Dec 19, 2025
How to Win YC Demo Day: A Simple Guide to Design, Scripts, and Getting Investors
Thousands of investors are watching your screen. You have sixty seconds to prove your startup is a winner. At this speed, YC demo day is like a fast filter. You win by stopping the long talk about how your app works. Instead, you must sell a big dream. Your goal is to make people interested enough to ask for a meeting.
Investors at YC demo day are very tired. They watch many pitches every hour. While you talk, they are looking at their phones or writing notes. Being tired is the biggest thing standing between you and a check. To win, you must make a presentation that people understand in one second. Do not tell a long story. Use facts and clear pictures.
What is YC Demo Day?
YC Demo Day is a large event where the best new startups show their progress to the world. It happens twice a year. After three months of working with YCombinator, founders get one chance to pitch to thousands of investors at the same time.
The goal of this day is not to close a deal on stage. The goal is to get "Likes" from investors. These "Likes" lead to meetings. Those meetings lead to the money you need to grow your company. Because there are so many companies, you have to be very clear and very fast to stand out.
Investors at YC Demo Day are very tired. They watch many pitches every hour. While you talk, they are looking at their phones or writing notes. Being tired is the biggest obstacle standing between you and a check. To win, you must make a presentation that people understand in one second. Do not tell a long story. Use facts and clear pictures.
How to Write a One-Minute Script
Y Combinator now uses a one-minute format for most pitches. This means you only have about 150 words. Every word must be useful. Do not waste ten seconds saying "Hi, my name is..." or "We are happy to be here." Start with what you do. If you build a database for hospitals, say: "We build a database for hospitals."
Do not use hard "tech" words. Words like "decentralized" or "next-generation" make investors think too hard. If they have to spend time figuring out your business, they will miss your growth numbers. A simple description helps the investor understand your company right away. This lets them focus on how fast you are growing.
Use this plan for your YC demo day pitch:
The Hook (0-10s): Say what you do in simple words. A middle school student should understand it. This helps the investor know what you sell before they see your charts.
The Problem (10-20s): Say why things are broken now. Use real numbers. Saying "Companies lose $10,000 a month" is better than saying "Companies are sad."
The Solution (20-30s): Say how you fix the problem. Use one or two sentences. Focus on how it helps the customer, not how the code works.
The Proof (30-50s): Show that people are buying your product. This is the most important part because it shows you aren't just dreaming.
The Big Goal (50-60s): Say how big this company can get. Investors want to see a path to making billions of dollars.
While you talk, investors click a "Like" button on the YC website. This sends an email to you right after the pitch. You are not giving a school speech; you are trying to make a sale. If your words are too hard, the investor will get confused. They might miss the "Like" button because they are still trying to understand your first sentence.
Making Slides Easy to Read
Make your slides with big text. Use size 40 font or bigger. If an investor cannot read your slide on a phone, you will not get a meeting. Many investors watch YC Demo Day on iPads or phones while they are traveling. Small text looks like a blur to them. This is why our YC pitch deck design focuses on very large letters. We remove everything that does not show your growth.
Being easy to read is a must. Use simple fonts like Arial or Helvetica. Use "Bold" or "Black" styles. Thin letters disappear on video. Keep each slide under ten words. If you need a whole sentence to explain a picture, the picture is bad.
Use good colors. A black background with white or bright neon text is best. This stays sharp even in bright rooms. Do not use gray text on white backgrounds because it is hard to read quickly. Every design choice should help the investor see the point in one second. This lets them go back to listening to your voice.
Showing Your Growth Numbers
The growth slide proves your dream is real. Use a simple line chart. Take away the grid lines and extra labels. These things are just noise. Put your biggest number, like "$1.2M ARR" or "20% Growth," in the biggest font on the page.
Investors look at the shape of the line. If the line goes up and to the right, you are winning. If the line is flat, you are losing.
If you just started your company, show how many weeks you have been open. Showing that you went from zero to 1,000 users in three weeks is very good. It shows you are moving fast. Moving fast is a big part of how to get into YCombinator.
