum does
Hum is a product designed to disrupt email with collaboration. It organizes conversation into threads, lets you drop work requests into each others’ feeds, and syncs everything across your devices. Hum is focused on real-time conversation and presence. It makes it easy to see who else is currently viewing a thread. You can “read later” any threads you can’t get to right now, or pin important conversations to the top of the app. The company made a lot of bold claims about how it will transition you away from email as you use it more, but didn’t provide many specifics. Hum will have a steep uphill battle against incumbents like Yammer and Asana, and email, which has been harder to disrupt than most people realize.
Hum's YC application, reconstructed
Y Combinator application
Hum, Summer 2013 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.
- Founders2
- Company7
- Progress7
- Idea4
- Equity3
- Curious2
- Batch Preference1
Company
Hum
Chat program that integrates email with presence
Hum is a chat app built to replace email for teams. It organizes conversations into threads and shows real-time presence so you know who's actively viewing each thread. You can pin important threads or mark others to read later. It syncs across devices and lets you drop work requests in feeds to keep collaboration focused and immediate.
We live and work in San Francisco, CA, and the company will remain based here after YC.
San Francisco gives us access to talent and early customers focused on productivity and team communication. It's also where our team is located.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the real Hum YC application?
No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Hum's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Hum would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.
What YC batch was Hum in?
Hum was part of the Y Combinator Summer 2013 batch.
Who founded Hum?
Hum was founded by Dann Petty.
What does Hum do?
A chat program that integrates with email, with presence.
How do I read the full reconstructed application?
Create a free Round Funded account. The full 26-answer version of Hum's application, and every other YC batch, is in YC Insights.
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