Pearl YC Application

Winter 2017Inactive

Pearl went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2017 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 2017
Industry: B2BOffice Management
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2016

Founders

Greg KressFounder/CEO
Scott SteberFounder/CTO

What Pearl does

Pearl lets any office, hotel or restaurant serve the world's best coffees & teas at the push of a button. Pearl's proprietary brew technology matches the speed and convenience of a Keurig without using wasteful, low-quality coffee pods. Our fully compostable single-servings contain freshly roasted whole bean coffees & teas sourced from premier roasters and importers. We handle installation, upkeep, and automatic re-stocking of an evolving menu that's tailored to your preferences. Say goodbye to bad office coffee and upgrade your mornings today!

Pearl's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Pearl, Winter 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Pearl

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

The future of office coffee. Keurig convenience meets cafe quality.

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

We make a coffee machine for offices, hotels, and restaurants that brews cafe-quality coffee at the push of a button. Our proprietary brewing tech matches the speed and convenience of Keurig without the waste and low quality of pods. The machine uses fully compostable single servings with freshly roasted whole bean coffee and tea, and we handle installation, maintenance, and automatic re-stocking of a menu tailored to each client.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA, and Pearl will be based here after YC as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco gives us access to hardware talent, coffee roasters, and a strong early adopter market among tech companies that care about office coffee quality.

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 Pearl YC application?

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