Nova YC Application

Winter 2016Acquired

Nova went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2016 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: Winter 2016
Industry: B2BSales
Team size: 11
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2015

Founders

Will DinkelFounder
Bryan PirtleFounder

What Nova does

Nova helps sellers focus their time where it will have the greatest impact, by identifying next best actions across the entire pipeline. No more dropped balls, no funnel leakage. Understand the fundamental flow of customers and revenue over time, what role each team member plays, and what needs to happen to achieve your big hairy audacious goals.

Nova's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Nova, Winter 2016 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Nova

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

AI-powered sales pipeline management

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

We built an AI-driven sales tool that helps sellers know exactly what to do next across their entire pipeline. It identifies next best actions tailored for each team member to prevent dropped leads and funnel leakage. Our product provides visibility into customer flow and revenue dynamics, helping sales teams hit ambitious goals.

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

We live in San Francisco and the company is based here.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is the center of our tech and sales markets, letting us hire the right talent and stay plugged into our customers and investors. Staying local keeps the team tight and focused.

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 Nova YC application?

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