The US government spends $2.7 trillion a year on everything from water bottles to fighter jets, yet the entire process is held together by Microsoft Word and tribal knowledge.

In this episode, we sit down with August Chen, founder of Hazel (YC W24), to discuss why he left Palantir to tackle the antiquated world of government procurement. We dive into the "missionary vs. mercenary" mindset, the reality of the 1% acceptance rate at YC, and why the "death of the paper-pusher" is the greatest opportunity in VC today.

What you’ll learn:

• Why 50% of small businesses have abandoned government contracts.
• The Palantir playbook: How to "deploy yourself" into a customer's workflow.
• Why selling to the Government requires a "hierarchy of needs" approach.
• The pivot from B2B2G to direct B2G: When the mission stays, but the product moves.
• How AI is turning months of RFP paperwork into seconds of work.
• Predictions for the "DOGE" era and the future of civil servant tech stacks.

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

Chapters:

00:00 Million Dollar Toilet Problem

00:39 YC Roaster Ad Break

01:22 Why Gov Procurement Lags

02:50 Broken Systems Examples

04:05 Inside Procurement Tech Stack

05:30 Palantir Lessons On Procurement

07:29 YC Pivot To B2G

11:36 Selling To Government Reality

17:22 Scaling A Small Sales Team

21:29 AI For Deterministic Compliance

25:15 Workflow First AI Second

26:00 Vendor Search Enrichment

26:18 Drafting Requirements Fast

26:36 Evaluation Notes Assistant

27:04 Safety and Tesla Analogy

28:35 Scope Review Guardrails

30:29 Palantir Patience Lessons

32:36 Hair on Fire Problems

33:57 Fast Pilots and Features

36:07 Overcoming Trust Deficit

39:04 Why the Name Hazel

41:50 Predictions Rapid Fire

43:58 Procurement Jobs Future

45:32 Investor Takeaway and Wra

“🎧 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 Lobster Talks episode is brought to you by YC Roaster, a free tool helping founders improve their YC applications.

🔗 https://ycroaster.com

The most successful YC companies aren't always the loudest. They're the ones that survive the "Valley of Death" to become indispensable infrastructure.

In this episode, I sit down with Grant Shaddick, founder of Tella (YC W20), the video tool that has quietly taken over the YC ecosystem. We dive into the grit required to build a category leader, why they chose to stay lean while others over-raised, and how AI is finally killing the "video editing" bottleneck.

What you’ll learn:

• Why "boring" infrastructure often outperforms "hype" AI startups.
• The reality of the startup "Valley of Death" and how to survive it.
• Why a high valuation can actually be a founder's biggest trap.
• The future of agentic video editing: from tools to outcomes.
• The secret behind Tella’s viral adoption among YC founders.

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

Chapters:

00:00 The Big Vision: Make Video Creation Effortless

00:35 Sponsor Break: YC Roaster — Free YC Application Feedback

01:19 Podcast Intro: Why Tella Is a Quiet YC Power Tool

02:28 What Tella Is: The All‑in‑One Screen Recorder

04:38 From “Loom Competitor” to Polished Production Value

07:43 Why YC Founders Keep Choosing Tella

10:51 Async Video vs Meetings: The Future of Work?

15:23 Beyond Loom: One Tool for Every Company Video

18:25 AI + Video: Auto Layouts and Editing Without Editing

24:21 How Close Are We to Fully Autonomous Video Editing?

25:58 Why Video Is So Unforgiving: Trust Dies When Recordings Break

27:50 AI Can’t Save a Broken Capture (Yet): The Gap vs Text Generation

29:12 Generative AI as a “Bandage”: Fixing Mistakes After the Fact

30:21 Desktop/Web Video Creators Are Underserved (and AI Changes That)

31:24 From Whisper Dictation to “Fix My Delivery”: The Future of AI Video

32:20 YC 2020 to PMF: Staying Lean, Scrappy, and Not Getting Ahead of Yourself

36:26 How to Not Quit: Stubbornness, Small Wins, and Solving Hard Problems

39:16 The Rendering-Bug Breakthrough: Quality Fixes That Unlocked Growth

42:01 Fundraising Discipline: Valuation Pressure vs Runway and Focus

47:30 Wrap-Up: Try Tella + Where to Find the Team

🎧 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 Lobster Talks episode is brought to you by YC Roaster, a free tool helping founders improve their YC applications.

🔗 https://ycroaster.com

YC just added one question that quietly changes what it means to be a founder.

And it’s not about your TAM. It’s not about your pitch. It’s about how you use AI to build.

In this episode of Lobster Talks, we break down YC’s newest application change, the rise of coding agents like Claude Code, and what this signals about where startup building, and venture capital is heading next.

We also go deep on YC Roaster, Lobster Capital’s new initiative helping founders improve their YC applications using AI + YC alumni review.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

- Why YC’s new “coding agent session” question is a founder filter

- How vibe coding is becoming table stakes in 2026

- What 20,000 YC applications really signal about global founders

- Why traction keeps rising as the YC acceptance bar

- How smart VCs are building internal tools and why most aren’t

- Why the best founders and funds pivot fast

This is a behind-the-scenes look at how YC evaluates builders today.

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

Chapters:

00:00 Claude Code Is Addictive: Why Everyone’s Vibe Coding Now

00:44 Sponsor Break: YC Roaster - Free, Brutally Honest YC Application Feedback

01:27 Welcome to Lobster Talks: What’s New in the YC World

02:00 How YC Roaster Was Built (Fast) + How the AI→Alumni Review Flow Works

03:37 Launch Results: Hundreds of Apps, MVP Bugs, and the V2 Relaunch Plan

06:23 What Applicants Look Like: Quality Spread, Global Submissions, and Reviewer Time Sinks

11:29 Why Build YC Roaster: Lobster’s “Helpful Fund” Flywheel + VCs Who Ship

14:20 YC’s New Application Question: Submit a Coding Agent Session You’re Proud Of

15:06 What YC Is Really Testing: Technical Bar, AI Fluency, and Advanced Agent Workflows

22:42 Founder vs Idea: Pivot Culture, Proof-of-Work, and How AI Changes Evaluation

27:06 VCs Need Tools Too: Internal Engineering, Interactive Marketing, and Fund Differentiation

29:28 YC Request for Startups: 2026 Themes - Agents, Stablecoins, GovTech, Spatial/Robotics

31:33 Wrap-Up: Subscribe, Reviews, and Next Week’s YC Founder

🎧 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