u/louiemarlow1

first of all i cant believe i have come this far to even think about applying to YC. Big step for me

built my start-up from the ground up alone. worked day and night to get here.

but I've studied YC interviews and nearly every funded start-up has either a team or minimum 2 to 3 people.

I feel like doing it alone makes me stand out. that's what they look for. but I've never seen anyone get through solo.

has anyone here applied to YC alone? did it hurt your chances? and is my product demo worthy?

Never thought I would be on here saying this but I finally left my job after 3 years of building websites/apps.

I would never quit but I was getting drained from all the work I was doing with no results

Then on 24th of April I started building another project. I had the idea on the night so I got up out of bed and started writing my idea down

29th of April I finished my project and filmed my first video.

170k views later plus 25k views on linked in

Sales started coming in there was one then another then another

$1655 in payments

The idea was simple you fill in a business/job profile. What you’re looking for and our ai scans millions of businesses to find a perfect match for you.

I'm going to apply to YC any thoughts on what i should do

Got 2 replies.

One was a rejection.

The other never answered after the interview.

At some point I stopped changing my CV and started wondering if job sites are just broken now.

Everything feels so random:

• jobs already filled
• fake listings
• 500+ applicants in 2 hours
• entry level needing 3 years experience

What finally worked for me was being more targeted instead of spamming applications everywhere. I found a small cleaning company looking for someone reliable, sent a normal message instead of some corporate sounding essay, and got hired a few days later.

Honestly made me realise people don’t really need “more applications” anymore. they need better matching between people and opportunities.

That’s probably why platforms like DealSenseMatch are starting to make more sense now.

Job hunting in 2026 genuinely feels harder than it should be.

I walked in thinking they were only judging my experience, but most of the interview was just seeing if I was normal reliable, and easy to work with.

That’s when I realised a lot of people are probably getting rejected before the interview even starts because job hunting has turned into a numbers game.

Companies are flooded with applications.

Applicants are mass applying everywhere.

Nobody’s actually getting matched properly anymore.

The funny thing is, the interview where I got the job was the one where I stopped trying to sound perfect and just spoke like a real person.

Feels like people underestimate how important the right fit is now.

Got 2 replies.

One was a rejection.

The other never answered after the interview.

At some point I stopped changing my CV and started wondering if job sites are just broken now.

Everything feels so random:

• jobs already filled
• fake listings
• 500+ applicants in 2 hours
• entry level needing 3 years experience

What finally worked for me was being more targeted instead of spamming applications everywhere. I found a small cleaning company looking for someone reliable, sent a normal message instead of some corporate sounding essay, and got hired a few days later.

Honestly made me realise people don’t really need “more applications” anymore. they need better matching between people and opportunities.

That’s probably why platforms like DealSenseMatch are starting to make more sense now.

Job hunting in 2026 genuinely feels harder than it should be.

Never thought I would be on here saying this but I finally left my job after 3 years of building websites/apps

I would never quit but I was getting drained from all the work I was doing with no results

Then on 24th of April I started building another project. I had the idea on the night so I got up out of bed and started writhing my idea down

29th of April I finished my project and filmed my first video.

170k views later

Sales started coming in there was one then another then another

$1655 in payments

The idea was simple you fill in a business/job profile. What you’re looking for and our ai scans millions of businesses to find a perfect match for you.

I'm going to apply to YC any thoughts on what i should do

Never thought I would be on here saying this but I finally left my job after 3 years of building websites/apps

I would never quit but I was getting drained from all the work I was doing with no results

Then on 24th of April I started building another project. I had the idea on the night so I got up out of bed and started writhing my idea down

29th of April I finished my project and filmed my first video.

170k views later

Sales started coming in there was one then another then another

$1655 in payments

The idea was simple you fill in a business/job profile. What you’re looking for and our ai scans millions of businesses to find a perfect match for you.

Now I’m stuck because I don’t know what to do next

Never thought I would be on here saying this but I finally left my job after 3 years of building websites/apps

I would never quit but I was getting drained from all the work I was doing with no results

Then on 24th of April I started building another project. I had the idea on the night so I got up out of bed and started writhing my idea down

29th of April I finished my project and filmed my first video.

100k views later

Sales started coming in there was one then another then another

$1655 in payments

The idea was simple you fill in a business/job profile. What you’re looking for and our ai scans millions of businesses to find a perfect match for you.

