The social radar: Y Combinator’s secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host)

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’s early success, when she was nicknamed the “social radar” because of her uncanny ability to quickly evaluate people—an essential skill when investing in early-stage startups. She’s 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’s most interesting companies. In our conversation, we discuss:

• How Jessica gained the affectionate title of the “social radar”

• Why defensive founders are a red flag

• How to develop your social radar

• What she looks for in founders during YC interviews

• How YC’s early inexperience in angel investing led to the batch model

• Her favorite stories from interviews with Airbnb, Rippling, and more

• Lessons learned from hosting her own podcast

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth

• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents

• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security

—

Find the transcript at: www.lennysnewsletter.com

—

Where to find Jessica Livingston:

• X: x.com

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Podcast: www.thesocialradars.com

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: twitter.com

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Jessica’s background

(02:42) Thoughts on being under-recognized

(07:52) Jessica’s 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’s 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 “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” quiz

(55:19) Jessica’s podcast: The Social Radars

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

(01:09:58) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Paul Graham’s post about Jessica: paulgraham.com

• Paul Graham on X: x.com

• Robert Tappan Morris: en.wikipedia.org

• Trevor Blackwell on X: x.com

• Y Combinator: www.ycombinator.com

• “The Founders” examines the rise and legend of PayPal: www.economist.com

• Patrick Collison on X: x.com

• John Collison on X: x.com

• Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Nate Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Airbnb’s CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: fortune.com

• Parker Conrad on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Zenefits: connect.trinet.com

• Goat: www.goat.com

• Eddy Lu on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Arash Ferdowsi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director): www.lennysnewsletter.com

•Bitcoin launderer pleads guilty, admits to massive Bitfinex hack: www.cnbc.com

• Paul Graham’s tweet with the facial recognition test: x.com

• SmartLess podcast: www.smartless.com

• Jason Bateman on X: x.com

• Will Arnett on X: x.com

• Sean Hayes on X: x.com

• The Social Radars with Tony Xu, Co-Founder & CEO of DoorDash: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Brian Chesky: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Patrick and John Collison: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Brian Armstrong: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Emmett Shear: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Paul Graham: www.ycombinator.com

• The Social Radars with Adora Cheung: www.ycombinator.com

• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days: www.amazon.com

• Startup School: www.startupschool.org

• The Social Radars with Parker Conrad: www.ycombinator.com

• Rippling: www.rippling.com

• Carry on, Jeeves: www.amazon.com

• Very Good, Jeeves: www.amazon.com

• Right Ho, Jeeves: www.amazon.com

• Life: www.amazon.com

• My Name Is Barbra: www.amazon.com

• Clarkson’s Farm on Prime: www.amazon.com

• Schitt’s Creek on Hulu: www.hulu.com

• Yellowstone on Peacock: www.peacocktv.com

• Sam Altman on X: x.com

• Justin Kan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Alexis Ohanian on X: x.com

• Steve Huffman on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com

• Breaking News: Condé Nast/Wired Acquires Reddit: techcrunch.com

• Charles River Venture: www.crv.com

—

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

—

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.