Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston: “Your idea is going to evolve”

So how important do you think it is to get the idea just right at the beginning, or to just get started with something and then figure out where to take it?

I think it's more important to get started with something, build it, because your idea is always going to evolve. I mean, Airbnb is, like, to me, one of the most famous examples of an idea that has evolved. Right. They came to us with their idea, which was, at the time, renting out air beds in your home while you were there during conferences. That's pretty focused, right? And then they said, okay, now we're gonna rent out airbeds in your home, but not during conferences. Then it was renting out your own home. So it morphed.

And did all of that morphing happen during the YC program?

No, it did not happen. Specifically.

How long did it take?

I think it. I want to say it took about a year. I'm not 100% certain. But I remember what happened specifically was Airbnb was always very strict about the host being home so that they could provide breakfast because it was airbedandbreakfast.com and then the famous story is that one of their hosts was Barry Manilow's drummer, and he had this great place in New York City, and he contacted them and said, hey, Barry's going on tour. I'm going to be gone. Can I just rent out my apartment while I'm not there? And the Airbnb's were like, oh, that doesn't really fit with.

That's how they figured out.

That's how they figured out how to, like, rent out whole spaces. And to this day, I think that's, like, the majority of their business. But it took something like that to get them to even consider doing it.