Jessica Livingston, born in 1971, is an American investor, writer, and podcaster, widely recognized as a co-founder of Y Combinator (YC). She helped establish Y Combinator in 2005 with Paul Graham, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. Y Combinator is a seed-stage venture firm and the first startup accelerator. Livingston played a crucial role in the early success of YC and was nicknamed the "social radar" for her ability to quickly evaluate people, a key skill when investing in early-stage startups. Sam Altman, a former YC partner, has credited Livingston with being essential to the transformation of Y Combinator into a startup ecosystem. As of 2025, Y Combinator has funded over 5,000 companies, with a combined valuation exceeding $800 billion. These include well-known companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Reddit.
Livingston is also an author, having written "Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days," a collection of interviews with startup founders. Additionally, she co-hosts "The Social Radars" podcast with Carolynn Levy. Livingston launched the Female Founders Conference in 2013 to inspire more women to found startup companies. She is also a financial backer of OpenAI, demonstrating her interest in advancing technological innovation. In 2025, Livingston delivered the commencement address at Bucknell University.
