New Game Lets You “Think Like a YC Partner” — With Real Startup Pitches

A new browser game called YC Partner Simulator lets anyone test whether they can spot promising startups — by judging real pitch videos exactly like Y Combinator partners do. Players see an actual pitch, click “accept” or “reject,” and then compare their choice with the real outcome.

It’s part of a broader suite called YC Arena, which also includes quizzes to match company names to logos or guess in which year a startup joined YC. Despite its playful format, the challenge highlights how subjective investment decisions are — and how much clarity matters in early-stage pitches.

Even seasoned tech writers found the game surprisingly hard. As one player put it, the key to predicting YC’s inclinations often came down to how clearly a company’s vision was communicated. In fact, the game’s design echoes advice from Paul Graham, who’s said that YC triages applications in roughly 10 minutes — emphasizing simple, direct pitches.