

Mixergy interview with Jessica Livingston - TrevorBurnham
http://mixergy.com/y-combinator-jessica-livingston/

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aston
First off, Jessica is awesome. Second, this interview gives a rare glimpse of
the YCombinator through the eyes of a non-pg founder.

In particular, I was surprised to hear that Jessica didn't see a "vision" in
the early days and that it was more of a try-and-see type of thing to learn
quickly about angel investing. Not sure pg's ever admitted that fact (or maybe
just doesn't see it that way?).

~~~
pg
_Not sure pg's ever admitted that fact (or maybe just doesn't see it that
way?)._

<http://mixergy.com/y-combinator-paul-graham/>

"Originally, Y Combinator was just going to be like regular angel investing,
asynchronous, not this whole batch model. We discovered that later by
accident."

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Keyframe
Andrew, may I suggest a bit of lighting for you? You look a bit like you're
interrogating (in a bad way) or sitting on a can. Simple LED flood fill from
the center or key light from one side and flood from the other will do (rim
light from back and above would be cool too, but not necessary).

Otherwise, keep up the good work!

~~~
iamelgringo
++ for fixing the lighting. It's really hard to see your eyes, Andrew. Aside
from that, Thanks for interviewing Jessica. I've been looking forward to that
one for a long time.

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frederickcook
It's interesting how animated and expressive both pg and Jessica are. I
remember noticing in multiple pg interviews how much facial expressions are
used, and Jessica is the same way. They move their eye-brows, modulate their
voices, their smile, lean into the camera, use manual gestures, etc.

It definitely comes off as friendly and engaging, but could probably be
intimidating in something like the YC interview setting.

I also wonder if one didn't rub off on the other (we unconsciously pick up the
mannerisms of our peers), or if it's one reason they get along so well.

~~~
pg
Rtm is completely stone faced, so that brings down the average in interviews.

~~~
apu
How does Rtm find time to work on YC while being a prof at MIT? Does he do
much of the work from boston? Or does he split his time 50/50 between the
coasts?

~~~
pg
He and Trevor (who runs Anybots) work part time on YC.

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mikeyur
I love Jessica, I mean.. how can you not? I found myself smiling when she was
laughing/smiling about something.

Another great interview by Andrew, as usual. Though, one thing I've noticed in
a few of the Mixergy interviews is Andrew making small comments that, to me,
seem really rude and off-putting. I don't think he notices that he's doing it
and it doesn't seem to phase most interviewees, but I personally feel awkward
when he does it.

Example: Jessica says she needs to blow her nose and he goes "If I do it all
the time here, you might as well" - this is a mild example, and I don't think
Jessica really noticed/cared about it. It came from a good place "hey I do it
too, don't worry about it" but the way it's worded and tone can make it seem
rude.

In other interviews it comes off as "you might as well, it's not like I have
anything better to do". I'm weird and probably the only one that feels this
way, but I just say it because if I was interviewed the comment/tone would not
make me feel very good about myself and I'd be put off a bit.

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neurotech1
One interesting tip I noticed from Jessica is on demos. I had originally (and
probably incorrectly!) thought that the demo link on the application didn't
matter, as they generally don't look at the demo during selection.

When I applied, I used a custom link on the website, to redirect to the
demo/mock-up when it was completed.

I found out that somebody from YC visited that link, only once, when there was
nothing there, so I was probably mistaken in my belief that the demo link
wasn't important.

------
Mongoose
Gotta say, your questions are spot on, Andrew. You expertly lived up to the
task of interviewing the queen of founder interviews. I liked how you guided
her to talk about her rarely-heard perspective of YC, in particular your
question on spotting patterns in pg's magic. After hearing him voice his
opinions and respect for Jessica a couple months ago on Mixergy, it's great to
hear her reciprocate.

Thanks!

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amichail
How seriously are YC interviews taken as genuine scientific experiments to
identify predictors of success? What sort of experimental methodology is used?
Do you compute p-values?

And if proper experimental methodology is not used, why not?

~~~
pg
Not at all; none; no; because we don't quantify anything.

~~~
amichail
But perhaps you would make more money if you did?

~~~
Keyframe
From what I gathered from both this and pg interview it's more like a casting
call where everyone compares (mental) notes in the end, but only one is the
casting director (jessica) where director (pg) can have input on the call, but
he believes more in hers capability to judge than his on that call. Actually,
that IS a casting call.

~~~
amichail
Why not subject whatever techniques Jessica (and others) is using during
interviews to scientific scrutiny? Some methods might be more effective than
others.

~~~
neurotech1
Because "social radar" can't be quantified. Instinct can't be quantified.

~~~
xiaoma
yet

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dood
Have you started on the Mixergy book yet Andrew?

