Waze Creator Empowers Entrepreneurs

you got a big investors for money. You've got to manage growing workforce, youve got to figure out how to scale, and ultimately, if you're lucky, you'll get to a successful exit, whether it's an I p O or an acquisition. But it is a tough slog. If only there were a handbook for entrepreneurs, there actually are. Next guest says he has written one, Ory Levine, he knows a thing or

two about building a company. Co founder of Ways, which, as you know, sold to Google for one and one point fifteen billion back in he was an investor and move It, which Intel bought for one billion back in. Tim, He's got a brand new book out. It's called fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution, a handbook for entrepreneurs. He joins us on the phone, from New York City? Or how are you good? Good to have you with us, Thank you, I'm excellent in yourself, We're

doing well. Thanks, We're very pleased. Congratulations on the book as well. Or right, um, I'm wondering about, you know, starting starting this idea in terms of, like, you know, thinking about not just this handbook, but about your own journey as an entrepreneur. What does it mean to to

fall in love with a problem. So essentially, you know, when you fall in love with the problem, the problem remains your north star of your journey, right, And when you have a north start and at the end stay, you're less likely to do deviations from it and more likely to actually get to your destination. But there is another major part of it, right, because the story that you're going to tell when it's associated with the problem is way better than the story that's associated with the solution.

If we will be hearing too souven and seven, I will tell you that I'm going to build an ai A scroutsource navigation system. Then you would say, yeah, right, but you don't really care, well what was the problem. What was the problem though, that you were trying to solve In two thousand seven. I'm going to help people

avoid traffic gims. All right, that's it worked, and then you do care, you know, every time, and I am an all in fan on it, and you know, um, I will say, my husband's like kind of laughs at me because when it's like there's a car on the road, I'm like, I hit it and I you know, could you read it? You've got in the world to buy in and help you in this process process. Is there something that in society um or that you think though has changed. We talked so much about the sharing economy,

the sharing society. Is there something different that enabled ways to be created that could have been created maybe years ago beyond the technology component of it. You know, I think that in general people are um like to help each other, right, and so we are. In general people are good and if you create them the opportunity, then they will be happy to share. They will behaving to

great value for others. And the magic of ways is that we the drivers are helping the rest of the drivers to avoid traffic chams and to know what's going on on the road. And essentially it's sort of a social network of drivers that we are helping the rest of the drivers. What's a problem in today's world that needs to be solved. Besides that, my puppy needs to be trained. I wish there's probably an app for that.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of problems, right because when we think of different issues. And by the way, when we started ways, you know, traffic jams today are more severe than they were when we started ways and we actually were scheduled or we our mission was to help drivers to avoid traffic chams and traffic chers. They are even more severe, right, and so we are done. We are not done with's addressing mobility um and movies actually did a better job in

addressing mobility by making public transportation easier. Um, but we're still not done. And you know, one of my startups is trying to address parking because it's some major issues. And many of my startups, which one of them, is trying to address a different problem. I am curious how you look at some of the companies that were once startups but are now behemous in the technology space but are having a tough time a K, Facebook, now Meta, Tesla, Twitter, Like,

how do you look at them? Because just because your startup in it, and people can be excited and you can do well for a while. It doesn't necessarily mean you have legs. But how do you look at some of these companies somebody who's created companies and companies with legs.

So so let me ask you the following, right, and and this is really how fast it war you're changing, Right, Google and Amazon and Netflix are about twenty something years old, right, and then Testla and Facebook and in Twitter and high Airbnb are less than twenty years old. They were amazing entrepreneurs at the beginning that had a mission to change the world, and in their journey they have made the

world a way better place. Right, Just imagine that we will have a time machine and I will send you back fifteen years into two thousands and seven and two thousand nine, right just before we started with And that means that I'm going to take away your iPhone and Ways and Uber and Netflix and and pretty much everything that you're using every day. It's unclear that we will survive. So when we create a solution to a real problem, it's guaranteed that we are creating value. And when we

create value, we are likely to become successful. Now, whether or not we are looking at the valuations that were here in the last couple of years, or the valuations to a it doesn't really make the difference in the value that those companies have created and in the goodness that they have created. You know, there was the saying that companies oftentimes, like in you know, before the pandemic, you'd see startups get ridiculous funding rounds and they were

in search of a problem to solve. What's what's one company that you saw a startup that you saw that you passed funding on because you said, wait a second, this is not they're solving a problem. So so most of my startups are actually self made. Right, so I was looking at the specific problem and then find the right team or or maybe the team came to be very early phased right the way before they even started, which a problem that they would like to solve, and

I basically say, this is a problem worth solving. And so my recommendation will be a think of a problem that is worth solving, a big problem. I think that the world will become a better place if you addressed that, and then ask yourself, who has this problem? Now? If you happen to be the only person on the planet this problem. Then I would say, you know what, go to a shrink. It's gonna be a page, cheaper and

faster than building a startup. But if a lot of people actually have this problem, then what you really want to do next is go and speak with those people can understand their perception of the problem, and only then go and build a solution. Now, if if you follow this past and your solution works right, it's actually guaranteed that you are creating value. Well, in the essence of all of all startups is to figure out what is the value that we are creating? Got it? Or we

have to leave it there? Or Elevening, co founder of Ways, his new book fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution, a handbook for entrepreneur something he knows a lot about. This is Bloomberg