SmartAsset YC Application

Summer 2012Active

SmartAsset went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2012 batch as a Fintech 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 2012
Industry: FintechConsumer Finance
Team size: 210
Status: Active
Launched: 2012

Founders

Michael CarvinFounder/CEO

What SmartAsset does

SmartAsset is an online destination for consumer-focused financial information and advice. Reaching approximately 59 million people each month (as of January 2024) through its educational content and personalized calculators and tools, SmartAsset's mission is to help people make smart financial decisions. Additionally, SmartAsset powers SmartAsset AMP, a national marketplace connecting consumers to financial advisors. Building on SmartAsset’s relationship with millions of investors, SmartAsset AMP connects financial advisors directly with prospects who meet their target client profile. Our algorithm matches consumers with up to three fiduciary financial advisors. In 2023, SmartAsset helped advisors close an estimated $34 billion.

SmartAsset's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

SmartAsset, Summer 2012 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

SmartAsset

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Marketplace connecting consumers to financial advisors

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

We built SmartAsset AMP, a platform that connects consumers with up to three fiduciary financial advisors using an algorithm based on client profiles. Alongside educational content and tools, the marketplace helps advisors find qualified leads and close deals efficiently.

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

We live in New York City now. After YC, the company would remain headquartered in New York, but we also have a distributed team working remotely.

Explain your decision regarding location.

New York is a major financial hub, which gives us direct access to financial advisors and a large market of consumers interested in personal finance. Our remote flexibility also allows us to hire talent outside the city.

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 SmartAsset YC application?

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