The Startup Turning Your AirPods Into a Virtual Assistant
- S2E68
- 44:23
- November 4th 2025
We finally found a voice assistant that actually ships work. Not a demo, not a hype reel—April closes the loop on email and calendar while you’re driving, lifting, or walking to your next meeting.
In this YC-insider conversation, Neha (co-founder of April) breaks down how a narrow, vertical agent can outperform “do-everything” assistants, why dogfooding—not retention dashboards—built their product moat, and what a screen-lite future means for founders and operators. We also cover YC batch dynamics in a crowded voice category, Demo Day strategy, and the roadmap to a true “voice OS.”
What you’ll learn:
- Why narrowing scope (email + calendar first) beats generalist agents for real outcomes
- The dogfood standard: building to a founder’s own bar, then scaling
- How YC treats multiple “competing” companies—and why that can help you ship faster
- Demo Day tactics: being live, iterating weekly, and selling the founder, not the fantasy
- Voice vs. screens: trust, closed-loop execution, and the path to screenless workflows
- April’s roadmap: LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Notion—and verticalizing for sales & investors
📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to April: The AI Voice Assistant
00:24 Welcome to Lobster Talks: Meet Neha from April
01:12 Diving into April's Features and Use Cases
02:46 The Journey of Building April
03:58 Challenges and Successes in the Voice AI Space
05:36 The Future of Voice AI and Investor Insights
07:37 YC Experience and Investor Reactions
08:47 The Competitive Landscape and Collaboration
12:25 The Role of YC and the Voice AI Market
20:08 The Vision for a Screenless Future
23:06 Preparing for YC Demo Day
25:38 The Importance of Execution in Business
26:16 Advice for Startups: Ship Quickly and Get Feedback
26:50 Future Integrations and Features
28:37 Challenges and Strategies During YC Journey
32:31 Maintaining Momentum Post-YC
33:20 Mental Resilience and Personal Well-being
38:10 Exciting Future Plans for April
40:17 Predictions and Insights on AI Assistants
41:09 Lessons from Zoho and Book Recommendations
43:23 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
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