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Jessica Livingston is a co-founder of Y Combinator, the first and most successful startup accelerator. Y Combinator has funded over 5,000 companies, 200 of which are now unicorns, including Airbnb, Dropbox, DoorDash, Stripe, Coinbase, and Reddit. Jessica played a crucial role in YC\u2019s early success, when she was nicknamed the \u201csocial radar\u201d because of her uncanny ability to quickly evaluate people\u2014an essential skill when investing in early-stage startups. She\u2019s also the host of the popular podcast The Social Radars, where she interviews billion-dollar-startup founders, and the author of the acclaimed book Founders at Work, which captures the origin stories of some of today\u2019s most interesting companies. In our conversation, we discuss:

\u2022 How Jessica gained the affectionate title of the \u201csocial radar\u201d

\u2022 Why defensive founders are a red flag

\u2022 How to develop your social radar

\u2022 What she looks for in founders during YC interviews

\u2022 How YC\u2019s early inexperience in angel investing led to the batch model

\u2022 Her favorite stories from interviews with Airbnb, Rippling, and more

\u2022 Lessons learned from hosting her own podcast

\u2022 Much more

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston

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Where to find Jessica Livingston:

\u2022 X: https://x.com/jesslivingston

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicalivingston1/

\u2022 Podcast: https://www.thesocialradars.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Jessica\u2019s background

(02:42) Thoughts on being under-recognized

(07:52) Jessica\u2019s superpower: the social radar

(15:11) Evaluating founders: key traits and red flags

(21:00) The Airbnb story: a lesson in hustle and determination

(25:57) A YC success story

(28:26) The importance of earnestness

(32:45) Confidence vs. defensiveness

(34:43) Commitment and co-founder disputes

(37:46) Relentless resourcefulness

(40:00) Jessica\u2019s social radar: origins and insights

(43:24) Honing her social radar skills

(45:44) Conviction and scams: a Y Combinator story

(46:50) The interview process: challenges and insights

(48:20) Operationalizing founder evaluation

(49:38) Advice for building social radar skills

(52:08) The \u201cReading the Mind in the Eyes\u201d quiz

(55:19) Jessica\u2019s podcast: The Social Radars

(01:00:34) Lessons from podcasting and interviewing

(01:09:58) Lightning round

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Referenced:

\u2022 Paul Graham\u2019s post about Jessica: https://paulgraham.com/jessica.html

\u2022 Paul Graham on X: https://x.com/paulg

\u2022 Robert Tappan Morris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tappan_Morris

\u2022 Trevor Blackwell on X: https://x.com/tlbtlbtlb

\u2022 Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/

\u2022 \u201cThe Founders\u201d examines the rise and legend of PayPal: https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/02/19/the-founders-examines-the-rise-and-legend-of-paypal

\u2022 Patrick Collison on X: https://x.com/patrickc

\u2022 John Collison on X: https://x.com/collision

\u2022 Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/

\u2022\xa0Nate Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/

\u2022 Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/

\u2022 Airbnb\u2019s CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/

\u2022 Parker Conrad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkerconrad/

\u2022 Zenefits: https://connect.trinet.com/hr-platform

\u2022 Goat: https://www.goat.com/

\u2022 Eddy Lu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddylu/

\u2022 Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/

\u2022 Arash Ferdowsi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashferdowsi/

\u2022 Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-1000-yc-startups

\u2022Bitcoin launderer pleads guilty, admits to massive Bitfinex hack: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/03/new-york-man-admits-being-original-bitfinex-hacker-during-guilty-plea-in-dc-to-bitcoin-money-laundering.html

\u2022 Paul Graham\u2019s tweet with the facial recognition test: https://x.com/paulg/status/1782875262855663691

\u2022 SmartLess podcast: https://www.smartless.com

\u2022 Jason Bateman on X: https://x.com/batemanjason

\u2022 Will Arnett on X: https://x.com/arnettwill

\u2022 Sean Hayes on X: https://x.com/seanhayes

\u2022 The Social Radars with Tony Xu, Co-Founder & CEO of DoorDash: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Ja-tony-xu-co-founder-ceo-of-doordash

\u2022 The Social Radars with Brian Chesky: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/JW-brian-chesky-co-founder-ceo-of-airbnb

\u2022 The Social Radars with Patrick and John Collison: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Kx-patrick-john-collison-co-founders-of-stripe

\u2022 The Social Radars with Brian Armstrong: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/K3-brian-armstrong-co-founder-and-ceo-of-coinbase

\u2022 The Social Radars with Emmett Shear: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/KM-emmett-shear-co-founder-of-twitch

\u2022 The Social Radars with Paul Graham: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/JV-paul-graham-co-founder-of-y-combinator-and-viaweb

\u2022 The Social Radars with Adora Cheung: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/L0-adora-cheung-co-founder-of-homejoy-instalab

\u2022 Founders at Work: Stories of Startups\u2019 Early Days: https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-Early/dp/1430210788

\u2022 Startup School: https://www.startupschool.org/

\u2022 The Social Radars with Parker Conrad: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Ky-parker-conrad-founder-of-zenefits-rippling

\u2022 Rippling: https://www.rippling.com/

\u2022 Carry on, Jeeves: https://www.amazon.com/Carry-Jeeves-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486848957

\u2022 Very Good, Jeeves: https://www.amazon.com/Very-Good-Jeeves-Wooster-Book-ebook/dp/B0051GST06

\u2022 Right Ho, Jeeves: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Ho-Jeeves-P-Wodehouse-ebook/dp/B083FFDNHN/

\u2022 Life: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Keith-Richards-ebook/dp/B003UBTX72/

\u2022 My Name Is Barbra: https://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Barbra-Streisand/dp/0525429522

\u2022 Clarkson\u2019s Farm on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Clarksons-Farm-Season-1/dp/B095RHJ52R

\u2022 Schitt\u2019s Creek on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/schitts-creek-a2e7a946-9652-48a8-884b-3ea7ea4de273

\u2022 Yellowstone on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/yellowstone

\u2022 Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama

\u2022 Justin Kan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinkan/

\u2022 Alexis Ohanian on X: https://x.com/alexisohanian

\u2022 Steve Huffman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shuffman56/

\u2022 Breaking News: Cond\xe9 Nast/Wired Acquires Reddit: https://techcrunch.com/2006/10/31/breaking-news-conde-nastwired-acquires-reddit/

\u2022 Charles River Venture: https://www.crv.com/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.