Proof of Usefulness Report

Pilot (YC W17)

Analysis completed on 1/27/2026

+68
Proof of Usefulness Score
You're In Business

The submission contains critical identity errors, conflating Pilot.com (YC W17, Bookkeeping Unicorn, $1.2B valuation) with Pilot.co (International Payroll). The user 'SwiftFang' provided the URL and description for the payroll company but the financial metrics and YC batch of the bookkeeping company. Additionally, the traction claim 'most people have used my product' is demonstrably false and unprofessional. While the underlying entities (Pilot.com or Pilot.co) are legitimate businesses, this specific submission fails to provide credible proof of usefulness due to severe data integrity issues and unverifiable hyperbole.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+70
Audience Reach Impact+20
Technical Innovation+50
Evidence Of Traction+10
Market Timing Relevance+80
Functional Completeness+10
Subtotal+80.75
Usefulness Multiplierx0.84
Final Score+68

Project Details

Project URL
Description
Pilot helps companies pay remote team members. We take care of payroll, benefits and compliance when hiring contractors in over 130 countries around the world.\n\nRemote workers are usually hired as contractors and paid like any other vendor. But companies want to treat them like employees—give them stock options, offer benefits, or reimburse them for expenses. Existing contractor payment tools don’t do that.\n\nPilot makes it ridiculously easy. At scale, we’ll be able to make your remote team members employees, not just contractors.\n\nAt over 3,000,000 contractors and our post-beta price of $60 / contractor / month, this is a $2.1B opportunity.

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Growing utility with room for optimization
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline