YC Work at a Startup: applying to 200 startups in one form
How to use YC Work at a Startup (WaaS) effectively from India — the profile that gets matched, the company filters, the cold-start strategy, and the founder-DM follow-up that converts.
YC Work at a Startup: applying to 200 startups in one form
Status: Outline — full guide coming soon. Get notified when it ships →
What this covers
- The WaaS profile structure that gets matched (vs the one that sits dead)
- Company filters that surface India-friendly YC startups (current batch, funding stage, role type)
- The cold-start play: get matched in 7 days from a fresh profile
- The founder-DM follow-up that turns a "matched" status into an interview
Why this matters for Indian devs going remote
YC WaaS is one of the highest-density sources of remote-friendly startups in the world, and the matching engine is unusually generous to candidates outside the US. But the default profile gets buried — Indian devs who fill it out like a LinkedIn page get matched to 3 companies; those who treat it like a pitch get matched to 30.
Outline
The profile that gets matched
TODO — the headline, the "looking for" structure, links order, why a Loom in the profile is the cheat code.
Company filters that surface India-friendly
TODO — current/recent batch, Seed-Series A, role type, remote checkbox; combinations that work.
The 7-day cold-start
TODO — fill profile day 0, add Loom day 1, swipe interests day 2-3, expect matches by day 5.
The founder-DM follow-up
TODO — after a match, send a 4-line founder DM (not application) — what to say.
Common mistakes to avoid
- A WaaS profile that mirrors LinkedIn instead of being action-oriented
- Skipping the Loom intro (it 3-5x's the match rate)
- Waiting for "matched" status before reaching out to founders
Templates / examples
TODO — a copy-paste profile template, a 60-second Loom script for WaaS, and the post-match founder DM template.
Related guides
Have a question about this? DM me on LinkedIn or drop your email to get the full guide as soon as it's published.
Get the full playbook
I'm writing one in-depth guide a week. Drop your email to get them as they ship — plus templates and curated job leads.