Y Combinator
YC Startup School (Free)
Who's eligible
Any founder. Free signup, no YC acceptance required.
How to claim
Sign up at startupschool.org.
Editor's take
Startup path founders wanting YC's curriculum and community without applying to the accelerator. Some partner deals flow through Startup School.
You are Provider path (services, franchise, contracting). YC content is venture-scale oriented.
The full YC deals package (worth $500K+ across AWS, Stripe, Brex, and dozens more) is Bookface-only for accepted YC companies. Startup School gives you a smaller subset.
Most of the big YC-negotiated deals (AWS $100K, Stripe fee waivers, Brex bonuses, and many SaaS deals) require YC acceptance. However, many of the SAME deals are available independently via AWS Activate, Microsoft Founders Hub, and the aggregators tracked in this database. Do not treat YC as the only path to those credits.