
Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston Interview [video] - ynotgiant
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/paul-graham-and-jessica-livingston-studio-1-0-10-09-J5e3sjvtRrys6nd286HWUA.html
======
techtivist
I was really touched that PG's greatest regret was something related to his
family, and not YC or his larger professional career. As young founders we
tend to forget (or are expected to anyways) where our real long term
priorities should be, and I hope PG's own regret reminds us to think about it
from time to time.

~~~
jgrahamc
Would you mind saying what it was or pointing to the m:s where I can watch
because I can't sit through 10 minutes of that video.

~~~
falava
Question: 11:16

PG answer: 11:53

------
patio11
An exchange, picked mostly because it made me smile.

PG: "Since all of the money is in a few big hits, we own about 3% of [the $30
billion portfolio]. I haven't done the math on how much that is."

Interviewer: "One billion dollars."

PG: "Well, $900 million."

~~~
trevmckendrick
Made you smile because you think he actually had already done the math? Or
because he did it fast right there and corrected her?

I smiled too, because of the latter.

~~~
patio11
There's volumes there. Some combination of the sentiment that $900 million
isn't nearly the most interesting thing going on about YC [+] and the notion
that while $900 million isn't important enough to think about you'd have to
correct a math error on it because math.

[+] A totally reasonable sentiment, which makes me smile in about three
different ways. Once for not caring about money, once for having the luxury to
not care about money because $900 million, and once for that happening to very
deserving people.

~~~
nwenzel
Well, to know that it wasn't enough money to care about you would first have
to have done the math to know that it was _only_ $900M.

I like your first point about it not being about the money. I suspect it's
more about proving that their new (at the time) approach to startup investing,
their new appreciation for founders, their completely differnt model was right
and that the conventional wisdom that came before them was wrong. At least
that would be my biggest satisfaction.

------
huuu
As others are saying: almost unwatchable due to the bad editing. The site also
has a ton of tracking going on. Seems to me this interview is all about
(Bloomberg/YC) advertising.

But I got one interesting quote from PG. Funding multiple startups at once
gives the startups the benefit of having colleagues. It's nice to have others
around while working on your own idea.

Maybe this could be the standard in bigger companies too. Teams working on
there own idea approved by management. This way big companies could be like
founders.

~~~
spindritf
It doesn't help with video editing, but you can avoid the other stuff by
downloading the video with youtube-dl[1]. Yes, it works on sites other than
youtube. Sometimes[2].

[1] [https://rg3.github.io/youtube-
dl/download.html](https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html)

[2] [https://rg3.github.io/youtube-
dl/supportedsites.html](https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/supportedsites.html)

~~~
Htsthbjig
Most of the time I could download any video on any place with youtuve-dl.

Sometimes I have to read the source code of the page and change the web
address I give it the program, though.

------
wallawe
Paul Graham is somewhat of a modern day hero. Forget the rappers and the
athletes, he is the embodiment of a good, moral and sensible person. Great
husband and parent, great sense of humor, and all of this aside from what he
has done for the tech/startup community.

~~~
peakdarkpattern
Unless you are an offspring or his partner I don't understand how can you say
that, much less quantify it.

(Your platitude serves as much purpose as this comment, but come on, pg is not
a 'god' and this casual idol worship is a bit silly.)

~~~
wallawe
Did you watch the interview? Jessica flat out states that he is a great
father. And the fact that they haven't fought in the years they've been
married once about something as huge as YC says enough about their
relationship.

My point wasn't to deify Paul Graham but to give respect where it's due. There
is plenty of criticism doled out on HN daily, what's wrong with a little
praise?

~~~
peterwwillis
A relationship isn't great because you've never had a fight. A relationship is
great if it thrives in spite of them.

------
bnzelener
Really curious what Boosted Boards' 'bigger ambitions than making skateboards'
are! A friend has one of their Kickstarter boards and it's unreal.

~~~
_sentient
They are solving the last mile problem in public transportation. That's a very
large market.

~~~
yitchelle
Hmm..classifying a motorised skateboard as a possible solution to public
transportation's last mile problem is a far stretch.

The folks that could really benefit from a solution are the elderly,
physically disabled and young kids. For the life of me, I would find it
difficult to see the majority of these folks riding a skateboard.

~~~
zefi
think about everything YC/PG has said about 'toys' and the Altair
BASIC/Microsoft comments

~~~
leoc
I don't really see the analogy. MS bootstrapped fairly naturally (with the
help of a great deal of luck along the way) from BASIC to progressively more
sophisticated OSes, each of which closely followed well-established pre-
existing models. AFAIK (I'm not an expert) there are no viable existing models
out there for a big next step from the Boosted Board.

