What we learned from API/Infrastructure YC applications

“You're a solo founder with zero users building three-sided infrastructure that only works if EU regulators force adoption on your exact timeline.”

4.7/10·Impressive technical architecture and rollup experience, but show me one paying customer and a co-founder before the runway burns.

“You're still in high-touch services mode with no repeatable sales motion, every deal is a custom six-month pilot, and two founders are part-time.”

7.9/10·Strong team and real pain, but prove workflows generalize and you can scale past founder-led implementation before PagerDuty eats your lunch.

“Three free pilots with no revenue and vague pricing is not a business, it's a feature waiting to be absorbed by Komodor.”

6.6/10·Strong technical team hunting for product-market fit in a crowded space. Prove one pilot converts to paid, or this stays a science project.

“You have built a capable technical system with zero pull from the world: no users, no revenue, no design partners, no evidence of developer demand beyond founder intuition.”

6.3/10·Strong technical founder building real infrastructure, but you have built in a vacuum and need 3 design partners using this in production within 8 weeks or it remains a solution looking for a problem.

“You built a technically sophisticated auction engine for dating apps that have never asked for one, with zero revenue and a sales motion that starts next week.”

6.6/10·Rare technical depth attacking a real gap, but you need a signed design partner in 90 days or the GTM risk kills the bet.

“One friendly pilot from the cofounder's network after 10 days part-time is not traction, it's a favor with a credit card attached.”

7.4/10·Exceptional team with proven exits tackling a real problem, but need to prove this scales beyond Nina's Rolodex.