Jessica Livingston (born 1971) is an American investor, writer, and podcaster. She is best known as a founding partner of the seed stage venture firm Y Combinator, where she helped shape the modern startup accelerator model. Livingston has also contributed to the technology community through her book of founder interviews and her advocacy for women in entrepreneurship.
Early life and education
Livingston was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1971. She later relocated to the Boston area, where she was raised in large part by her father and grandmother. In 1989, she graduated from Phillips Academy, a preparatory school in Andover, Massachusetts. She then attended Bucknell University, earning a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English.
Career before Y Combinator
After college, Livingston held a variety of positions across different industries. She worked at Fidelity, the financial services firm, and at Food & Wine magazine. She also took roles at an automotive consulting firm and a wedding planning service. Later, she served as vice president of marketing at Adams Harkness Financial Group, an investment bank based in Boston.
Founding Y Combinator
Livingston met Paul Graham, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell - the co-founders of the dot-com company Viaweb - at a party in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They discussed the idea of creating a startup incubator, and in 2005 the four co-founded Y Combinator. In the early days, Livingston and Graham hosted weekly meals for the startups in their home near Cambridge, providing informal mentorship and community building.
Sam Altman, a former YC partner and later president, has credited Livingston with being essential to the transformation of Y Combinator into a broader startup ecosystem. When Graham stepped down from his leadership role and Altman succeeded him, Livingston became more involved in the organization's daily operations, including overseeing its Startup School program.
Writing and advocacy
In early 2007, Livingston published Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days, a collection of interviews with famous startup founders, including Steve Wozniak. The book became a widely cited resource for entrepreneurs. In 2013, she launched the Female Founders conference with the aim of inspiring more women to found startup companies.
In 2016, Livingston took a year-long sabbatical from the incubator to spend time with her family and consider projects she wanted to pursue. She is also one of the financial backers of OpenAI, a for-profit company aiming to develop artificial general intelligence. In 2023, she started co-hosting The Social Radars podcast alongside fellow YC partner Carolynn Levy.
Personal life
Livingston married Paul Graham in 2008. They have two children. Since late 2016, the family has resided in the United Kingdom.