Even assuming infinite battery life, what's the form factor? A wheelchair
won't cut it. A Segway-like thing won't cut it. A unicycle won't cut it. A
conventional bicycle won't cut it. A recumbent bike or trike won't cut it.
Roller-skates won't cut it. Exoskeletal legs won't cut it. Many of these
things are of proven usefulness, but they've never been general-purpose
substitutes or augmentors for pedestrianism. A version of some of the above
which folds into something _unprecedentedly_ small and light might begin to
cut it, but how is that achievable within present-day engineering constraints?

~~~
umsm
You're looking at a solution that solves the problem for 100% of people. Most
products don't do that. The popularity of bikes proves that.

You only need to solve the problem for the majority of people ( >50% ) to be
considered a good solution. The solution may prove to be elegantly simple.

------
S_A_P
This really "humanized" them for me. Im far removed from startups and the
culture out there. I've read the blogs. Its obvious PG is a smart individual,
and from the outside it seemed like a culture "way above my league". Hearing
this made me think it may not be so crazy to take a risk on a project I want
to see happen. They both seemed very down to earth and approachable.

As a side note, due to his name, and hearing he had English roots, I did not
expect the Pitts-achutsetts accent from him.I was thinking more like a toned
down Roger Moore...

------
bulltale
It looks like the interview parts were mixed up in the editing. To watch the
interview in chronological order start at 13:44, watch till the end and then
start from the beginning.

~~~
cpach
I wonder if it’s really the editing or if their Javascript fails to serve the
video chunks in correct order.

------
Tloewald
It's always amazing to me that good business people are so much more real in
interviews than almost any other category of "celebrity". (The regrets
question here or, say, Steve Jobs "hearts outside your bodies" comment.)

~~~
jtbigwoo
Lower stakes, perhaps? I suspect that far fewer people are paying attention to
what business people (even Steve Jobs) say than what Tom Cruise or Lebron
James says. If James, for example, says anything interesting you can be
guaranteed hundreds of columns and on-air rants from national and local media
praising and criticizing him. It probably makes him wary of actually saying
anything beyond PR-approved soundbites.

------
nwenzel
"It ended?" Was my thought when it ended. It was getting really interesting. I
think an interview with the two of them on Charlie Rose would be the right
format to explore YC and how it came into being and evolved.

------
ovatsug25
Is it just me, or did this interview go by too quickly? No silence between
question, way too choppy. Can someone get them two on Charlie Rose?

Edit: Just saw the comment I was looking for. Apparently it was the editing.

~~~
ripitrust
It is just post-editing they cut away all unnecessary scenes

------
razfar
I'd love to learn more about how they met, they seem like an amazing couple!

~~~
tsheng
It's at minute 19. They met at a party at Paul's house. Jessica was doing a
kegstand (just kidding)

------
scotthtaylor
Terrible editing by Bloomberg.

------
airborne_msngr
PG & Jessica are what make YC so great. It's obvious from the interview, these
are genuinely good people out there to make a positive difference.

------
ludite313
Great interview, so very interesting to hear stories about pg as a trouble
maker in his adolescence. I wonder if he ever made bombs in his youth.

------
sopooneo
How do you get suspended every year and get into Harvard? Mind you, that makes
me respect Harvard a bit more. _Not_ just mindless strivers, perhaps. But in
my preppy liberal arts school, I don't think that could ever happen.

------
charlie_vill
Worth commenting how good the interviewer was. Great follow ups, comebacks and
prompt questions. Really enjoyed this.

------
dharma1
They seem like genuinely nice people

------
dennisgorelik
Jessica is more about execution (CEO) and Paul is more an idea guy
(founder/CTO/CMO).

------
jemacniddle
Man Jessica seems so damn chill

------
elwell
Editor was snorting cocaine?

------
reillyse
Interviewer is annoying as hell, and the editing is horrible!

~~~
techtivist
I think she's alright, but would have definitely liked someone like Sarah Lacy
doing the interview. I know people have different opinions about her, but I
really like her interviewing style, seems much more personal.

~~~
jemacniddle
Sarah is a great interviewer, only realized that when I watched more
interviews from others.

------
Maakuth
This is maybe beside the point of this video, but the editing of this
interview is truly annoying. I guess it fits a lots of information in twenty
minutes, but cutting pretty much after their first sentences right into a next
question... I feel breathless.

~~~
bnzelener
Agreed. I really like listening to Paul Graham's longer responses. I'm left
wondering how he and Jessica elaborated on most of these questions (if they
did).

------
vincentbarr
Next chapter: an interview with Paul's sandals, please.

