Instapainting YC Application

Winter 2011Active

Instapainting went through Y Combinator in the Winter 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: Winter 2011
Industry: ConsumerHome and Personal
Team size: 2
Status: Active
Launched: 2012

Founders

Chris ChenFounder/CEO

What Instapainting does

Instapainting turns any photo (from your phone, Facebook, Instagram, DSLR, the internet) into a hand-painted oil painting on real canvas, for $45 (for 10"x10"), and delivered in less than two weeks. The company is backed by Y Combinator and Start Fund (SV Angel and Yuri Milner). Customers include founder and CEO of Pebble Technology, Eric Migicovsky, and founder and CEO of Apportable, Inc., Collin Jackson.

Instapainting's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Instapainting, Winter 2011 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Instapainting

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Custom artwork marketplace from photos

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

We turn any photo - whether from your phone, Facebook, Instagram, or DSLR - into a real hand-painted oil painting on canvas. Customers upload images, choose size, and receive a finished painting delivered in under two weeks for $45 at the smallest size. We handle connecting artists, quality control, and logistics.

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

We live in San Francisco, and after YC, the company will be based here as well, though some work is remote.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Being in San Francisco puts us close to tech talent and early customers who value unique home artwork. Remote work helps us scale artist network without location limits.

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 Instapainting YC application?

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