Livingston says founders need determination to keep going through rejection from investors, reporters, and others who may dismiss their ideas. She also recommends empathy for users, noting that being a target user can help founders understand their needs.
Jessica Livingston's Advice For Founders
Speaker
Jessica Livingston of Y Combinator shares general startup advice and reflections on balancing founding with raising children.
A product needs to matter enough that people sign up, return, and recommend it, even when the startup is small and rough around the edges. Livingston also advises founders with limited funds to live cheaply so they have more time to refine what they are building.
Startups always have many possible tasks, but Livingston urges founders to concentrate on the one that matters most. Spending time on less important work can keep a team from making the progress it needs.
From her experience building YC while raising two sons, Livingston says starting a startup before having children can be easier because early startup work may demand very long hours. She acknowledges that combining parenting and a startup is possible, and suggests parents outsource tasks that do not directly involve their children.
Takeaways
- Treat persistence through rejection as a core founder skill.
- Talk with users and pay close attention to their experience.
- Look for evidence that customers return and recommend the product.
- Keep spending low enough to leave time to refine the business.
- Choose the most important task and protect time for it.
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What was claimed 2
- role atJessica Livingston is co-founder at
Y Combinator“I co-founded Y Combinator”
0:18in9 Things She Learned From Founding YCYouTube Verified2 sources· Talk
- uses
“I use Instacart for groceries all week long.”
YouTube Verified2 sources· Talk
