We Picked our YC Favorites Before Demo Day
- S2E71
- 53:57
- November 25th 2025
YC Fall ’25 Demo Day isn’t here yet, but the signal is already loud. We went through 150+ companies and picked the ones we’d fight to get allocation in.
From AI-native banks and eBay killers to fusion reactors in space and crowdsourced drug discovery, this episode is a pre–Demo Day breakdown of YC’s Fall ’25 batch. We go category by category (B2B, Consumer, Fintech, Healthcare, Industrial/Real Estate) and call our shots before founders hit the stage. No hindsight bias, just real-time conviction.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why AI video tool Waffer might become the Canva of motion, not just another Sora clone.
- How Sorce hit 500k+ users and got Drew Houston to Venmo them a $200K angel check.
- The AI-native consumer plays: SellRaze (the “AI eBay”) and Sunflower (sobriety companion that actually prevents relapse).
- Fintech 2.0 with Selfin (AI bank aggregator) and Fernstone (AI-powered insurance brokerage in a Berkshire-sized market).
- Wild upside in healthcare and deeptech: Exonic’s crowdsourced drug discovery and LunaBill’s AI phone agents for U.S. healthcare billing.
- The industrial moonshots: Axial Composites’ next-gen carbon fiber and Zephyr Fusion’s bid to do fusion… in orbit.
📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews.
Chapters:
00:00 The Crazy Story of Sorce's Founding
00:56 Introducing Stable: The Business Address Solution
01:56 Welcome to Lobster Talks: Fall 25 Demo Day Preview
03:28 Diving into B2B Startups: Laurie's Top Pick
08:43 Exploring B2B Startups:Gabriel's Top Pick
16:31 Consumer Startups: Laurie's Favorite Pick
21:09 Consumer Startups: Gabriel's Top Pick
25:10 FinTech Startups: Laurie's Top Pick
28:43 AI Native Banking Revolution
29:45 AI in Insurance: Fernstone's Disruption
32:01 Healthcare Innovations: Exonic and LunaBill
38:21 Industrial and Real Estate Picks
42:21 Fusion Energy in Space: Zephyr Fusion
47:17 YC's Hardware and Deep Tech Push
50:36 Demo Day 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
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