Lenny's PodcastUri Levine: Why startups are a journey from crisis to crisis
Through cash-runway math and product-market-fit pivots at Waze; Levine argues founders must take responsibility, act fast, and lead with conviction.
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- February 16, 2025
- Duration
- 1h 23m
- Channel
- Lenny's Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Uri Levine is a co-founder of Waze (which was acquired by Google for $1.3 billion in 2013), along with nine other companies (including another company he sold for over $1 billion). He’s also been on 20 boards and has been an advisor to over 50 startups. He recently released a new chapter of his best-selling book Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution, which provides a guide to surviving crises at your company. In this episode, we cover:
- The two types of startup crisis and how to handle them
- Why speed of action is the most important thing
- How to keep your team motivated when things look dire
- A framework for deciding whether or not to pivot
- What to do when product-market fit disappears
- How to approach raising money during a crisis
- More
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-founders-guide-to-crisis-management-uri-levine Where to find Uri Levine:
- X: https://twitter.com/urilevine1
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uri-levine
- Website: https://urilevine.com
- Book: https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Love-Problem-Solution-Entrepreneurs/dp/1637746601/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Welcome back, Uri! (05:10) The new chapter: navigating crises (08:15) Types of crises founders face (29:10) Navigating cash crises (38:31) The importance of never giving up (46:26) How to keep people engaged through a crises (47:59) Transparency in crisis management (56:58) Navigating product-market-fit challenges (59:27) Deciding when to pivot or shut down (01:13:34) Real-life startup survival stories (01:17:06) Avoiding and preparing for crises (01:21:21) Final thoughts and book promotion Referenced:
- Waze: https://www.waze.com/
- Moovit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moovit
- Order Chat: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/order-chat
- Fibo: https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/fibo
- Behind the founder: Drew Houston (Dropbox): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-drew-houston-dropbox
- TomTom: https://www.tomtom.com/
- Khosla Ventures: https://www.khoslaventures.com/
- WeSki: https://www.weski.com/
- Larry Silverstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Silverstein
- Oversee: https://oversee.biz/
- Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-1000-yc-startups
- Tobi Lütke’s leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/tobi-lutkes-leadership-playbook
- Harley Finkelstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harleyf/
- Zip: https://zip.co/us
- Qualcomm: https://www.qualcomm.com/
- Einstein quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_einstein_148788
Recommended book:
• Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs (updated 2025 version): https://urilevine.com/book/#Pre-orde Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
SPEAKERS
Lenny Rachitsky
hostUri Levine
guestNarrator
other
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Lenny Rachitsky and Uri Levine, Uri Levine: Why startups are a journey from crisis to crisis explores waze co-founder explains surviving startup crises, from cash to pivoting Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze and serial entrepreneur, breaks down startup crises into two existential types: cash crises and loss-of–product-market-fit crises.
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