The Startup Turning Your AirPods Into a Virtual Assistant

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