9 Things She Learned From Founding YC

Livingston says YC began in 2005 with a hypothesis: founders would benefit from small investments, practical help, and a peer group. After meeting Paul Graham and learning about startups, she began interviewing founders for her book Founders at Work. She and Graham launched YC with Robert and Trevor, funding eight startups in the first summer, including Reddit’s founders.

As YC’s only non-technical co-founder, Livingston handled legal setup, founder paperwork, weekly dinners, guest speakers, and other practical tasks. She also assessed applicants’ character and co-founder relationships, looking for earnestness, determination, and flexibility. Her experience planning events and listening to people helped YC support founders through stressful periods and disputes.

Livingston says she and Graham were motivated by helping people start companies rather than by money or fame. Without limited partners, YC could take risks on founders and help failing startups find jobs when that was what they needed. She describes her own useful combination of traits as social awareness, event planning, empathy, candor, and a lack of interest in status.

Livingston advises founders to follow genuine interests, use their natural strengths, and listen to users rather than mainstream opinion. She recommends finding a co-founder with complementary skills and shared values, making something people want, and continuing after rejection. She also urges founders to start small, remember that users judge the product rather than credentials, and be bold enough to pursue ideas others dismiss.

Livingston closes with the idea that people need not reshape themselves to fit an existing role or opportunity. Founders can build something new around their particular mix of abilities and interests. She says that unusual combinations may suit unusual startups.