What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about Jessica Livingston, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

Jessica Livingston

Jessica Livingston25 posts

Jessica Livingston is a venture capitalist and author from Boston. She is a founding partner of Y Combinator. In 2007, she published Founders At Work, a collection of interviews about startup companies. She previously worked at Adams Harkness Financial Group as the company’s VP of marketing. She has a BA in English from Bucknell University. She is married to Paul Graham, and they have two children.

Biography view > Click for Latest News view
16 Nov, 2015

Graham praises YC role

Writes Article0 Comments

Graham writes an article about Livingston’s’ role in Y Combinator, saying she should have more credit.

So although Jessica more than anyone made YC unique, the very qualities that enabled her to do it mean she tends to get written out of YC’s history. Everyone buys this story that PG started YC and his wife just kind of helped. Even YC’s haters buy it. A couple years ago when people were attacking us for not funding more female founders (than exist), they all treated YC as identical with PG. It would have spoiled the narrative to acknowledge Jessica’s central role at YC…Jessica knows more about the qualities of startup founders than anyone else ever has. Her immense data set and x-ray vision are the perfect storm in that respect. The qualities of the founders are the best predictor of how a startup will do. And startups are in turn the most important source of growth in mature economies.