Pretty Instant YC Application

Winter 2015Acquired

Pretty Instant went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2015 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: Winter 2015
Industry: ConsumerHome and Personal
Team size: 3
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2014

Founders

Ben Maitland-LewisFounder/CEO
Chris CaveFounder/COO - YC W15
Douglas E. RogersFounder
Chase McAleeseFounder

What Pretty Instant does

Pretty Instant was a Y Combinator-backed marketplace for professional photography and videography in the U.S., active from 2012 to 2020. Acquired by Snappr in 2021, the company served over 3,500 brands and non-profits, handling logistics, staffing, editing, and delivery. It became a go-to solution for companies seeking streamlined visual content creation nationwide. They also invested the roaming photo-booth experience that instantly sent branded photos to guests and contact info to CRMs. Services included photography and videography for Events, Portraits, Real Estate, Product, Food, and more. Photographers were thoroughly vetted 1099 contractors, ensuring quality and reliability. Pretty Instant aimed to simplify hiring processes for businesses needing professional visual content.

Pretty Instant's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Pretty Instant, Winter 2015 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Pretty Instant

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Inventor of the first roaming-photo booth + pro photography platform

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

We built a marketplace and platform that connects businesses with vetted professional photographers and videographers across the U.S. Our product handles everything from booking and logistics to staffing, editing, and delivery. We also created a roaming photo booth that sends branded photos instantly to guests and syncs contact info to CRMs - streamlining event photography.

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

We live and work from Boston, MA and remote locations. After YC, we'd stay based in Boston and maintain remote team members.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Boston has a strong tech and startup community, and it's where our team lives. Remote work has been part of our DNA, allowing us to access talent and clients nationwide.

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 Pretty Instant YC application?

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