A YC insider walked away from the best seat in the Valley… to build “prank call” voice AI that now powers serious enterprise sales.

Simple AI started as a consumer assistant that people used to troll their friends—and turned into a phone agent platform that’s replacing entire call centers.

In this episode of The Lobster Talks, I sit down with Cat, founder of Simple AI and former YC product lead behind Startup School and YC’s co-founder matching tools. We go deep on the real difference between a business and a startup, why YC went all-in on AI before the rest of the market, and how voice agents are quietly becoming the most valuable “employee” in the building.

You’ll hear how a side-project consumer app turned into inbound from enterprises like Omaha Steaks, why B2B isn’t boring when the hair is really on fire, and what the future looks like when calling a business means talking to an AI that actually solves your problem.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Cat went from building Startup School at YC to founding Simple AI
• Why “making money” isn’t enough to call something a startup—and why tech-enabled scale still matters
• The origin story of Simple AI: consumer assistant, prank calls, and the first “holy sh*t” user feedback
• How large enterprises are using voice agents today for inbound sales, support, and real revenue lift
• Why high-quality, high-conversion calls beat “cheap” AI—and how Simple AI thinks about upsell and A/B testing
• B2C vs B2B in voice AI, YC’s early bet on LLMs, and whether this is a winner-take-most market

📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews.

Chapters:

00:00 The Power of Voice AI: Pranks and Beyond

00:34 Sponsor Message: Stable - Your Virtual Business Address

01:34 Introduction to Lobster Talks and Today's Guest

01:41 Meet Cat from Simple AI

01:55 Cat's Journey at YC and the Birth of Simple AI

02:46 Building Tools for Founders at YC

04:25 The Distinction Between Business and Startup

05:49 The Role of Technology in Startup Scalability

09:03 The Visionary Leap into Voice AI

10:58 The Early Days of AI and YC's Influence

15:58 The Consumer Focus of Simple AI

17:49 Real-World Applications of Simple AI

21:00 How Simple AI Works: Practical Examples

22:44 The Power of Simple AI: No Marketing Needed

22:58 Celebrity Endorsement: Reese Witherspoon's Favorite AI

23:41 How Simple AI Benefits Businesses

24:03 AI in Call Centers: A Game Changer

24:39 The Omaha Steaks Case Study

25:45 AI vs. Human: The Upsell Advantage

26:15 Seasonal Workforce Challenges Solved by AI

27:47 The Future of AI in Sales and Support

31:57 The Synergy Between B2C and B2B Products

34:10 The Potential of Voice AI in B2C

44:08 The Competitive Landscape of Voice AI

45:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

🎧 Listen on the go:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1u1JyRKH8JYFjhBkvTUOAP

Apple: https://apple.co/4cZ8RMm

My other YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lobstercap

This podcast episode is sponsored by Stable. Click here to sign up for a virtual address:

https://dashboard.usestable.com/onboard/begin?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=influencer_lobster&promoCode=lobster50

YC F25 just produced one of the wildest Demo Days we’ve seen: AI everywhere, hardware roaring back, and a drone startup raising at ~$200M straight out of the batch.

If you care about where early-stage markets are really going, this is your field report.

In this episode of The Lobster Talks Podcast, we break down YC F25 Demo Day just hours after it wrapped.

We walk through the real themes behind the noise: AI as default, healthcare and finance getting rebuilt, deeptech and defense going mainstream, and why some YC valuations are starting to look… ambitious.

We also dig into Absurd (AI launch videos as a service), whether AI-powered services can be truly venture-backable, and what a $200M YC seed round means for fund math and future returns.

You’ll learn:

• Why “every startup is an AI startup” is no longer a hot take, it’s table stakes.
• 
  
• The under-discussed YC F25 trends: healthcare, financial services, “AI for the real world,” and deeptech/hardware.
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• How AI-enabled service providers like Absurd are rewriting the rules on what’s considered “venture-backable.”
• 
  
• The inside view on a YC F25 drone company raising at ~$200M and what that implies for fund-return math.
• 
  
• How YC valuations have quietly crept back up post-2023, and what that means if you’re raising or investing.
• 
  
• Why narrative, defense, space, and truly hard tech (Starcloud, Astroforge, Array Labs, Harper, etc.) are shifting what “normal” outcomes look like.
• 
  

📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: Surprising Valuations and Market Dynamics

00:54 Sponsor Message: Stable's Business Address Solution

01:54 Welcome to Lobster Talks Podcast

02:45 Recap of YC F25 Demo Day

03:56 Diverse Categories in YC F25 Batch

05:31 AI's Impact on Various Industries

06:26 Deep Tech and Hardware Innovations

07:23 Consumer Startups in YC F25

09:53 The Rise of AI-Enabled Service Providers

16:11 Debate: Service Providers and Venture Backed Outcomes

22:44 Scaling Ad Production Challenges

23:11 The Future of Video Content

23:58 Absurd Valuations in YC Companies

24:21 Drone Company with a $200M Valuation

25:59 Investment Returns and Valuation Math

28:47 High Valuations and Market Trends

36:43 Ambitious YC Startups and Their Potential

39:17 The Cycle of YC Valuations

42:50 Conclusion and Upcoming Episodes

🎧 Listen on the go:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1u1JyRKH8JYFjhBkvTUOAP

Apple: https://apple.co/4cZ8RMm

My other YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lobstercap

This podcast episode is sponsored by Stable. Click here to sign up for a virtual address:

https://dashboard.usestable.com/onboard/begin?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=influencer_lobster&promoCode=lobster50

YC to 200K users without a marketing budget? HeRA is trying to become the Figma of motion design and put After Effects on notice.

This is a builder’s story: fast pivots, AI-native product, and a bold bet to scale from Berlin, not SF.

In this episode, Chia, co-founder & CTO of HeRA breaks down how they pivoted into AI motion design, grew to hundreds of thousands of users, and why they’re betting on an onsite Berlin team post-YC.

We cover PMF vs. virality, the UI/UX of AI video, the Figma vs. Adobe playbook, and how HeRA wants to power every SaaS launch video.

You’ll learn:

- Why the motion graphics wedge beat “all-in-one” AI video editors

- The YC pivot moment: prototype in two days → interview in a week

- Berlin vs. SF: talent, costs, and staying plugged into the Valley

- PMF litmus test for AI video: “1 min product video in less than 30 minutes”

- How HeRA generates code to animate motion (and why time makes it hard)

- The Figma analogy: AI-native UX vs. legacy add-ons—and why Adobe should worry

📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews.

Chapters

00:00 The Origin of Hera: From Video Editor to Motion Graphics

00:29 Sponsorship Message: Stable's Virtual Address Service

01:28 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest

02:07 Chia's Journey with YC and Hera's Evolution

02:51 The Birth of Hera's Core Idea

05:25 Decision to Move Back to Berlin

14:53 Technical Insights: How Hera Works

19:46 Marketing Success and Product Market Fit

25:00 Creating Continuous Motion Graphics

25:22 Challenges in Long Video Generation

27:55 Competing with Adobe After Effects

30:28 The Future of Motion Graphics with AI

31:20 Collaborative Features and Market Vision

36:38 Trends in AI and Video Creation

43:23 Hera's Impact on the Industry

48:32 Closing Remarks and Future Outlook

🎧 Listen on the go:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1u1JyRKH8JYFjhBkvTUOAP

Apple: https://apple.co/4cZ8RMm

My other YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lobstercap

This podcast episode is sponsored by Stable. Click here to sign up for a virtual address:

https://dashboard.usestable.com/onboard/begin?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=influencer_lobster&promoCode=lobster50