Startups often fail because of timing, not ideas. Startups.RIP is a wiki of 1,700+ YC startups that shut down or got acquired. Our AI research agent writes a detailed post-mortem (what they built, why they failed, what's changed since) and a rebuild playbook with implementation-ready technical specs you can drop straight into your AI coding agent. Every failed startup is a validated market with unfinished business. Shortcut the idea maze. Start with what almost worked.
Hey Product Hunt, I'm Oscar, the maker of Startup.RIP 👋
The best startup ideas aren't always new. They're remixes that entered a market at the right time.
Lyrebird (S17) built AI voice cloning in 2017 and folded. Years later, ElevenLabs hit $11B valuation on the same idea. Multiple YC companies tried prediction markets before regulatory changes enabled Kalshi to go mainstream. It pays to learn from startup history.
Startups.RIP is a database of 1,700+ YC startups that died or got acquired. Our AI deeply researches post-mortem for each one — what they built, why they failed, what's changed — and generates a rebuild playbook with implementation-ready specs you can drop into Claude Code, Codex, or your coding AI of choice.
As covered by Forbes: dozens of YC fintech startups that took teams of engineers years to build can now be shipped in an afternoon using AI.
The first 32 reports are free. Pro ($20/mo) unlocks everything. We're giving 25% off the Pro subscription to our first 100 supporters (use the code PHLAUNCH). We also offer a 50% BUILDER discount for anyone who builds and ships a project inspired by an idea they found on Startups.RIP.
The product is still rough around the edges, so any feedback is much appreciated. Drop a comment; I read everything.
What failed YC startup would you rebuild with AI today?
About Startups.RIP on Product Hunt
“Rebuild 1,738+ dead YC startups with AI”
Startups.RIP launched on Product Hunt on April 9th, 2026 and earned 200 upvotes and 29 comments, placing #13 on the daily leaderboard. Startups often fail because of timing, not ideas. Startups.RIP is a wiki of 1,700+ YC startups that shut down or got acquired. Our AI research agent writes a detailed post-mortem (what they built, why they failed, what's changed since) and a rebuild playbook with implementation-ready technical specs you can drop straight into your AI coding agent. Every failed startup is a validated market with unfinished business. Shortcut the idea maze. Start with what almost worked.
On the analytics side, Startups.RIP competes within Startup Lessons, Vibe coding and Alpha — topics that collectively have 8k followers on Product Hunt. The dashboard above tracks how Startups.RIP performed against the three products that launched closest to it on the same day.
Who hunted Startups.RIP?
Startups.RIP was hunted by Oscar Hong. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
For a complete overview of Startups.RIP including community comment highlights and product details, visit the product overview.
Oscar Hong
Hey Product Hunt, I'm Oscar, the maker of Startup.RIP 👋
The best startup ideas aren't always new. They're remixes that entered a market at the right time.
Lyrebird (S17) built AI voice cloning in 2017 and folded. Years later, ElevenLabs hit $11B valuation on the same idea. Multiple YC companies tried prediction markets before regulatory changes enabled Kalshi to go mainstream. It pays to learn from startup history.
Startups.RIP is a database of 1,700+ YC startups that died or got acquired. Our AI deeply researches post-mortem for each one — what they built, why they failed, what's changed — and generates a rebuild playbook with implementation-ready specs you can drop into Claude Code, Codex, or your coding AI of choice.
As covered by Forbes: dozens of YC fintech startups that took teams of engineers years to build can now be shipped in an afternoon using AI.
The first 32 reports are free. Pro ($20/mo) unlocks everything. We're giving 25% off the Pro subscription to our first 100 supporters (use the code PHLAUNCH). We also offer a 50% BUILDER discount for anyone who builds and ships a project inspired by an idea they found on Startups.RIP.
The product is still rough around the edges, so any feedback is much appreciated. Drop a comment; I read everything.
What failed YC startup would you rebuild with AI today?