feat: YC application answers + Remotion video component + gitignore updates

- Add YC_APPLICATION_ANSWERS.md with full Summer 2026 application draft
  (all fields answered, updated with mortgage broker user interview quote)
- Wire OffthreadVideo into YCAppVideo.tsx for founder recording playback
- Ignore .mov files and .gstack/ in .gitignore

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitignore

@@ -19,3 +19,6 @@ opencode.json
 videos/remotion-demo/node_modules
 videos/remotion-demo/build
 videos/remotion-demo/out
+videos/remotion-demo/public/*.mov
+product/*.mov
+.gstack/

product/YC_APPLICATION_ANSWERS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,356 @@
+# YC Application — Draft Answers
+**Summer 2026 Batch | SquareMCP**
+Generated: 2026-05-13
+
+> Copy-paste each answer directly into the YC form.
+> Fields marked ⚠️ need your input before submitting.
+
+---
+
+## Company
+
+**Company name**
+```
+SquareMCP
+```
+> ⚠️ NOTE: Change from "Herons LLC" — YC funds specific startups, not holding companies.
+> Herons LLC is your legal entity (mention that in the legal entity question below).
+
+---
+
+**Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less**
+```
+AI agent for your business communications
+```
+*(41 chars — within limit)*
+
+Alternative (developer-angle):
+```
+One API to post everywhere via AI agents
+```
+*(40 chars)*
+
+---
+
+**Company URL**
+```
+https://squaremcp.com/
+```
+
+---
+
+**Please provide a link to the product**
+```
+https://app.squaremcp.com/
+```
+> Include login credentials if the reviewer needs to log in.
+
+---
+
+## What Are You Building
+
+**What is your company going to make?**
+
+```
+SquareMCP is an AI communications manager for non-technical professionals —
+mortgage brokers, publishers, coaches, and real estate agents who spend 3-5
+hours a week manually copying and pasting content across LinkedIn, Instagram,
+Facebook, WhatsApp, and email.
+
+Instead of logging into each platform individually, users tell Claude what they
+do, connect their accounts once, and Claude drafts platform-optimized content
+for their approval. One input becomes a LinkedIn post, a Facebook update, an
+Instagram caption, and a follow-up email — tailored for each channel. Users
+approve with one click or let the system post automatically once they trust it.
+
+Under the hood, SquareMCP is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) gateway — the
+emerging open standard for giving AI agents authenticated access to external
+services. We handle OAuth tokens, credential storage (AES-256-GCM encrypted
+per-customer in Redis), rate limits, retries, and API changes across 10+
+platforms so neither the end user nor the developer has to.
+
+The platform is live at app.squaremcp.com with multi-tenant auth, usage
+tracking, invoice-based billing, and working integrations for LinkedIn,
+Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Snapchat,
+and email. TikTok app review is in progress. First users are onboarding this week.
+```
+
+---
+
+## Location
+
+**Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?**
+```
+Miami, FL, United States / San Francisco, CA, United States
+```
+
+**Explain your decision regarding location.**
+```
+I'm currently based in Miami. During YC I would relocate to the Bay Area for the
+batch — the density of AI founders and the YC network is worth being present for.
+Post-YC, the company would stay in San Francisco or be remote-first depending on
+early hire strategy.
+```
+> ⚠️ Adjust if your preference is different.
+
+---
+
+## Progress
+
+**How far along are you?**
+
+```
+The backend is fully built and deployed. SquareMCP runs on a MicroK8s cluster
+at hermes.squaremcp.com with:
+
+- 10+ platform integrations: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok,
+  WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Snapchat, Email (IMAP/SMTP, 7 accounts), Obsidian
+- Multi-tenant credential isolation: per-customer AES-256-GCM encrypted credentials
+  in Redis, customer resolution from API key or JWT cookie
+- Full SaaS auth and billing: signup/login (bcrypt + JWT), 4-method auth, usage
+  tracking on every tool call, plan tiers (Free/Starter/Growth/Enterprise),
+  invoice generation at $0.05/action
+- Admin panel: customer management, usage view, invoice generation and sending
+- Web app at app.squaremcp.com: dark-theme SPA with platform connection cards,
+  OAuth flows, usage bar, invoice list
+- Marketing site at squaremcp.com with pilot request form
+- TikTok app review submitted
