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I had Claude rank every YC W26 startup

I had Claude rank every YC W26 startup

by Bahushruth·Mar 9, 2026·2 points·2 comments
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AI Analysis

●MidDark Horse

Vaporware check filters out landing-page-only startups from the S tier.

Strengths
  • •Multi-signal validation combining LinkedIn, press, and product existence checks
  • •Transparent methodology showing which companies failed the vaporware filter
Weaknesses
  • •One-time analysis with no ongoing tracking or update mechanism for ranked companies
  • •Single-page utility with no export, API, or deeper investigation tools
Category
Other
Target Audience

VCs, startup observers, YC applicants

Similar To

Crunchbase · PitchBook · Signal NFX

Post Description

For each company it scrapes founder LinkedIn profiles, searches for press and traction signals, and checks whether the product actually exists or is just a landing page.

S tier is almost empty. A lot of the "hot" companies didn't survive the vaporware check.

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