PLAY PODCASTS
How is this YC startup 90% cheaper than AWS?
Season 2 · Episode 67

How is this YC startup 90% cheaper than AWS?

The Lobster Talks Podcast by Lobster Capital

October 28, 202545m 37s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (downloads.pod.co) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

A Netflix storage engineer walks into YC and ships an “infinite, shareable disk” on top of S3—30× faster and up to 90% cheaper—then dials GTM for the AI era. This is the file system’s comeback story.


Today I sit down with Hunter Leath (ARL) to unpack how a decade inside AWS + Netflix revealed a gap the hyperscalers won’t close: developers want storage that feels local, scales like S3, and doesn’t nuke the budget. We get into: YC as confidence engine, moving a family to SF, rebuilding for speed, why AWS won’t copy this, and why the file system—not object storage—becomes AI’s universal interface.


You’ll learn

-Why the clouds won’t ship a product that cannibalizes billions in revenue

-The architecture that makes ARL 30× faster and up to 90% cheaper

-How to catch customers exactly when new AI workloads start (the real ICP)

-Post-batch velocity: how SF energy kills the YC slump

-Why “serverless everything” needs a serverless disk to persist state

-The contrarian bet: the file system is the future data interface for AI


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


Chapters

00:00 The Risk of Leaving Big Tech

00:33 Introducing Hunter Leh and Aril

01:32 Hunter's Journey from AWS to Netflix

02:47 The Birth of Aril

06:55 Challenges and Insights from YC

07:26 The Solo Founder Experience

19:39 Building and Launching Aril

21:01 Go-to-Market Strategy and Customer Acquisition

24:04 The AI Industry's Growing Demand

24:49 Fundraising Journey and Investor Insights

26:35 AWS and Market Dynamics

29:17 Innovations in Data Storage

36:23 Maintaining Momentum Post-YC

38:27 Future Predictions in Data Infrastructure

42:22 Contrarian Views on AI and Data Storage

44:20 Conclusion and Contact Information


🎧 Listen on the go:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1u1JyRKH8JYFjhBkvTUOAP

Apple: https://apple.co/4cZ8RMm

My other YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GJarrosson