+
+Two named pilot users — a mortgage broker and a book/magazine publisher — are
+ready to sign up this week. Neither is technical. The chat-first content manager
+UI (the end-user product layer) is the current build sprint.
+```
+
+---
+
+**How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time?**
+
+```
+I started building Hermes MCP in March 2026 as a personal tool — originally a
+Yahoo Mail server for Claude. Within 6 weeks it had grown to cover 10+ platforms,
+multi-tenancy, and a full SaaS billing system.
+
+I've been building full-time since April 2026. I have 15+ years of experience
+in enterprise API platforms, integrations, and distributed systems — this is
+not a new problem for me, just a new distribution channel (AI agents instead
+of human developers).
+```
+> ⚠️ Adjust dates/timeline if needed based on your actual start.
+
+---
+
+**What tech stack are you using, or planning to use?**
+
+```
+Backend: TypeScript / Node.js (MCP server + REST API)
+Database: MySQL 8 (user/billing data), Redis 7 (per-customer encrypted credentials,
+          session state, audit logs)
+Infrastructure: MicroK8s single-node cluster, Traefik ingress, Let's Encrypt TLS,
+                local container registry
+Auth: bcrypt + JWT session cookies, 4-method auth (global API key → customer API
+      key → OAuth Bearer → JWT cookie)
+Platform SDKs: Meta Graph API (Facebook, Instagram), LinkedIn API v2, Twitter/X
+               API v2, TikTok Video Publish API, WhatsApp Cloud API, Telegram Bot
+               API, Discord API v10, Snapchat Marketing API, IMAP/SMTP
+
+AI models: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (claude-sonnet-4-6) via Anthropic API — used for
+           content generation, platform-aware adaptation, and the chat interface
+AI coding tools: Claude Code (all backend, SaaS system, integrations, and
+                 infrastructure built with Claude Code)
+
+Frontend: Vanilla JS / HTML / CSS (squaremcp.com marketing site + app.squaremcp.com
+          SPA) — no framework, intentionally minimal
+Testing: Playwright (E2E, desktop + mobile, screenshot diffing on squaremcp.com)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Traction
+
+**Are people using your product?**
+```
+No — first users onboarding this week.
+```
+> Select "No" on the form. Mention the two pilot users in the progress section.
+
+**Do you have revenue?**
+```
+No — invoice-based billing is built and ready; first invoices generate when
+first users hit usage thresholds.
+```
+> Select "No."
+
+---
+
+## Idea
+
+**Why did you pick this idea? Do you have domain expertise? How do you know people need this?**
+
+```
+I've spent 15+ years building and integrating enterprise APIs — payments,
+identity, messaging, data pipelines. I've lived the pain of stitching together
+multiple platform APIs firsthand: different auth models, inconsistent rate limits,
+breaking changes with no notice.
+
+When I started using Claude daily for my own work, I wanted it to be able to
+act on my behalf — post to LinkedIn, send a WhatsApp, respond to email. There
+was no clean way to do that without writing brittle per-platform integrations.
+I built SquareMCP to solve my own problem first.
+
+Then I called a mortgage broker friend who doesn't write code. Before I could
+finish explaining it, he said: "I send out lots of emails and social media, it
+burns my time, and I get little response. I want a way to push out information
+and videos and monitor my email and respond with appropriate answers and questions."
+
+He didn't describe a scheduling tool. He described a full communications manager —
+outbound posting AND inbound email monitoring with AI-drafted responses. He
+described the exact product I built, unprompted, in one sentence.
+
+Same reaction from a magazine publisher — different content, same pain.
+
+I know people need this because the first user I called told me exactly what to
+build before I said a word about what the product did.
+```
+
+---
+
+**Who are your competitors? What do you understand about your business that they don't?**
+
+```
+Two competitive landscapes:
+
+1. Social media scheduling tools (Buffer, Hootsuite, Ocoya, SocialPilot):
+These are form-based scheduling tools with AI content features bolted on. They
+require users to think like marketers — content calendars, posting schedules,
+analytics dashboards. Non-technical professionals find them complex and abandon
+them. They don't have AI agency: they can schedule a post you write, but they
