Mixergy interview with Jessica Livingston

First off, Jessica is awesome. Second, this interview gives a rare glimpse of the YCombinator through the eyes of a non-pg founder.<p>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?).

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).<p>Otherwise, keep up the good work!

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.<p>It definitely comes off as friendly and engaging, but could probably be intimidating in something like the YC interview setting.<p>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 love Jessica, I mean.. how can you not? I found myself smiling when she was laughing/smiling about something.<p>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.<p>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.<p>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.<p>When I applied, I used a custom link on the website, to redirect to the demo/mock-up when it was completed.<p>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.<p>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?<p>And if proper experimental methodology is not used, why not?

Have you started on the Mixergy book yet Andrew?