The recovery market is broken, and most VCs are too scared to touch it.

Koby Conrad (CEO of Sunflower) joins the show to discuss why he’s betting his career on solving addiction using AI.

After a successful exit at Rupa Health, Koby moved to Buenos Aires with nothing but a backpack to "vibe code" the future of sobriety.

In this episode, we dive into the "no-meeting" SAFE phenomenon, why SaaS moats are dying, and how Sunflower reached $1M ARR in record time.

What you will learn:

• Why the "Wellness" category is a trap for serious founders.
• How to raise capital in "emotionally difficult" or stigmatized markets.
• The strategy behind giving away software for free to monetize physical "atoms."
• Inside the YC Fall 25 batch: What has changed since 2019.
• Why AI sponsors are actually more effective for lonely users than human ones.

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

Chapters:

00:00 Choosing Mission Over Money

00:30 YC Roaster Sponsor Break

01:14 Why Addiction Is Underserved

02:08 What Sunflower Builds

03:24 Fundraising In A Stigmatized Market

05:14 Why Not A Wellness App

08:00 Stigma Parallels And Founder Backstory

10:37 YC Twice And The Compounding Effect

13:59 No Meeting SAFEs And Investor Alpha

18:31 Limits Of AI In Recovery

22:06 From Subscriptions To Clinics

28:14 Distribution Moats And Community

30:27 Community Network Moats

31:21 Software Is Not The Moat

31:57 B2B Pilots And Revenue Paths

33:18 Finding Product Model Fit

34:56 Why Start Over For Addiction

37:01 Backpack Minimalism Reset

39:24 Garry Tan As Group Partner

43:04 Rapid Fire AI Predictions

43:45 Gambling Addiction Rabbit Hole

46:34 AI Across Healthcare And Ash

50:59 Smarter Than The Robot

51:53 Where To Find Sunflower

🎧 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