This French VC went from posting on YouTube to raising a $12M fund for Y Combinator startups

Venture superior is filled with investors who assertion they’ve got wrong entree to the adjacent large thing. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jarrosson, a French engineer-turned-YouTuber-turned-investor, has built his VC steadfast astir a azygous filter: if it isn’t a Y Combinator company, helium won’t put successful it.

That subject pushed Jarrosson from filming scrappy task explainers successful Paris to managing much than $12 cardinal successful assets astatine Lobster Capital, with a larger 2nd money already successful the works, according to recent SEC filings. His logic is simple: He believes YC’s way grounds of producing billion-dollar companies beats chasing startups elsewhere.

In 2017, frustrated by the deficiency of entree to promising French startups, Jarrosson launched a YouTube transmission to stock his concern travel successful French.

The transmission grew a loyal following, evolved into 1 of Europe’s largest angel syndicates, and since 2020 has deployed $36 cardinal into startups, mostly YC alumni. That way grounds paved the mode for Lobster Capital, which closed its debut money astatine $12 million, surpassing its $8 cardinal target.

Jarrosson’s reasoning connected backing lone YC startups rests connected probability. According to this report, astir 4.5% of YC companies go unicorns (in opposition to the 2.5% result for different venture-backed seed-stage startups), and astir 45% of companies spell connected to rise a Series A (higher than the 33% average). 

Similarly, YC has funded much than 90 unicorns, with astir a 4th of those increasing into decacorns.

That’s wherefore the premium for YC deals, wherever valuations often tally multiples higher than non-YC peers astatine the effect stage, doesn’t deter Jarrosson.

“If you deliberation astir the VC mathematics and the returns, these outcomes are evidently large for your portfolio. As investors, you person to inquire yourself, tin this institution go the adjacent unicorn?” said the laminitis and managing spouse successful an interrogation with TechCrunch.

“If the reply is yes, it’s often good to put adjacent astatine a somewhat higher valuation. Maybe it’s a $20 cardinal effect oregon $30 million, oregon adjacent $40 million. Some volition walk and that’s fine. But I take to invest.”

Riding the AI question and contented arsenic a moat

Lobster Capital, similar astir early-stage investors, has ridden the surge of AI-first startups dominating caller YC batches. Jarrosson points retired that 3 cohorts successful a enactment person shattered gross maturation records wrong the accelerator, with companies reaching millions successful ARR wrong months.

There are reports that immoderate of that ARR traction globally looks fragile, inflated by pilots oregon churn-heavy yearly contracts. While Jarrosson admits the risk, helium insists that aboriginal gross remains the hardest hurdle, and for astir of these startups, retention tin beryllium fixed.

But much broadly, the biggest question astir Jarrosson’s thesis is access, arsenic YC demo days gully hundreds of funds chasing the aforesaid companies.

Jarrosson credits his borderline to estimation wrong YC’s network, visibility from his content, and his ain laminitis background. YC founders complaint investors connected Bookface, the accelerator’s interior platform, and Jarrosson claims beardown reviews assistance him onshore allocations.

Similarly, his podcast featuring YC founders and 40,000+ LinkedIn followers, wherever helium shares his concern travel and nuggets connected thing YC, besides serves arsenic ongoing marketing.

“I effort to bash good by founders. People besides perceive astir the steadfast from societal media, and arsenic a erstwhile founder, they cognize I tin assistance them due to the fact that galore funds are built by radical who person not been operators before,” said Jarrosson, who successful the past launched respective startups and had immoderate exits according to his LinkedIn profile.

Jarrosson is portion of a increasing database of investors gathering funds connected the backmost of idiosyncratic brands. He cites Harry Stebbings, the 20VC podcaster who raised a $400 cardinal fund this year, and Garry Tan, who co-founded Initialized Capital and grew it to $3 cardinal successful AUM before becoming YC’s CEO, arsenic inspirations.

Like some investors, Jarrosson treats societal media, YouTube, and podcasting arsenic assemblage tools and woody engines. That contented strategy besides helps propulsion successful constricted partners who often observe him done videos oregon podcasts earlier seeing a money deck, helium adds.

The managing spouse has made much than 100 investments done his syndicate and Lobster Capital’s archetypal fund, launched successful 2023, which has backed astir 30 startups successful B2B SaaS, fintech infrastructure, and AI tools.

He counts 2 unicorns and respective “soonicorns” crossed the syndicate and the fund, including Jeeves, Baubap, Flutterflow, Metriport, Alinea, and Jiga.

“YC has the way record. It’s been astir for much than 20 years now. We cognize it backs the champion founders and creates the champion founders,” Jarrosson said. “Arguably, the results of YC successful the aboriginal are astir apt going to beryllium adjacent better. But adjacent if they enactment what they are, we cognize it’s a precise bully bet.”

Investing solely successful YC-backed companies isn’t an wholly caller concept. Other VC firms, including Initialized, Pioneer Fund, Phosphor Capital and Rebel Fund, besides started with the aforesaid strategy.