Pippin / Rent the Backyard YC Application
Pippin / Rent the Backyard went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2019 batch as a Real Estate and Construction 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 2019
- Industry
- Real Estate and ConstructionHousing and Real Estate
- Team size
- 45
- Status
- Inactive
- Launched
- 2018
Founders
Brian BakermanFounder
Spencer BurleighFounder
What Pippin / Rent the Backyard does
Pippin is building the autonomous homebuilding factory for the $1.7 trillion housing crisis. Building a home requires human labor to: measure, cut, lift, drill, paint, and attach. This labor is used for a building’s: structure, vapor barriers, windows, insulation, siding, roofing, electrical, plumbing, fixtures, appliances, and cabinetry. The construction industry solves this complex variety of tasks by dividing them among tiny companies of specialized artisans. Few lessons learned are shared and the industry has had no growth in labor productivity since 1947. Building technology, methods, and materials have advanced and the constraints limiting home manufacturing can now be removed. Regulations have changed to allow small and simple accessory dwelling units (a.k.a. ADUs or backyard homes), making it easier to mass-produce housing. Pippin started in the ADU market with its brand "Rent the Backyard" and will build duplexes, quadplexes, and eventually large apartment buildings.
Pippin / Rent the Backyard's YC application, reconstructed
Y Combinator application
Pippin / Rent the Backyard, Summer 2019 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.
- Founders2
- Company7
- Progress7
- Idea4
- Equity3
- Curious2
- Batch Preference1
Company
Pippin / Rent the Backyard
Autonomous homebuilding factory for housing crisis
We're building a factory system that automates homebuilding tasks - measuring, cutting, assembling - focused initially on small, simple backyard homes (ADUs). The goal is to remove human labor bottlenecks that have stagnated construction productivity since 1947 and mass-produce housing units that meet current regulations for ADUs and beyond.
We live and work in Oakland, CA, and the company will remain based there after YC.
Oakland has a strong base for construction tech talent and a market in urgent need of more housing supply. Being local allows us to test and build the autonomous factory around real neighborhood ADU projects.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the real Pippin / Rent the Backyard YC application?
No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Pippin / Rent the Backyard's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Pippin / Rent the Backyard would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.
What YC batch was Pippin / Rent the Backyard in?
Pippin / Rent the Backyard was part of the Y Combinator Summer 2019 batch.
Who founded Pippin / Rent the Backyard?
Pippin / Rent the Backyard was founded by Brian Bakerman, Spencer Burleigh.
What does Pippin / Rent the Backyard do?
Autonomous homebuilding factory for the $1.7 trillion housing crisis.
How do I read the full reconstructed application?
Create a free Round Funded account. The full 26-answer version of Pippin / Rent the Backyard's application, and every other YC batch, is in YC Insights.
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