The two key ingredients to apply to Y Combinator are a founding team and an idea that excites you.

The right time to apply to Y Combinator is when you have a founding team and an idea that excites that team.

Many people mistakenly believe that traction or revenue is necessary to apply to Y Combinator, but that's not true; a significant portion of funded companies only have a founding team and an idea.

Co-founders typically collaborate to develop ideas together, sharing excitement and inspiration, which is vital for a successful partnership. If you're applying to Y Combinator, it's better to have a co-founder because single founders are disproportionately unlikely to get accepted.

It's a myth that you need to be far along in your startup journey to apply to Y Combinator; many successful companies started with just an idea when they applied.

You have nothing to lose by applying to Y Combinator as soon as you have a founding team and an idea.

Applying to Y Combinator is worth it because it helps you organize and clarify your startup ideas through the application questions, which can lead to valuable insights.

Y Combinator does not only fund companies with significant traction; many successful companies were accepted based solely on their ideas.

The quality and quantity of technical talent on the founding team is a major factor in determining whether someone is selected for an interview at Y Combinator. Having at least one technical founder significantly improves your odds of getting into Y Combinator, as teams with technical talent have five times better chances than those without.