Jessica Livingston
American businesswoman and writer (born 1971) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Jessica Livingston | |
|---|---|
Livingston at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2014 | |
| Born | 1971 (age 53–54) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Bucknell University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Businesswoman, Writer, Venture Capitalist |
| Organization | Y Combinator |
| Known for | Co-founding Y Combinator, Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days |
| Notable work | Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days |
| Spouse | Paul Graham |
| Website | foundersatwork |
Early life and education
Livingston was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later relocated to 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
Summarize
Perspective
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 organization'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 Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days, 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]
References
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