Promoting on r/ycombinator: Rules and What Gets Removed
r/ycombinator is a community for news and discussion around startups and applying to Y Combinator, aimed at people discussing YC and YC-related news.
197.7K
members
~2
posts / day
2011
created
10
community rules
Can you promote your product in r/ycombinator?
No, you cannot promote your product in r/ycombinator. Rule 5 says, "No self promotion," and Rule 8 also bans "solicitation of surveys, DMs, external groups, etc," saying posts should promote discussion rather than requests that only apply to the poster.
The rules that cover promotion
Rule 5: No self promotion.
"No self promotion."
Rule 8: No solicitation of surveys, DMs, external groups, etc
"Posts in this sub should be applicable to other members of this community, or promote discussion. Not requests that only apply to the poster."
Rule 6: No hiring or co-founder search posts.
"No hiring or co-founder search posts."
Quoted from the subreddit's own rules, snapshot from July 2026. Read all 10 rules on Reddit
What gets removed
- Self promotion
- Solicitation of surveys, DMs, external groups, etc
- Hiring or co-founder search posts
- Memes, politics, shitposts, and low effort posts
Safer ways to show up
- Discuss YC and YC-related news
- Use the megathreads for feedback and application discussions
- Search before making a new post
- Keep posts broadly applicable to the community and focused on discussion
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