40% Hate-Rate: The Secret GTM of the Most Viral Founder in YC W25

Most founders think they need a perfect product to launch. Zach from Adam proved that virality is a choice, but it comes with a price tag you might not be ready to pay. In this episode of The Lobster Talk, we sit down with Zach, the founder of Adam (YC W25), an AI-native CAD platform. We go behind the scenes of his multiple viral launches, why he regrets using a waitlist, and the terrifying realization that vertical AI agents might be losing the war to general-purpose models. What you’ll learn: How to engineer virality by being "opinionated" and "divisive."The technical shift from domain-specific co-pilots to generalist agents.Why "always be launching" is the only GTM strategy that matters in 2026.The nightmare of managing 30k leads and email deliverability.Predictions for the state of CAD and manufacturing by 2031. 📌 Watch now and subscribe for more smart, fast, founder-first interviews. Chapters:  00:00 Anything Can Launch 00:31 YC Roaster Ad Break 01:11 Meet Zach From Adam 01:50 AI CAD Explained 04:01 Agents And Model Moats 07:07 Model Agnostic Or Replaced 10:14 Competition In AI CAD 11:32 Selling Into Enterprises 16:24 Engineering Virality 18:31 Marketing That Doesn’t Look 20:01 Haters Fuel The Launch 21:07 Opinionated Marketing Wins 22:09 Virality Into Revenue 24:00 Always Be Launching 26:25 YC Waitlist Mistake 27:44 Rebuilding During YC 30:31 Productizing A General Agent 34:29 Beyond CAD Workflows 35:47 CAD And Manufacturing 2031 38:07 Defensibility Software Vs Hardware 39:47 Final Wrap And Thanks 🎧 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