🎣 Automate scraping Y Combinator startups with Apify & Google Sheets
⚡ 236 views · 🎣 Lead Generation & Enrichment
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Description
Disclaimer
Community nodes are used, and template can only be used on self-hosted n8n instances.
workflow overview.PNG
This n8n template from Intuz provides a complete solution to automate the process of scraping company and founder data from Y Combinator.
It systematically extracts valuable information from your target search and organizes it directly into a Google Sheet, building a powerful prospecting list with minimal effort.
Who’s this workflow for?
- Sales Teams & SDRs
- Venture Capitalists
- Angel Investors
- Market Researchers
- Startup Founders
How it works
1. Trigger the Scrape: You start the workflow manually whenever you want to gather new company data.
2. Scrape Y Combinator: An Apify actor automatically visits your specified Y Combinator search URL (e.g., filtered by batch, industry, or region) and scrapes the details of each company listed.
3. Retrieve Structured Data: The workflow fetches the neatly structured data from Apify, including company names, descriptions, websites, founder details, and more.
4. Log to Google Sheets: All the scraped information is added or updated as new rows in your designated Google Sheet, creating an organized and actionable database.
Setup Instructions
1. Apify Configuration:
- In the Run an Actor node, connect your Apify account.
- Select the Y Combinator Directory Scraper actor.
- In the Custom Body field, replace {YOUR_Y_COMBINATOR_SEARCH_URL} with the actual URL from the Y Combinator website after you’ve applied your desired filters.
- You can adjust the maxCompanies value to control how many companies are scraped per run.
2. Google Sheets Configuration:
- In the Add data to Google Sheet node, connect your Google Sheets account.
- Select the Document (spreadsheet) and Sheet where you want to save the data. Make sure the sheet has the required columns listed in the “Key Requirements” section.
3. Execute the Workflow:
- Click the “Execute workflow” button to run the scraper and populate your Google Sheet.
Key Requirements to Use This Template
- n8n Instance: An active n8n account (Cloud or self-hosted).
- Apify Account: An active Apify account with an API key. You will also need sufficient credits or a subscription plan to run the Y Combinator Directory Scraper actor.
- Google Account & Sheet: A Google account and a pre-made Google Sheet. The sheet must have the following columns created in advance: Company, Location, Website, LinkedIn, Founded, Description, Industry Tags, Founder 1 Name, Founder 1 LinkedIn, Founder 2 Name, and Founder 2 LinkedIn.
Connect with us
- Website: https://www.intuz.com/n8n-workflow-automation-templates
- Email: getstarted@intuz.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intuz
- Get Started: https://n8n.partnerlinks.io/intuz
For Custom Worflow Automation
Click here- Get Started
🔗 Nodes Used
Google Sheets
📥 Import
Download workflow.json and import into n8n:
Workflow menu → Import from File