Jessica Livingston
Co-founder of Y Combinator and author of Founders at Work; writes about startups and company culture.
Jessica Livingston did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
Anyone pursuing ambitious plans has to learn to resist the pressure of what other people think.
Their wordsBut everyone who does ambitious things has to learn how to resist it.
↗Find Your Peoplefoundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsIf a new idea was obviously good, someone else would have already done it.
↗Find Your Peoplefoundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 4 years earlier
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Their wordsIt would be almost impossible to create a successful startup just by doing what everyone else has been doing.
↗Think Different. Think Users.foundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsthe bigger the difference between conventional opinion of your idea and users' opinion of it, the more potential it probably has.
↗Think Different. Think Users.foundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordseveryone knows that there's a strong relationship between risk and reward. And that applies to ideas too. The really great ones usually seem crazy at first.
↗Think Different. Think Users.foundersatwork.posthaven.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 12 months earlier
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Their wordsYou can always change the idea you are working on, but it's much harder to get rid of a cofounder.
↗Startups: The Very Beginningfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThe best number to measure is revenue, if you can. That's a really good test of whether users genuinely like what you've made.
↗Startups: The Very Beginningfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsYes, it may be a little harder for you as a female founder. But it's not going to be so much harder that it will make the difference between success and failure.
↗Startups: The Very Beginningfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 20 months earlier
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Our reading
Domain-expert female founders are often hamstrung in building startups because they can't program.
Their wordsWith female founders, I've seen a lot of cases where the woman is an ass-kicking domain expert in some field and has a clever idea but she's completely hamstrung because she can't program.
↗Why I Started the Summer Hackers Programfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Our reading
Fewer female programmers is a major reason there are fewer female startup founders than male ones.
Their wordsone of the reasons there are fewer female startup founders than male ones is that there are fewer female programmers.
↗Women: Learn to Program this Summerfoundersatwork.posthaven.com
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Their wordsin a startup, if you choose the wrong programmer or cofounder and have to replace them, the delay alone can be enough to kill the company.
↗Why I Started the Summer Hackers Programfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 9 months earlier
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Their wordsIt's not true that every person can start every startup. But a lot more people have what it takes to start some startup than realize it.
↗Grow the Puzzle Around Youfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Our reading
The most successful startups tend to be so unusual that the idea sounds preposterous at first.
Their wordsthe most successful startups do tend to be weird. They're usually such outliers that the idea sounds preposterous at first.
↗Grow the Puzzle Around Youfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsin a startup it's the users who judge you, and they care about your product, not your credentials.
↗Grow the Puzzle Around Youfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsIt has always been common for people to start companies that start small and stay small-hair salons, cafes, and so on. What's changed in the last few decades is that it's increasingly possible for individuals to start companies that start small and grow big.
↗Think about Equityfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsFounding a startup is not for everyone, but anyone who's reasonably smart and willing to work sufficiently hard can be an early employee of one.
↗Think about Equityfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Our reading
Equity in a startup is best treated as a bet that might turn out well, rather than a guarantee.
Their wordsSo you should never consider equity in a startup as more than a bet that might turn out well.
↗Think about Equityfoundersatwork.posthaven.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 10 months earlier
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Their wordsThe most successful founders have the right idea at the right time. And you have less control over that than you might think, because the best ideas are not deliberate: they tend to grow organically out of the founders' lives.
↗What's Different about "Unicorns"foundersatwork.posthaven.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsAlmost all the really big startups seem like dubious ideas at first.
↗What's Different about "Unicorns"foundersatwork.posthaven.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsDesigning cool products and managing people are very different things.
↗What's Different about "Unicorns"foundersatwork.posthaven.com 3rd of 3 in this piece