Polly YC Application

Summer 2017Inactive

Polly went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2017 batch as a Consumer 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 2017
Industry: ConsumerSocial
Team size: 3
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2017

Founders

Ranidu LankageFounder/CEO
Vicc AlexanderFounder, Head of Mobile & Design
James ZhangFounder

What Polly does

Polly is a fun social polling app for teens. The app allows users to create multiple-choice polls for sharing on Snapchat and other platforms. Polly launched in stealth in August and it quickly became popular among teens, with 20 million people voting over 100 million times across 5 million polls in the past month. In addition to being a casual social tool, Polly can also be used to gather opinions about popular brands. For instance, Polly received thousands of responses from teens on some of its own polls related to topics such as breakfast cereals and Starbucks drinks. Brands and influencers can also create their own polls to gather feedback from consumers.

Polly's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Polly, Summer 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Polly

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Social polling app for Snapchat and Instagram

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

We are building Polly, a social polling app aimed at teens. It lets users create multiple-choice polls they share on Snapchat, Instagram, and other social platforms to get quick feedback from friends and followers. It's a fun, casual way to gather opinions and spark conversation, but can also be used by brands and influencers to get fast consumer insights.

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

We live in San Francisco, and the company would be based there after YC as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where all three of us live, and it's where the social app ecosystem is strongest. Being close to our users and potential partners on Snapchat and Instagram is crucial.

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 Polly YC application?

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