We Picked our YC Favorites Before Demo Day

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