+can't have a conversation with you and generate the post from your context.
+
+2. MCP gateway / developer platforms (Composio, Kong, MintMCP):
+These target developers building AI applications and require significant
+engineering to integrate. They have no end-user product. A mortgage broker
+cannot use Composio.
+
+What we understand that they don't: the user interface for AI-era social media
+management is a chat window, not a scheduling dashboard. The product is "tell
+Claude what you do and it handles the rest" — not "here are your 47 settings."
+The MCP infrastructure we built is the engine; the chat-first UX is the product.
+Non-technical professionals are the fastest path to revenue, and they're
+completely unserved by both competitive categories.
+```
+
+---
+
+**How do or will you make money? How much could you make?**
+
+```
+SaaS subscription + usage metering:
+
+- Free: 100 actions/month, 1 workspace, 2 connectors (lead gen)
+- Starter: $199–499/month — 10 connectors, RBAC, audit logs
+- Growth: $1,500–3,000/month — SSO, private networking, SLA
+- Enterprise: $20,000–100,000+/year — VPC/on-prem, compliance, custom connectors
+
+Usage metering at $0.05/action above plan limits (already implemented).
+Setup fees for enterprise onboarding: $3,000–$15,000.
+
+TAM: 30M+ small business owners in the US who use social media for marketing.
+If 1% of US mortgage brokers (330,000 total) pay $199/month that's $65M ARR
+from one vertical alone. The platform model means every new vertical (real
+estate, publishers, coaches, insurance agents) multiplies that.
+```
+
+---
+
+**Other ideas you considered applying with:**
+
+```
+1. AI trading bot management platform — I've built and run multiple algorithmic
+   forex trading systems (MQL/MetaTrader). A platform to manage, monitor, and
+   deploy AI-generated trading strategies is a real gap.
+
+2. Hermes MCP as pure developer infrastructure — sell the MCP gateway layer to
+   developers building AI apps, without the end-user product on top. This is
+   still a valid B2B opportunity as AI agents proliferate.
+```
+
+---
+
+## Equity
+
+**Have you formed any legal entity?**
+```
+Yes — Herons LLC (Florida)
+```
+> Select "Yes."
+
+**Have you taken any investment?**
+```
+No
+```
+
+**Are you currently fundraising?**
+```
+No
+```
+
+---
+
+## Curious
+
+**What convinced you to apply to YC?**
+
+```
+I've been using Claude Code with the gstack office-hours skill to pressure-test
+my thinking on SquareMCP. The diagnostic forced me to get specific: named users,
+articulated demand, challenged assumptions. At the end of the session the tool
+said "GStack thinks you are among the top people who could do this" and asked
+if I'd consider applying to YC. I said yes. So here I am.
+
+The honest answer is that I've been building for a long time but always as an
+employee or contractor, never as a founder with a company I own. This is the
+first time the infrastructure, the product idea, and the timing all feel right
+simultaneously.
+```
+
+**How did you hear about Y Combinator?**
+```
+I've followed YC and Garry Tan's work for years. The Lightcone podcast
+"Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger Than SaaS" was the specific episode
+that made me think SquareMCP fit the thesis.
+```
+
+---
+
+## Batch
+
+**What batch do you want to apply for?**
+```
+Summer 2026
+```
+
+---
+
+## Video
+
+Your talking points are in `YC_APPLICATION_TALKING_POINTS.md`.
+
+⚠️ **Update the video script** — the current script pitches the developer-facing
+MCP gateway angle. Consider updating it to lead with the end-user story:
+*"I showed this to a mortgage broker. He said: when can I use this?"*
+That's more compelling than "9 different APIs, 9 different auth flows."
+
+The product demo link is https://squaremcp.com/ — make sure the hero copy
+reflects the end-user value ("AI that posts for you") before the reviewer visits.
+
+---
+
+## Checklist Before Submitting
+
+- [ ] Change company name from "Herons LLC" to "SquareMCP" (or explain Herons LLC is the legal entity)
+- [ ] Update squaremcp.com hero copy — lead with end-user value, not MCP infrastructure
+- [ ] Have the mortgage broker or publisher actually signed up (or be able to say "onboarding this week")
+- [ ] Re-record video using updated talking points (end-user story first)
+- [ ] Export a Claude Code session transcript for the coding agent question
+- [ ] Confirm your actual location and YC batch location preference
+- [ ] Review all ⚠️ flags above and fill in personal details

