What we looked at
- Launch YC is the page where Y Combinator startups post their launch, and other founders upvote them.
- We saved every post up to October 20, 2026, and took the 856 from 2025, a full year whose upvotes have settled. The typical one got 34.
- Then we compared the top quarter, 214 posts with 74 upvotes or more, with the bottom quarter, 214 posts with 18 or fewer.
- This shows what the posts that did well have in them. It can't prove which part did the work.
- We aren't part of Y Combinator. This is our own count of its public page.
What the top quarter has more of
| In the post | Top quarter, 214 posts | Bottom quarter, 214 posts |
|---|---|---|
| A founder's LinkedIn linked in the first few lines | 69 | 16 |
| An email address to write to | 152 | 99 |
| A TL;DR | 151 | 111 |
| A video | 188 | 156 |
| Opens with hi, hey or hello | 95 | 60 |
| A percent or an "x times" figure | 77 | 57 |
- The biggest gap is the founder's LinkedIn: more than four times as many in the top quarter.
- The top posts also run a little longer. The typical one is 396 words, against 343 at the bottom.
- In the videos, opening with "Hi, I'm the founder" made no difference. In the written post, a plain hello shows up more often at the top.
How the top posts open
“Stop guessing on sales calls. Know exactly what to say.”
- Nomi got 2,018 upvotes. Its first line is the buyer's problem and the promise, in two short sentences, before the founders say a word about themselves.
- Many of the top posts open with a hello and the founders' names and links, then a TL;DR of one or two lines.
End on one ask
“Can you refer talented startup recruiters in your network to join Contrario's platform?”
“Know someone buying a home?”
- An ask turns a reader into someone who does one thing for you: an intro, a referral, a signup. Then the email address gives them somewhere to send it.
What we'd put in yours
- First line: your buyer's problem, in their words.
- Then who you are, with each founder's LinkedIn linked.
- A TL;DR of one or two lines, then the video.
- One number that shows it works, if you have one.
- One ask, and an email to send it to.
- Upvotes come from the YC crowd, and the crowd isn't your buyer. To reach buyers, the launch has to travel past the page: the press, and the creators your buyers already watch. See what the best YC launch videos have in common, or read what influencer PR is.
Source: Our own count, every Launch YC post saved 2026-10-20, read 2026-11-05
Source: Launch YC, Y Combinator