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