Mixpanel’s Y Combinator application in 2009
Read the application that got us to the Y Combinator interview
Y Combinator Funding Application
Summer 2009
Application deadline: 10 pm (PST) March 18, 2009.
Please try to answer each question in less than 120 words.
We look at online demos only for the most promising applications, so don’t skimp on the application because you’re relying on a good demo.
We don’t make any formal promise about secrecy, but we don’t plan to let anyone outside Y Combinator see these applications, including other startups we fund.
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Your YC username:
suhail
Company name:
Mixpanel
Company url, if any:
http://mixpanel.com
Please enter the Posterous url of a 1 minute video introducing yourselves.
[redacted]
YC usernames of all founders, including you, suhail, separated by spaces. (That’s usernames, not given names: “bksmith,” not “Bob Smith.” If the startup has 3 founders, there should be 3 words in this answer.)
suhail trefn
YC usernames of all founders, including you, suhail, who will live in the Bay Area June through August if we fund you. (Again, that’s usernames, not given names.)
suhail trefn
What is your company going to make?
Mixpanel is a business intelligence service that helps improve online companies by tracking user interactions, engagement, and optimization avenues instead of just tracking page views.
For each founder, please list: YC username; name; age; year, school, degree and subject for each degree; email address; personal url (if any); and present employer and title (if any). Put unfinished degrees in parens. List the main contact first. Separate founders with blank lines. Put an asterisk before the name of anyone not able to move to the Bay Area for the summer.
suhail; Suhail Doshi; 20; (2010, Arizona State University, BSE, Computer Systems Engineering); [email redacted]
trefn; Tim Trefren; 21; (2010, Arizona State University, BS, Computer Science); [email redacted]; http://www.timtrefren.com
Please tell us in one or two sentences about something impressive that each founder has built or achieved.
Suhail participated in OpenSocial while it was bleeding edge, developed an application that got over 1 MM installs, and an opensource javascript framework used by recognized application companies such as Serious Business w/ over 300+ downloads.
Tim scored in the top 1% for the PSAT/SAT and became a National Merit Scholar. ASU offered him a full scholarship, and he followed the money.
Please tell us about the time you, suhail, most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage.
Last summer I managed to get an internship at Slide, but a month after accepting their offer I decided I wanted more hourly pay. Before I even started at Slide, I was able to convince the recruiter that I had numerous offers still outstanding from companies like RockYou and Zynga and had in-depth OpenSocial experience that was deserving of a $10/hr raise. Luckily, she was able to get it and pay was very good that summer.
Please tell us about an interesting project, preferably outside of class or work, that two or more of you created together. Include urls if possible.
Recently we’ve been working on a music search and on-demand streaming site called SongRaptor (http://songraptor.com). We built it to use as a case study for Mixpanel; we use Mixpanel for all the metrics and we’ve been making design decisions based on this data. Eventually we hope to show the effect that Mixpanel metrics can have on the growth of a site.
We haven’t gotten much farther than the most basic functionality yet. We’ve been spending most of our time on Mixpanel while our other friends continue development.
How long have the founders known one another and how did you meet? Have any of the founders not met in person?
I’ve known Tim for just over a year. We were in the same discrete math class, and I noticed that there were quite a few smart CS types and thought that we should get something going. After class one day I introduced myself to them and suggested we could do a startup. Then everyone expressed interest, but only Tim followed up. Since then we’ve been hanging out and talking about startups.
Tim went to Singapore to study last semester, and when he got back I pitched Mixpanel to him. He was interested and I wanted a cofounder so I brought him on board.
What’s new about what you’re doing? What are people forced to do now because what you plan to make doesn’t exist yet?
Mixpanel is going to bring the competitive advantage data-driven companies like Facebook and Slide have to everyone. Instead of just tracking page views and referrals, Mixpanel will let people learn about their customers by tracking interactions and engagement. We’re also going to help them identify and track their conversion funnels — the paths visitors take to registrations, purchases or any other goal page designated by the company.
