Phonic YC Application

Profile updated September 9, 2026Winter 2020Acquired

Foster City, CA, USA

Phonic went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2020 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 2020
Industry: B2BMarketing
Location: Foster City, CA, USA
Team size: 8
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2020

Founders

David FerrisFounder
Mitchell CatoenFounder

Phonic's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Phonic, Winter 2020 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Phonic

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

The best way to collect and analyze voice and video feedback

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

We are building a SaaS platform that helps marketing teams and businesses collect and analyze voice and video feedback from customers. Our product captures real-time spoken and visual responses, then uses AI to surface insights that written surveys miss. This helps companies understand customer sentiment deeply and act on it quickly.

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

We live in Foster City, CA, and intend to keep the company based there after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Foster City is where both founders are located and have built the product. Staying here keeps us close to current customers and the talent we rely on.

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 Phonic YC application?

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