Jessica Livingston Explained

Jessica Livingston
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Bucknell University (BA)
Occupation:Businesswoman, Writer, Venture Capitalist
Organization:Y Combinator
Known For:Co-founding Y Combinator,
Notable Works:
Spouse:Paul Graham

Jessica Livingston (born 1971) is an American investor, writer, and podcaster. She is best known for being a founding partner of the seed stage venture firm Y Combinator.[1] [2] [3] She is the wife of founding partner Paul Graham.

Early life and education

Livingston grew up in the Boston area, raised in large part by her father and grandmother.[4] In 1989, she graduated from Phillips Academy, a high school in Massachusetts.[5] Later, she received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English from Bucknell University.[6]

Career

After college, Livingston pursued an array of jobs, including work at Fidelity, the Food & Wine magazine, an automotive consulting firm, and a wedding planning service.[5]

Later, Livingston was vice president of marketing at Adams Harkness Financial Group, an investment bank.[7]

Livingston met Paul Graham, Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell (the co-founders of dot-com company Viaweb) at a party in Cambridge.[4] They discussed creating a startup incubator, and in 2005 the four co-founded Y Combinator. In the early days of YC, Livingston and Graham hosted weekly meals for their founders at their home near Cambridge.[8] Sam Altman (a former YC partner) credits Livingston with being essential to the transformation of Y Combinator into a startup ecosystem.[9] When Graham stepped down from his role leading Y Combinator, handing over to Altman, Livingston increased her day to day involvement, including having responsibility for the organisation's Startup School.[10]

In 2016, she took a year-long sabbatical from the incubator to spend time with her family and consider projects and other things she wanted to pursue.[11]

In early 2007, Livingston published , a collection of interviews with famous startup founders, including Steve Wozniak.[12]

In 2013, Livingston launched the Female Founders conference with the aim of inspiring more women to found startup companies.[11]

Livingston is one of the financial backers of OpenAI, a for-profit company aiming to develop artificial general intelligence.[13]

In 2023, she started co-hosting The Social Radars podcast alongside fellow YC partner Carolynn Levy.[14]

Personal life

Livingston married Paul Graham in 2008.[15] Since late 2016, she and her family have resided in the United Kingdom.[8]

Notes and References

  1. How Y Combinator Schools Tech Startups . Jessica . Livingston . Kate Bonamici . Flaim . Fast Company . April 4, 2009 . July 5, 2012.
  2. The Start-up Guru: Y Combinator's Paul Graham, Page 2 . Max . Chafkin . Inc.com . June 1, 2009 . July 5, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120922205737/http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham_pagen_2.html . Sep 22, 2012 .
  3. Web site: Grow the Puzzle Around You . Jessica Livingston . June 30, 2018 . November 30, 2022.
  4. Web site: VC Corner: Jessica Livingston of Y Combinator (Stripe, Reddit, Weebly, Dropbox, OpenAI) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230701084133/https://www.startupgrind.com/blog/y-combinator-co-founder-says-in-the-beginning-no-one-cared-about-our-startup/ . July 1, 2023 . July 1, 2023 . Startup Grind.
  5. Web site: Jessica Livingston. foundersatwork.posthaven.com . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127051654/https://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/ . Nov 27, 2023 .
  6. Web site: People. Y Combinator . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231117085432/https://www.ycombinator.com/people.html . Nov 17, 2023 .
  7. Jessica Livingston: Executive Profile & Biography . Bloomberg Businessweek . March 18, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306091741/http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=38803472&privcapId=32514318&previousCapId=32514318&previousTitle=Y%2520Combinator . Mar 6, 2016 .
  8. Web site: YC co-founder recalls rejecting Drew Houston's first idea and Dropbox's early days . July 1, 2023 . Silicon Valley Business Journal . Mar 23, 2018 . Cromwell . Schubarth . subscription . live . https://archive.today/20230603212411/https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2018/03/23/y-combinator-dropbox-ipo-alumni-jessica-livingston.html . 3 Jun 2023 .
  9. Web site: PG and Jessica . Sam Altman . September 25, 2020 . June 23, 2023.
  10. Web site: Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston: We're as relevant as ever . subscription . August 21, 2014 . JP . Mangalindan . July 7, 2023 . Fortune . en.
  11. Web site: April 5, 2016 . Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston to take year-long sabbatical . Ken . Yeung . July 7, 2023 . VentureBeat . en-US . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220826224217/https://venturebeat.com/business/y-combinator-cofounder-jessica-livingston-to-take-year-long-sabbatical/ . Aug 26, 2022 .
  12. Web site: Taulli . Tom . Foolish Book Review: "Founders at Work" . May 30, 2007 . The Motley Fool.
  13. Elon Musk And Peter Thiel Launch OpenAI, A Non-Profit Artificial Intelligence Research Company . Theo . Priestly . December 11, 2015 . . December 11, 2015 .
  14. Web site: 2024-01-29 . The Social Radars on Apple Podcasts . 2024-02-15 . Apple Podcasts . en-US.
  15. Web site: Congrats to PG on getting hitched . November 14, 2008 . June 2, 2008 . news.ycombinator.com.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jessica Livingston".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.