www.ycombinator.com/blog/startup-playbook

For each founder, identify the strongest concrete accomplishment outside or inside this startup. Write: ACTION + DIFFICULTY + RESULT + PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION. Evidence can be shipped software, research, open source, sales from zero, organizing something difficult, exceptional independent projects or solving a constrained technical problem. Name specific numbers only if verified. Replace "I'm passionate, visionary, hardworking" with observable facts. Credentials and prior employers help only when tied to what the founder actually did.

Document cofounder relationship, how long they have worked together, past joint accomplishments, decision-making, who writes the core product, ownership of critical capabilities, other commitments and equity when requested. Do not hide missing skills or part-time status. FICTIONAL EXAMPLE: "At 19 I built a scheduling tool used by 12 clinics and maintained it alone for two years." Never claim this unless real.

JUST-IN-TIME INPUT: Collect founder names/roles, personal achievements, how they met, actual product ownership, time commitment, and equity details only now, and only when relevant to the current form. Facts already known must be reused.

Name the user, economic buyer, pricing model and unit, price if known, purchasing process, and why the customer would pay. Clearly label proposed versus validated pricing. Explain how the first customers can realistically be acquired; do not rely only on paid ads or an unspecified viral loop.

Use bottom-up market thinking: plausible number of buyers multiplied by credible annual spend. State sources and assumptions, then distinguish early beachhead, adjacent expansion and long-term opportunity. Avoid "we only need 1% of a $100B market." Explain why the initial wedge creates a right to expand, through product reuse, distribution, data, network effects, economics or other mechanisms. Surface sales-cycle, regulation, margin, supply and adoption risks. Do not create false precision.

JUST-IN-TIME INPUT: Ask for buyer, price tests, acquisition observations and realistic initial market assumptions at this stage. Do not demand precise TAM figures when the business is too early.