Today, companies have to spend their most scarce resources, time and money, to build out internal analytic systems specific to their application. These homebrew systems are less robust and insightful than the service we are offering.
What do you understand about your business that other companies in it just don’t get?
Working at Slide, known for being data-driven, inspired me to build Mixpanel. While at Slide, I got to work closely with Max Levchin on a specific product where he helped teach me how to truly build and iterate data-driven products from the start.
Mixpanel was conceived from the ground up with companies like Slide in mind as well as the problems people there had to face letting us offer a more compelling solution. We can really say, we’re building an analytics platform the way large data-driven companies expect it to be.
Who are your competitors, and who might become competitors? Who do you fear most?
Our primary competitor is Google Analytics. Many of the inquiries we receive ask “How are you different from GA?” and a successful solution has been to explicitly say what we offer and how we are different from the beginning. We fear Google the most because of their market penetration and their engineering resources.
Aside from Google, there are a few other companies entering this market: nuconomy, KISSmetrics, Aster Data, and Gumtrail.
How will you make money?
Mixpanel’s business model is a subscription based freemium model. Based on the data logged and analyzed we can scale prices based solely on usage similar to that of Amazon S3.
Our idea is to target small under-served startups before they build out an internal system. During that period, we aim to help, consult, build case studies, and provide a free trial to augment our brand and reputation before targeting larger potential clients.
If you have an online demo, what’s the url? (Please don’t password protect it; just use an obscure url.)
How long will it take before you have a prototype? A beta? A version you can charge for?
We currently already have a alpha build with a variety of clients saying they will or have integrated including some YCombinator companies: Posterous, TicketStumbler, and HeyZap. A beta will likely be finished either before summer starts or soon during. Our alpha version is already earning revenue at a profit and we are working on stream-lining this process.
If you’re already incorporated, when were you? Who are the shareholders and what percent does each own? If you’ve had funding, how much, at what valuation(s)?
We are not currently incorporated yet.
If you’re not incorporated yet, please list the percent of the company you plan to give each founder, and anyone else you plan to give stock to. (This question is as much for you as us.)
[redacted]
If we fund you, which of the founders will commit to working exclusively (no school, no other jobs) on this project for the next year?
Both Tim and I are committed to working exclusively for the next year with some path of success in sight.
For founders who can’t, why not? What level of commitment are they willing to make?
N/A
Do any founders have other commitments between June and August 2009 inclusive?
We have no commitments between that period and are free to start mid May.
Do any founders have commitments in the future (e.g. finishing college, going to grad school), and if so what?
We’ve invested three years into college so far, but we are willing to take a leave of absence to pursue this startup. We’re entering a market where we can be a serious competitor and we have to move now.
Are any of the founders covered by noncompetes or intellectual property agreements that overlap with your project? Will any be working as employees or consultants for anyone else?
No to both questions.
Was any of your code written by someone who is not one of your founders? If so, how can you safely use it? (Open source is ok of course.)
All code written thus far is safe to use based on the licensing.
Are any of the following true? (a) You are the only founder. (b) You are a student who may return to school in the fall. (c) Half or more of your group can’t move to the Bay Area for the summer. (d) One or more founders will keep their current jobs during the summer. (e) None of the founders are programmers.
(Answering yes doesn’t disqualify you. It’s just to remind us to check.)
yes
If you had any other ideas you considered applying with, feel free to list them. One may be something we’ve been waiting for.
We’re considering entering other areas of analytics and business intelligence such as Mobile and outsourced data processing through Hadoop.
After looking at your ideas page, we thought it was interesting that we might address #30: Startups for startups.
Please tell us something surprising or amusing that one of you has discovered. (The answer need not be related to your project.)
Users have the tendency to defy your expectations all the time. If you don’t listen, you won’t survive.
