Olark YC Application

Summer 2009Active

Olark went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2009 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 2009
Industry: B2BRetail
Team size: 28
Status: Active
Launched: 2012

Founders

Ben CongletonFounder/CEO
Matt PizzimentiFounder/COO

What Olark does

Olark is easy-to-use live chat software that lets you talk to customers on your website. Olark can help you track leads, drive sales, increase conversions, and provide great customer service. Real-time visitor information like login name, geographic location, purchase history and cart contents help you personalize every interaction and strengthen customer relationships. Sign up and start making your customers happier today! Click here to sign up for a demo:

Olark's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Olark, Summer 2009 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Olark

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Live chat software for customer communication

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

We make Olark, an easy-to-use live chat tool that lets businesses talk directly to visitors on their websites. It shows real-time visitor details like location and purchase history so sales and support teams can personalize conversations and close more deals.

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

We're based in San Francisco, CA and Ann Arbor, MI. The company would stay in these locations after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

We split between San Francisco and Ann Arbor to balance access to tech talent and a lower-cost engineering base. This lets us move fast and keep development strong.

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 Olark YC application?

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