The growth bar for YC just hit the stratosphere.

In this episode, we dive into the staggering metrics of the latest Y Combinator batch (P26), where startups are hitting $11M ARR before Demo Day and hardware is making a massive comeback. We break down the "Request for Startups," the future of SaaS in an AGI world, and why the most "defensible" companies are now escaping the screen.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- How a startup raised at a $175M valuation before even starting YC.

- The rise of "Barbarian" founders disrupting defense and space.

- Why YC is betting on "AI escaping the screen" (Robotics, Agriculture, Medicine).

- The "Build vs. Buy" shift: Why SaaS prices are about to compress.

- The "FDE" (Forward Deployed Engineer) model and how AI agents are scaling enterprise sales.

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

Chapters:

00:00 Record Batch Revenue Buzz

00:40 Free YC Application Feedback

01:21 P26 RFS Episode Kickoff

02:02 YC at 175M Valuation

04:46 Robotic Bird Spy Drones

06:12 AI vs Hardware Bifurcation

09:20 How to Underwrite Defense

10:52 AI Escapes the Screen

16:06 Is SaaS Actually Dead

19:24 Moats Still Matter

19:59 Build vs Buy Tradeoff

20:33 SaaS After AGI

20:38 Agent Services Wave

22:03 Adobe and Price Compression

23:45 Claude Says Just Buy

24:12 Apple OS and Hardware Shift

25:55 Founder Age and Deep Tech

27:07 Is Hardware Defensible

28:22 Fresh Eyes Disrupt Industries

31:25 Selling to Big Companies

33:27 AI Enables Enterprise GTM

35:56 AI First Companies and Wrap

🎧 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