Blog
Writing from Lobster.
Long-form essays from Lobster Capital, published on Substack.
Lobster Capital1 min readAre You Underwriting Lobster Capital, or Just Underwriting YC?
Why Lobster is not just a “beta” within YC and the same as any other YC-focused fund.
July 24, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readThe Future of VC is Lean
Why Smaller VCs will outperform Platform Funds
July 15, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readStage is Dead: Why YC Is the Perfect Archetype for Modern Investing
In 1976, a panel of French judges blind-tasted a lineup of wines and ranked a California bottle above the best of Bordeaux.
July 8, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readHow the Best YC Funds are Getting Deals
The best YC deals don’t get discovered at Demo Day.
July 1, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readWhat the Anti-YC Narrative Reveals About Investors
When an investor tells a founder to skip Y Combinator, they are not offering friendly advice.
June 24, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readWhy Everyone is Wrong about YC in 2026
What the Industry is Getting Wrong about Y Combinator
June 16, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readThe Fastest Wealth Creation in History: $0 to $2.7 Billion in 3 Years
Four people in their mid-20s just became billionaires.
June 12, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readWhy most LPs never see the YC deals that matter
Every YC batch ships a few hundred companies.
June 10, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readWhat the OpenAI/YC Deal Changes for Investors
Sam Altman’s “mic-drop moment” offer of $2M to an entire YC cohort has raised a number of questions across the early-stage investment industry.
June 9, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readLobster Capital - May 2026 Update
Of the 41 companies in Fund I, 10 now have a credible path to returning the entire fund on their own. That’s the headline from May, and it’s why I wanted to get this…
June 1, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readThe Co-Founder Paradox: Are Investors Missing a Trick?
There exists a paradox in investor preference for co-founded startups: 65% of startup failure is because of founder conflict, making it the #1 predictor of failure.
May 27, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readAre YC founders building on the wrong side of the model layer? Here's how we know.
Founders building AI-native companies today have unconsciously slotted into one of two positions:
May 21, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readThe Great VC Catfishing
How the signals VCs rely on became the easiest things to fake, and what investors look for instead
May 13, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readARR Is Broken.
How creative ARR is damaging for both founders and investors and what we look for instead.
May 6, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readLobster Capital – Q1 Update
I’m pleased to share highlights from our April 2026 quarterly update.
April 27, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readWhy Higher YC Valuations Hurt Most Founders (Even if They’re Good for Investors)
Congratulations on Your Round. Now You’re Stuck
April 15, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readThe Third Era of Y Combinator: From Accelerator to Operating System
In June 2025, YC held its first AI Startup School, gathering 2,500 computer science students who hadn’t yet founded a company.
April 9, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readHow YC is Stress Testing Venture Math
Venture capital brands itself as the asset class for risk takers, but the psychology of today’s investors has drifted toward capital preservation rather than asymmetric…
April 2, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readYC’s Record Breaking W26 Demo Day Recap
Why Investors Are Paying Double
March 28, 2026
Lobster Capital1 min readIs Your Startup Worthless?
You just shipped your product.
March 17, 2026