Jessica Livingston: You Do Not Have to Fit a Founder Mold

Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston offers six pieces of advice on starting a business. First, there is no such thing as a “successful founder mold.” Founders should do what genuinely interests them and make the most of their natural strengths. They do not need to turn themselves into a particular type of founder. Second, do not worry about mainstream opinion. Livingston says that whether the opinion concerns your skills, your idea, or anything else, it does not matter unless the people expressing it are your users. Third, find a cofounder who shares your moral outlook and has complementary skills. For example, Paul Graham selected and advised startups, while Livingston handled everything else. As she puts it: “We were in agreement on every major issue, and on minor issues we respected each other's expertise.” Fourth, start small so that you can adapt. Livingston explains that, to this day, YC has a tradition of testing things on a small scale before expanding them widely. Fifth, it is fine if you did not attend a top university. Livingston says that, during their education, people absorb the idea that they will be judged by their qualifications. But in a startup, “your users are the ones judging you. What matters to them is your product, not your diploma.” Finally, be fearless. Founders need a measure of courage to keep going when they are ridiculed or ignored. Livingston says that the traditional approach is to see yourself as “a puzzle piece of a particular shape, reshaping yourself to fill a gap that already exists in the world.” But there is another approach that can be better for both you and the world: create a new “puzzle” around yourself. Combine your most unusual qualities and interests without editing yourself, because “the most unexpected ingredients may be what makes the recipe work.” #Dedao #LiXiangKnowledgeBriefing