How we counted
- We took every company in the YC directory whose first listed location is San Francisco, and matched its website to our table of sponsored YouTube videos.
- A video counts only when its own text names the company as the sponsor. A code or a link alone doesn't count.
- This page is about the startups that sell to people, so it leaves out the ones YC files under B2B, software sold to other companies.
- We aren't part of Y Combinator. This is our own count.
The ones with the most sponsored videos
| Startup and YC batch | What it sells | Sponsored videos | Channel booked most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZBiotics, Winter 2018 | Probiotics | 149 | Philip DeFranco, 10 |
| DoorDash, Summer 2013 | Restaurant delivery | 80 | JesssFam and Locked On Bucks, 3 each |
| Wren, Summer 2019 | Carbon footprint subscription | 25 | JREG, 4 |
| Array Labs, Summer 2022 | Satellites for a 3D map of the world | 24 | JJRicks, 23 |
| Emergent, Summer 2024 | AI app builder | 20 | No Code MBA, 6 |
| Beacons, Summer 2019 | Business tools for creators | 17 | Farfa, 8 |
| SafetyWing, Winter 2018 | Health insurance for remote teams | 16 | Grounded Life Retirement Travel, 3 |
| CodeCrafters, Summer 2022 | Programming courses | 13 | Talking Sasquach, 7 |
- 10 of the 29 have exactly one sponsored video.
- The famous names barely show up. Airbnb has 6 sponsored videos in our data, Stripe 5.
- ZBiotics books cocktail, whisky and barbecue channels more than health ones. Its channels are on its own page.
Wide, or one channel again and again
- DoorDash goes wide: 80 videos, and no channel more than 3 times.
- Array Labs went the other way. 23 of its 24 are on JJRicks Rides With Waymo, a series of rides in Waymo's robotaxis around Phoenix.
“Huge thanks goes out to Array Labs for sponsoring this series!”
YouTube, November 2023
- Beacons put 8 of its 17 on Farfa, a Yu-Gi-Oh! channel. CodeCrafters put 7 of its 13 on Talking Sasquach, a channel about hacking tools and hardware.
- None of those three channels is about the product's own category.
- Dennis on how we test: "One creator is a story. A cohort is a signal." Book a first wave, keep the brief steady, and book again the two or three who sell.
When rivals share a channel
- No Code MBA has sponsored videos for four San Francisco app builders: Mocha 8, Emergent 6, Replit 2 and Floot 1, all between May 2025 and February 2026.
“Thank you, Emergent, for sponsoring this video”
YouTube, September 2025
“Thank you to Mocha for sponsoring this video”
YouTube, November 2025
- Its viewers saw four app builders in under a year. Before you book a channel, check who sponsored it recently.
What we'd do for a San Francisco startup
- Start from who buys, then find the channels those people already watch, whatever the channel's topic.
- Book a handful at once, each with their own code, so you can tell who sold.
- Book the ones who sold again, the way Array Labs, Beacons and CodeCrafters kept going back to one channel.
- Read the channel's last sponsors first, so your read doesn't land next to a rival's.
- Starting with creators or the press? Read press or creators first.
Source: Our own count, sponsor_deals_per_deal joined to the YC company directory, read 2026-11-05
Source: Y Combinator company directory