YBuffet
Structured due diligence platform that replaces the pitch deck for angel investors
Problem
New angel investors don't know how to find, evaluate, or vet startups. Reviewing pitch decks is time-consuming, every deck is a different format, and scheduling calls with every founder doesn't scale. The cognitive load of the process keeps new angels from deploying capital.
Solution
A three-layer platform: (1) Founders fill out a structured intake form instead of building a pitch deck — takes 5 minutes to publish. (2) AI generates a standardized one-pager from the answers — same format every time. (3) Investors ask follow-up questions async in a Q&A portal — the case file gets richer over time. Founders answer once, visible to all investors.
Market
TAM: $3-5B/year — 14-16M accredited investor households in the US, 97% have never made an angel investment. SAM: $200-500M — active + new angels in English-speaking markets. SOM: $5-15M ARR in 3-5 years — 3,000-8,000 paying investors at $150/mo average.
Traction
20 registered users on ybuffet.com. Pivoted to due diligence platform based on investor interview insights. Demo built and ready for investor testing. 1 active investor contact (Grant Lee) confirmed demand for structured evaluation tools.
Business Model
Freemium SaaS. Free for founders (supply side). Investors pay $99-199/mo for Pro (unlimited one-pagers, Q&A, deal scoring) or $299-499/mo for Team (co-investor sharing, shared pipeline). Commission on service provider marketplace (10-15%) launched at 200+ founders. Founders: Free (always). Investor Free: 5 one-pagers/mo, 3 questions/mo. Investor Pro: $99-199/mo (unlimited). Investor Team: $299-499/mo (collaboration). Founder Pro: $29/mo (analytics, visibility — launched at 100+ founders).
The Ask
Raising $1.2M via SAFE (Post-Money). Use of funds: 63% people (founder salaries, 2 engineers, PR/BD associate, marketing intern), 15% user acquisition, 3% AI/API costs, 5% operations (rent, equipment, software), 3% legal & compliance, 11% buffer. 18 months runway through Dec 2027. Timeline: Closing by end of June 2026
Team
Co-founder handling marketing, BD, and fundraising. Based in San Francisco. Conducting investor interviews and building the go-to-market strategy. First-time founder with deep hustle and direct access to the angel investor community.
Technical co-founder and full-stack engineer. Built the entire YBuffet platform from scratch — Go backend (Gin + gRPC), Next.js frontend (React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind), PostgreSQL, AWS infrastructure. Handles all engineering.
Why this team: Jenny has direct access to the angel investor community in SF and has conducted the user interviews that shaped this pivot. Bartosz built the entire platform solo — from backend to frontend to infrastructure — proving he can ship fast. Together they combine market insight with engineering execution.
Advisors: Currently building advisory board. Actively seeking advisors with angel investing networks and FinTech experience.
AI Assessment
YBuffet AIStrengths
- +Clear demand signal from investor interview — 'rich people will pay to reduce cognitive load'
- +Living Q&A case file is a genuine differentiator vs static report tools (StartupFuel, DocSend)
- +Two-sided network effect potential — every Q&A exchange makes the platform smarter
- +Targeting underserved niche — new individual angels, not VCs or angel groups
Questions to Consider
- ?How will you solve the cold-start problem — founders AND investors needed simultaneously?
- ?StartupFuel is building similar AI reports in Canada — what's the defense if they expand to the US?
- ?Pre-revenue with 20 users who aren't returning — what's the evidence the pivot will drive retention?
- ?Can the founding team ship the AI one-pager quality that investors would actually trust over their own judgment?
Comparable Companies
- •StartupFuel (Toronto) — AI due diligence reports, launching Global Startup Exchange Q1 2026
- •Dealum (Estonia) — Angel group collaboration platform, used in 214 countries, €33-45/mo
- •DocSend (acquired by Dropbox) — Pitch deck analytics, industry standard but still requires a deck
Q&A History
Q: How do you plan to get the first 50 founders on the platform? What's the go-to-market for the supply side?
Asked by Grant Lee · 2026-03-28
Three channels: (1) Jenny personally recruits from her SF startup network — she's already talking to founder friends. (2) Our existing 20 registered users on ybuffet.com get migrated to the new intake...
Q: What stops an investor from just using ChatGPT to analyze a pitch deck instead of paying $99/mo for YBuffet?
Asked by Grant Lee · 2026-03-28
ChatGPT gives you a different format every time, has no memory, and can't maintain a persistent case file. With YBuffet: (1) every startup brief is the same standardized format — you can compare apple...