Mixergy interview with Jessica Livingston | Hacker News Reader

Mixergy interview with Jessica Livingston

mixergy.com

114 pointsTrevorBurnham24 comments

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?).

when you're looking back at there's usually a vision, when you're looking forward there rarely is. It's the way the mind works - we like to connect the dots.

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."

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!

++ 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.

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.

I wondered the same thing. The intonation and excitement behind their voices are remarkably similar.

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

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?

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

I actually think it's the opposite. I find that when talking to someone I'm watching their face for expressions. PG and JL come across as completely open and their expressiveness helps you feel like you understand what they're thinking/how they're feeling. On the other hand, Rtms' stone-faced-ness can be intimidating because you don't know what he's actually thinking. Interestingly enough, there is a danger in that because you might tend to focus on just the people who are responding when everyone there is important.

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.

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.

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!

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?

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

But perhaps you would make more money if you did?

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.

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

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

yet

We do try to analyze it, but not quantitatively.

Amichail, I've said it before, you are in a class by yourself.

Have you started on the Mixergy book yet Andrew?

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