Numbers look different for each type of business. You must use the right words for your area:
SaaS (Software Subscriptions): Focus on monthly money (MRR) and how many people quit using the app.
Apps for People: Focus on how many people use the app every day and if they come back.
Money Apps (Fintech): Focus on the total amount of money moving through your app.
Tech/Science: Focus on patents or letters from big companies that want to buy from you.
The 100x Rule for Practice
Record yourself and watch the video 100 times. You want to stop struggling with your words. When you know the words perfectly, you can focus on your energy. You should not be "reading" the script in your head. You should be telling a story to the audience.
Watching yourself helps you stop saying "um" and "uh." These sounds make you look like you don't know your own data. Stop talking for two seconds after you say a big number. This is the "Wait for It" pause. It gives the investor time to find the "Like" button. If you keep talking, they won't have time to react.
Try your pitch on a high school student. If they don't get it, the pitch is too hard. Change "smart AI-driven tool" to "software that makes things cheaper." Founders use big words when they are afraid their business sounds too simple. But the best businesses are usually the simplest ones.
Avoid These Common Slide Mistakes
Do not use screenshots of your app. The buttons are too small to see on a YC Demo Day video. Use a simple drawing of your app instead. Show one thing that it does. If your app saves time, show a "before and after" picture. Do not show the whole menu.
Do not use an "Everything" slide. You do not have time to talk about your team, your plans for next year, or your advisors. Every slide must be about your product or your growth. If you don't have money coming in yet, read our YC Application Tips to learn how to prove your idea works.
What to Do After the Pitch
The work does not stop when you stop talking. As soon as you finish, investors will search for you on the YC website. Make sure your profile has words like "Fintech" or "AI." This helps you show up when investors search for those things. Your title on the website should be the same as the first thing you said in your pitch. This builds trust.
The time right after YC demo day is when deals happen fast. This is called the "Handshake" time. You must answer every email within one hour. If you wait until the next day, the investor will move on to another company. Being fast shows you are a good founder.
Make a Data Room to Close the Deal
Build a "data room" before you pitch. An investor who likes your pitch will want to see the details right away. If you tell them you will send it later, they might change their mind. Your data room is just a folder with these files:
Who Owns What: A chart showing the owners of the company.
Tech Info: A simple plan of how your app is built.
Money Plans: Your bank papers and a plan for how you will spend the money.
Legal Papers: Papers that show your company is real.
Send all of this in one link. This shows you are organized. It stops delays and helps the investor say "yes" faster.
Why Investors Follow Each Other
Investors are afraid of taking risks. They often wait for another investor to say "yes" first. To get a deal, you must show that your round is filling up. If one person says they want to invest, tell other people. This makes them afraid of missing out.
Say "Why Now." Every big company wins because of a change in the world. Tell investors why your company must exist today. If you could have built this five years ago, why didn't you? Showing why it is urgent makes an investor write a check now instead of waiting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Should I show a live demo?
No. Live demos often break because of bad internet or bugs. Use a high-quality picture or a short video that repeats. This keeps you in control and ensures the investor listens to you.
2. How much growth do I need to get money?
There is no set number. But investors love speed. Growing 20% every month is better than having a lot of money but not growing. Show that you know how to find new customers every week.
3. What if I only have an idea?
Show "proxy traction." This means showing a list of people who want to buy your product. You can also show that you built your app very fast. This proves you are a team that gets things done.
4. How do I answer fast questions?
Keep a list of answers ready on your phone. When an investor asks a question, send the answer right away. Being fast proves you are ready to run a big company.
5. Is the website deck different from the pitch deck?
Yes. Your pitch slides should have almost no words because you are talking. The slides you put on the YC website can have more words because people will read them alone.
Final Checklist for Founders
Time: Can you do the pitch in 55 seconds?
Text: Is your text size 30 or bigger? Check this on your phone.
Words: Can you say what you do in 10 words?
Graph: Is your growth line easy to see?
Search: Is your YC profile ready with the right words?
Link: Is your data room link working?
You win YC demo day by making a hard dream into a simple story. Focus on big text and fast growth. Remove every hurdle between your company and an investor's check. If you make it easy for them to understand, you will get the money you need.
