RentHop YC Application

Summer 2009Active

RentHop went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2009 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 2009
Industry: Real Estate and ConstructionHousing and Real Estate
Team size: 9
Status: Active
Launched: 2012

Founders

Lee C. LinFounder
Lawrence ZhouFounder

What RentHop does

RentHop ( helps renters find great apartments. We use sophisticated data analysis to rank apartment listings based on their "freshness", their accuracy and completeness and the responsiveness of the manager who listed the apartment on our site. As a renter, you can use list-based or map-based search tools to browse listings and comprehensive search filters to narrow our 100,000+ listings to just the ones you want. It’s easy and fast to reach out to brokers and property managers to schedule viewings and to manage responses. You can also use our innovative "Appointments on Demand" feature, a map showing the real-time locations of brokers and property managers available to show apartments, to reach out and schedule viewings on the fly! For brokers and property managers, RentHop provides a cost-effective, easy-to-use tool to promote your listings, get qualified leads and schedule viewings. You can also post and repost listings on the go using RentHop Manager, our mobile app for brokers and property managers, currently available in the iOS App Store. (You can download the mobile app at Your commitment to give good service will make you stand out on RentHop - our algorithm will credit you for your responsiveness and help give your listings the boost they need to get seen - and rented - by qualified renters. Look for our mobile app for consumers, due out soon! And please let us know any questions, thoughts or comments you may have - we'll look forward to hearing from you! You can reach us at. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter (@RentHop), Google+ and Pinterest.

RentHop's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

RentHop, Summer 2009 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

RentHop

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Apartment rental marketplace

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

We built RentHop to help renters find apartments by ranking listings based on freshness, completeness, and manager responsiveness. Renters can search with filters or maps, and brokers can manage listings through our tools and mobile app. We also offer real-time broker availability to schedule viewings on demand.

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

We live in New York City and would base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

We focus on NYC, where apartment search is tough and fast response matters. Being local helps us build relationships with renters and brokers and test features quickly.

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 RentHop YC application?

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