videos/remotion-demo/src/YCAppVideo.tsx

@@ -1,10 +1,20 @@
-import { AbsoluteFill, interpolate, spring, useCurrentFrame, useVideoConfig } from "remotion";
+import {
+  AbsoluteFill,
+  OffthreadVideo,
+  Sequence,
+  staticFile,
+  interpolate,
+  spring,
+  useCurrentFrame,
+  useVideoConfig,
+} from "remotion";
 import { COLORS, FONT, SPRING_CFG } from "./styles";
 
 // ─── CONFIG ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 const INTRO_DURATION = 3;   // seconds
 const OUTRO_DURATION = 2;   // seconds
 const TOTAL_DURATION = 60;  // seconds (YC wants ~1 min)
+const TALKING_HEAD_DURATION = TOTAL_DURATION - INTRO_DURATION - OUTRO_DURATION;
 
 // ─── INTRO CARD ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 const IntroCard = () => {
@@ -126,7 +136,7 @@ const VideoFrame = ({ children }: { children?: React.ReactNode }) => {
   // Fade in from intro
   const fadeIn = interpolate(
     frame,
-    [INTRO_DURATION * fps, (INTRO_DURATION + 0.5) * fps],
+    [0, 0.5 * fps],
     [0, 1],
     { extrapolateLeft: "clamp", extrapolateRight: "clamp" }
   );
@@ -134,7 +144,7 @@ const VideoFrame = ({ children }: { children?: React.ReactNode }) => {
   // Fade out to outro
   const fadeOut = interpolate(
     frame,
-    [(TOTAL_DURATION - OUTRO_DURATION - 0.5) * fps, (TOTAL_DURATION - OUTRO_DURATION) * fps],
+    [(TALKING_HEAD_DURATION - 0.5) * fps, TALKING_HEAD_DURATION * fps],
     [1, 0],
     { extrapolateLeft: "clamp", extrapolateRight: "clamp" }
   );
@@ -328,7 +338,21 @@ export const YCAppVideo = () => {
   return (
     <AbsoluteFill style={{ background: "#000" }}>
       {showIntro && <IntroCard />}
-      {!showIntro && !showOutro && <VideoFrame />}
+      <Sequence
+        from={INTRO_DURATION * fps}
+        durationInFrames={TALKING_HEAD_DURATION * fps}
+      >
+        <VideoFrame>
+          <OffthreadVideo
+            src={staticFile("yc-founder-recording.mov")}
+            style={{
+              width: "100%",
+              height: "100%",
+              objectFit: "cover",
+            }}
+          />
+        </VideoFrame>
+      </Sequence>
       {showOutro && <OutroCard />}
     </AbsoluteFill>
   );