Startups.RIP

What is Startups.RIP?

Startups.RIP is a research and reference site focused on dead YC startups and the lessons those companies left behind. It compiles deeply researched retros and rebuild playbooks drawn from 1,738+ YC startups (covering batches from 2005 to today), helping founders navigate product and execution decisions using prior real-world outcomes.

The site presents company retros and rebuild-oriented guidance alongside filters for batch and industries, so you can narrow what you read to a specific time period or market segment.

Key Features

• Retros and rebuild playbooks from YC companies: Provides written retros and rebuilding guidance grounded in outcomes from past startups.
• Coverage for 1,738+ YC startups (2005–present): Lets readers browse a large set of YC history rather than a small curated list.
• Batch navigation across YC cycles: Includes an “All batches” view and batch-by-batch browsing (e.g., S05, S08, S10, S11, S12, S15, S17, S19, S20, S21, S22, S23, W06, W07, W08, W10, W12, W17, W19, W20, W24 shown in the page content).
• Industry filtering: Organizes companies by industries such as AI, DevOps/DevSecOps, fintech, healthcare, education, e-commerce, security, and more.
• Company index with status context: Shows “Acquired” and “Inactive” example entries in the featured list, framing each referenced company within its outcome category.

How to Use Startups.RIP

1. Start from All batches or choose a specific YC batch to focus on companies from that cohort.
2. Optionally narrow the list using industry tags (for example, AI, fintech, healthcare, developer tools).
3. Open a company’s entry (e.g., an “Acquired” or “Inactive” startup shown in the featured section) and read the retrospective and rebuild materials to extract lessons relevant to your current build.

Use Cases

• Founder researching a saturated idea space: If you’re considering a product category with many prior attempts, use the industry filter to find earlier YC companies and compare their approach and outcomes.
• Team planning a rebuild after pivoting: Read rebuild playbooks from relevant past companies to structure next steps and identify decisions that previously mattered.
• Product leader mapping execution lessons by cohort: Browse by batch to understand how companies in a given YC cycle built, scaled, or exited.
• Technical builders looking for prior implementation learnings: Use developer-oriented industry tags (e.g., Developer Tools, DevOps/DevSecOps) to focus retros on technical execution patterns.
• Cross-industry exploration: If you’re not sure where your solution fits, use “All industries” and then branch into adjacent categories once you find patterns.

FAQ

• What kind of content does Startups.RIP publish? The site emphasizes deeply researched retros and rebuild playbooks tied to YC startups.

• Which startups does Startups.RIP cover? The page states coverage for 1,738+ YC startups spanning 2005 to today.

• Can I filter by time period and industry? Yes. The site includes browsing by batch (“All batches” plus individual batches) and industry.

• Does the site only focus on “dead” startups? The site is described as focusing on “dead YC startups” alongside “alive ideas,” meaning it uses failures and outcomes as learning material.

• Is there a specific startup featured list? The page content includes a “Featured Companies” section with example companies labeled with outcomes like “Acquired” and “Inactive.”

Alternatives

• YC alumni retros and blog archives (by category or batch): Similar in spirit (learning from past companies), but typically less structured around a rebuild-playbook format and may not offer batch+industry filtering in one place.
• Founder communities and newsletters focused on startup outcomes: Useful for scattered lessons and narratives, but usually won’t provide a large, indexed corpus of YC retros with consistent rebuild guidance.
• General startup databases and exits/financing aggregators: Help you find companies and outcomes, but generally don’t include the same retrospective and rebuild-playbook analysis described on Startups.RIP.
• Tech industry case-study libraries: Comparable when you want practical learnings by domain, but they may be broader than YC and less focused on cohort-based lessons and failure-to-rebuild workflows.