Has anyone had the same success story?

most of the advice you find when you search how to get a job was written years ago

tailor your CV. write a strong cover letter. follow up after an interview. all technically correct. all almost completely useless in the current market.

the market has changed. how companies hire has changed. where the best opportunities are has changed. who gets access to them has changed.

but the advice hasn’t kept up. so people follow it religiously and wonder why it isn’t working

the people consistently landing good roles right now seem to be doing something fundamentally different from the standard playbook

has anyone else noticed this. what do you think has actually changed and what does the updated approach look like

at least a rejection means someone saw it

the worst part of job searching is sending something you worked hard on into complete silence. no response. no feedback. nothing. like it disappeared into a void.

you start questioning everything. was it the CV. was it the cover letter. was it something on my profile. you have no way of knowing because nobody tells you anything.

talked to someone recently who said they applied to over 200 roles in 6 months. got 4 responses. 4.

that is not a candidate problem. that is a broken system problem.

how do you deal with the silence. genuinely asking because i think most people just pretend it doesn’t affect them when it clearly does

did everything right. updated the CV. wrote cover letters. applied to dozens of places every week.

barely anything came back.

then i changed my approach completely. stopped applying and started having conversations instead. reached out directly. asked questions. showed up in places where the right
people were.

completely different results.

the advice everyone gives you at the start of a job search is the advice that keeps you stuck the longest

what did you have to figure out the hard way that you wish someone had just told you

spent months applying to jobs the traditional way

hundreds of applications. maybe 3 responses.

started asking around and everyone had the same story. qualifications don’t matter as much as who you know. the best jobs never even get
posted publicly.

it feels like the whole system is designed to make it hard for the right people to find the right opportunities

has anyone here actually cracked it? not the CV tips. the actual thing that worked.

It’s how much time gets wasted sorting through things that clearly aren’t a fit.

You read the description, research the company, maybe even do a call… and then halfway through you realise:

• salary isn’t close
• role is completely different from the posting
• company culture sounds awful
• they want 5 jobs in 1
• they were never serious about hiring

Feels like most hiring platforms like dealsensematch still optimise for relevance.

Curious if other people are changing how they apply now because of this.

For me it’s discovering actually relevant business opportunities.

Not “lists of leads” or generic networking I mean genuinely relevant:

• partnerships
• acquisition opportunities
• niche growth channels
• people/services that fit what you’re building

Feels weird that in 2026 most founders still piece this together manually through Google, X, LinkedIn, random intros, spreadsheets, etc.

I’ve started automating parts of my own workflow just because the amount of noise became ridiculous.

Curious what problem other founders are surprised is still painfully manual in start-up

3 weeks ago i had nothing

no customers. no revenue. just something i built alone in my bedroom after school every day for 2 months

i didn't tell many people what i was doing. just kept building

posted one video showing it off. didn't overthink it. 50k views

then the payments started coming in

$1,655 in under 3 weeks

I'm 17. no team. no investors. no connections. just me and a problem i couldn't stop thinking about.

next stop YC

looking for someone to work with me on my start-up someone who isn't bothered about money and do it to change the world these are the people i want. tell me your skills and what you can do and we will change the world together.

first of all i cant believe i have come this far to even think about applying to YC. Big step for me

built my start-up from the ground up alone. worked day and night to get here.

but I've studied YC interviews and nearly every funded start-up has either a team or minimum 2 to 3 people.

I feel like doing it alone makes me stand out. that's what they look for. but I've never seen anyone get through solo.

has anyone here applied to YC alone? did it hurt your chances?

built my start-up solo from scratch. no team. no investors. no co-founder.

got to the point where I'm actually considering applying to Y Combinator.

studied every YC batch i can find. almost every funded company has 2 or 3 founders.

but i think being alone is my edge. i move faster. no disagreements. no equity splits before I've even proved anything. And i will stand out more and that's what they look for in YC

the counterargument i keep hearing is if i burn out the whole thing dies with me.

genuinely torn. has anyone here applied to YC solo and got in? or got rejected specifically because they were alone?

what would you do?

first of all i cant believe i have come this far to even think about applying to YC. big move for me.

built my startup from the ground up alone. worked day and night to get here.

but i've studied YC interviews and nearly every funded startup has either a team or minimum 2 to 3 people.

I feel like doing it alone makes me stand out. that's what they look for. but I've never seen anyone get through solo.

has anyone here applied to YC alone? did it hurt your chances?