Podcast
The Social Radars
Hosted by Jessica Livingston · EN
Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy are The Social Radars. Carolynn and Jessica have been working together to help thousands of startups at Y Combinator for almost 20 years. Come be a fly on the wall as they talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
23episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel: Silicon Valley Bank Crisis
2w ago01:22:33Tap to summarizeIn today's Social Radars episode we talk to Ron Conway about one of the most momentous events in recent Silicon Valley history, the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, and the frantic behind-the-scenes efforts that prevented it, with just hours to spare, from triggering a Depression-style financial panic.
Transcribe →Justin Kan, Cofounder, Twitch
Apr 1501:05:12Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Justin Kan, who has spent his whole adult life in startups, much of it around YC in some way. We've funded him three times, the first time in the very first batch, and he's been a YC partner too. So Justin has seen it all, and because he's so candid, he tells it all too.
Transcribe →Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
Mar 1901:02:44Tap to summarizePaul Graham is back in the latest episode of The Social Radars. This time we focus on what was going on behind the scenes at Y Combinator back in the early years. If you really want to understand what YC is like and what made it that way, this is the episode for you.
Transcribe →Peter Reinhardt, CEO & co-founder, Charm Industrial; CEO & co-founder, Segment
Mar 301:07:51Tap to summarizeIn the latest episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Peter Reinhardt, who has the distinction of having started two iconic companies that are completely different from one another: Segment, which does web analytics, and Charm Industrial, which catches CO2 before it can return to the atmosphere and buries it in the ground.
Transcribe →Tom Blomfield, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-Founder, Monzo
Feb 1701:09:32Tap to summarizeIn today's episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Tom Blomfield, founder and original CEO of the transformative British fintech startup Monzo, and now a YC partner. The striking thing about this interview is simply how much has happened to him. Tom has spent his entire working life in startups and it has been a remarkably wild ride even by startup standards.
Transcribe →Spenser Skates, Founder & CEO, Amplitude
Feb 301:16:31Tap to summarizeIn this episode we talk with Spenser Skates of Amplitude. Amplitude is a spectacular example of a something people talk a lot about in Silicon Valley: the pivot. Their initial idea failed because they depended on technology they didn't have enough control over, but the new one was so successful that they took it all the way to an IPO.
Transcribe →Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
Jan 2001:07:55Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Social Radars we talk to Christina Cacioppo of Vanta. Christina is a case study in agency. She actually did all the things founders know they ought to do but don't have the discipline to. She taught herself to code. She solved an unsexy but real problem. She focused on talking to customers instead of investors. She even put put off raising a Series A (despite inbound interest) till Vanta had $10M in ARR.
Transcribe →David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy
Jan 701:11:46Tap to summarizeIn today's episode we talk to the founder of a startup that will have momentous consequences for the whole world if it works: David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy, who is building an actual fusion power plant. Fusion has always been something that was 20 years in the future. Not anymore. The new Helion model, which they're constructing right now, is going to achieve net electricity production.
Transcribe →Jared Friedman, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-founder, Scribd
Dec 3001:10:05Tap to summarizeIn the latest episode we talk to one of the great YC insiders, Jared Friedman, who was in the third batch back in summer 2006, as cofounder of Scribd, and who has worked since 2015 as a YC partner. Jared really embodies the spirit of YC. He's incisive, but also a mensch, as you'll notice when you listen to the episode.
Transcribe →Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5!
Dec 2300:02:38Tap to summarizeJessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5 of The Social Radars
Transcribe →