How to market on r/ycombinator without getting banned
Startup founders discussing the YC ecosystem, fundraising, and early-stage building. Ambitious, technically literate founders aiming at venture-scale outcomes — a concentrated, high-signal audience that scrutinises claims and rewards substance. Here's how to show up there the right way — and how FounderReply helps you do it on your own account, through Reddit's official API, with a human approving every word.
Your own account · official Reddit API · human-approved · no scraping, no bots
Strict — promotion in dedicated threads only. Member counts are indicative and change over time.
The rules that matter on r/ycombinator
Direct promotion is heavily moderated. The sub is for substantive startup discussion, not product launches; overt self-promotion is removed quickly.
- ✓No standalone "check out my startup" posts — they are removed.
- ✓Contribute to discussions on fundraising, product, and growth with genuine depth.
- ✓Reference your product only when it directly answers a question, and disclose it.
- ✓Account history and substance matter; new accounts dropping links get filtered.
Subreddit rules change — always read the current sidebar rules before posting. This is guidance, not a guarantee.
How to actually win on r/ycombinator
Win here on credibility, not promotion. Answer hard early-stage questions — go-to-market, pricing, distribution — with operator-level specifics, and let your post history carry your reputation. A thoughtful answer in front of this audience is worth more than any direct pitch.
We don't do the things that get you banned
Reddit's 2025 spam crackdown removed roughly 70% of automated posting accounts, and tools that auto-post or operate "managed" accounts are exactly what it targets. FounderReply takes the opposite approach by design.
Your own account, official API
It acts as you through Reddit’s official API — never a scraper, fake persona, or rented account.
Human approval by default
Every draft waits in your queue. Growth comments on others’ threads are hard-capped to require approval.
Value-first, 90/10 by design
It surfaces threads where you can genuinely help and drafts useful contributions — promotion stays the exception.
ToS guardrails enforced
Per-platform automation caps mean the agent can never be set looser than Reddit’s policy allows.
r/ycombinator marketing — FAQ
- Can I promote my product on r/ycombinator?
- Direct promotion is heavily moderated. The sub is for substantive startup discussion, not product launches; overt self-promotion is removed quickly. The safest approach: Win here on credibility, not promotion. Answer hard early-stage questions — go-to-market, pricing, distribution — with operator-level specifics, and let your post history carry your reputation. A thoughtful answer in front of this audience is worth more than any direct pitch.
- Will I get banned for marketing on r/ycombinator?
- You get banned for spamming, not for participating. The fast ways to get removed or shadowbanned are posting promotional content outside the allowed threads, using new or multiple accounts to push links, and posting at bot-like intervals. FounderReply does none of those: it acts on your own connected account through Reddit's official API, drafts genuinely useful contributions, and keeps a human approval step on by default — so what goes out is something you'd be comfortable posting yourself.
- Does FounderReply auto-post to r/ycombinator?
- No — not unless you explicitly allow it, and even then growth comments on other people's threads are hard-capped to require approval. By default every draft waits in your queue for a one-tap yes. We never operate fake or "managed" accounts on your behalf; it is always your account, via the official API.
- What's the 90/10 rule on Reddit?
- Reddit's widely-cited self-promotion norm is that no more than ~10% of your activity should be promotional — the other 90% should be genuine participation. FounderReply is built around that ratio: it surfaces threads where you can genuinely help and drafts value-first contributions, so your promotional mentions stay the exception, not the pattern.
Show up on r/ycombinator — the right way.
FounderReply finds the threads worth replying to and drafts a genuinely useful contribution in your voice. You approve every word. It's your account, the official API, and no spam.