Jessica Livingston
TL;DR Jessica Livingston is a pioneering entrepreneur, author, and founding partner of Y Combinator, whose work has shaped the modern startup ecosystem and empowered thousands of founders worldwide.
Jessica Livingston by Sora
Jessica Livingston is an American author, investor, and entrepreneur best known as a founding partner of Y Combinator, one of the world's most influential startup accelerators. Her work has played a vital role in shaping Silicon Valley’s startup culture and launching some of the most successful technology companies of the 21st century.
Born on February 5, 1972, Livingston earned a degree in English from Bucknell University and began her career in marketing at Adams Harkness Financial Group, an investment bank. In 2005, she co-founded Y Combinator alongside Paul Graham, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. The accelerator’s innovative model of providing early-stage startups with funding, mentorship, and community support has since revolutionized the startup landscape.
Livingston’s influence extends beyond investment—she is known for her thoughtful approach to nurturing entrepreneurs and for creating environments where founders can thrive. She is also the author of “Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days” (2007), a collection of interviews offering rare insight into the struggles and successes of tech pioneers. In addition to her work with Y Combinator, Livingston organizes Startup School, an online program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs learn from some of the industry's brightest minds.
Her leadership has been instrumental in supporting underrepresented founders and fostering a culture of authenticity, resilience, and collaboration in the startup world.
Co-founder and Partner at Y Combinator, which has funded over 3,000 startups, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Reddit
Author of “Founders at Work”, a widely acclaimed book documenting the origins of major tech companies
Creator of Startup School, a free educational initiative for aspiring founders
Advocate for inclusive entrepreneurship to encourage diversity within the startup ecosystem.
Recognized as one of the most influential women in technology and venture capital
Helped establish the modern accelerator model that redefined early-stage startup funding
Jessica Livingston was one of the early supporters and investors in OpenAI, contributing during its founding alongside figures such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel. As a co-founder of Y Combinator, she played an essential role in fostering the network and culture that enabled OpenAI’s creation, emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and ethical ambition. Her early investment and influence helped set the foundation for OpenAI’s mission to ensure that artificial intelligence develops safely and benefits humanity as a whole.
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Jessica Livingston’s early involvement at Y Combinator helped create the environment that allowed OpenAI to form, grow and pursue its initial mission. YC was never just a startup accelerator; it was a culture engine that promoted experimental thinking, founder empowerment and rapid iteration. Livingston’s work shaping that culture directly influenced the mindset of many early OpenAI contributors who came through YC or were connected to its network.
More concretely, Y Combinator’s alumni community and philosophy played a key role in OpenAI’s earliest days. YC supported companies like Stripe and Airbnb that later became early donors and infrastructure partners, helping create the financial and technical conditions for OpenAI’s founding. The institute itself was also deeply connected to YC leadership: Sam Altman, who later became OpenAI’s CEO, served as YC’s president and helped bring YC’s ethos of “make something people want” to frontier AI research. That mindset translated into OpenAI’s early mission to build beneficial, broadly accessible AI rather than narrow, proprietary systems.
Livingston’s foundational role means she helped cultivate the broader startup ecosystem that made OpenAI’s formation possible, and her influence on YC’s culture helped shape the collaborative, mission-focused environment that guided OpenAI’s early trajectory.
