Speak YC Application

Winter 2017Active

Speak went through Y Combinator in the Winter 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: Winter 2017
Industry: ConsumerSocial
Team size: 40
Status: Active
Launched: 2016

Founders

Andrew HsuFounder

Speak's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Speak, Winter 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Speak

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

A superhuman, AI-powered language tutor in your pocket

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

We built an AI language tutor that helps users practice and improve foreign languages through conversation and feedback on pronunciation and grammar. The app feels personal and responds in real time, unlike traditional courses or rote memorization.

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

We live and work in San Francisco, CA, and the company is based there.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where we have the technical talent and investor access to grow an AI-driven language product. It also connects us to the global tech ecosystem and potential early users.

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 Speak YC application?

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