/yc-batch-evaluator

name: yc-batch-evaluator
description: Evaluate YC batch companies for investment — scrapes the YC directory, researches each company and its founders (work history, LinkedIn, website), assesses founder-company fit, and exports to Google Sheets with priority rankings. Use when asked to evaluate YC companies, research a YC batch, screen startups, or do due diligence on YC companies.
source: orthogonal

YC Batch Evaluator

Setup

Read your credentials from ~/.gooseworks/credentials.json:

export GOOSEWORKS_API_KEY=$(python3 -c "import json;print(json.load(open('$HOME/.gooseworks/credentials.json'))['api_key'])")
export GOOSEWORKS_API_BASE=$(python3 -c "import json;print(json.load(open('$HOME/.gooseworks/credentials.json')).get('api_base','https://api.gooseworks.ai'))")

If ~/.gooseworks/credentials.json does not exist, tell the user to run: `npx gooseworks login`

All endpoints use Bearer auth: `-H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOSEWORKS_API_KEY"`

Scrape a YC batch, research every company and founder, assess founder-company fit, and export a live-updating Google Sheet with priority rankings. Designed for investors evaluating YC companies.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT ask clarifying questions. Just start immediately.

All inputs are optional. If the user said a batch, use it. If they didn't specify sectors or thesis, process ALL companies. **Always create a new Google Sheet** — never ask for an existing spreadsheet ID. **Start scraping immediately — do not ask "which batch?", "any sector filters?", or "should I create a sheet?".** This is designed for live demos where speed and visual impact matter.

"Spring 2026" is a real YC batch (also called "X26"). It exists and has ~22 companies.

Input

• **batch** (optional) — defaults to "Spring 2026". Examples: "Winter 2026", "Summer 2025"
• **sectors** (optional) — filter to specific sectors (e.g. "AI", "fintech", "infrastructure"). If not provided, process ALL companies.
• **thesis** (optional) — investor's focus areas for tailored scoring and ranking. If not provided, rank on general investment quality.

Step 1: Scrape the YC Batch Directory

The YC companies page is JavaScript-rendered (Algolia-powered). Scrapegraph handles the JS rendering.

curl -s -X POST $GOOSEWORKS_API_BASE/v1/proxy/orthogonal/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOSEWORKS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"api":"scrapegraph","path":"/v1/smartscraper"}'
  "website_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies?batch={batch_url_encoded}",
  "user_prompt": "Extract every company listed: company name, one-line description, sector/tags, location, and URL slug for each company page (e.g. /companies/orthogonal). Return as a structured list."
}'

Batch URL encoding: "Spring 2026" → `Spring%202026`, "Winter 2026" → `Winter%202026`.

If the investor specified sectors, filter the list. Otherwise process all companies.

**Expected response structure:**

{
  "result": {
    "companies": [
      {
        "name": "Indexable",
        "description": "sandbox infrastructure for AI agents",
        "tags": ["B2B", "Infrastructure"],
        "location": "San Francisco, CA, USA",
        "url_slug": "/companies/indexable"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: The batch page returns `tags` (e.g. "B2B", "Infrastructure"), NOT detailed sectors. Individual YC pages (Step 3a) return richer `sectors` (e.g. "Artificial Intelligence", "Manufacturing"). Always prefer individual page data when available.

Step 2: Create Google Sheet and Share Link Immediately

Before any research, create the sheet and populate it with company names + descriptions from the batch scrape. Share the link so the investor can watch results fill in live.

curl -s -X POST $GOOSEWORKS_API_BASE/v1/proxy/orthogonal/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOSEWORKS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"api":"google-sheets","path":"/create-spreadsheet","body":{"title":"YC {batch} Batch Evaluation"}}'

**Column layout (A through N):**

| Col | Header | Source | |-----|--------|--------| | A | Company | Batch scrape | | B | Description | Batch scrape | | C | Sector | Individual YC page (`sectors`) — overwrite batch `tags` | | D | Location | Individual YC page → Apollo fallback | | E | Website | Individual YC page (`website_url`) | | F | Founders | Individual YC page (names + titles) | | G | Founder LinkedIn(s) | Individual YC page (`linkedin_url`) | | H | Founder Twitter/X | Individual YC page (`twitter_url`) | | I | Founder Background | Apollo employment history + YC page bios | | J | Founder-Company Fit | Your assessment | | K | Website Analysis | Company website scrape | | L | Market/Competitors | Perplexity | | M | Overall Assessment | Your assessment | | N | Priority Rank | Your ranking |

Write header row + all company rows (research columns blank):

curl -s -X POST $GOOSEWORKS_API_BASE/v1/proxy/orthogonal/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOSEWORKS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"api":"google-sheets","path":"/update-values"}'
  "spreadsheet_id": "{spreadsheet_id}",
  "sheet_name": "Sheet1",
  "first_cell_location": "A1",
  "valueInputOption": "USER_ENTERED",
  "values": [
    ["Company", "Description", "Sector", "Location", "Website", "Founders", "Founder LinkedIn(s)", "Founder Twitter/X", "Founder Background", "Founder-Company Fit", "Website Analysis", "Market/Competitors", "Overall Assessment", "Priority Rank"],
    ["{company_name}", "{description}", "{tags}", "{location}", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""]
  ]
}'

Populate Sector (C) and Location (D) from the batch scrape initially — they'll be overwritten with richer data from the individual YC pages.

**Share the sheet link with the user immediately** so they can watch it fill in.

Step 3: Research Each Company — Row by Row

Parallelization Strategy

**The demo effect matters.** Rows filling in one-by-one on the spreadsheet is the