Lessons from a 2-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor and 20-time board member | Uri Levine

You've co-founded 10 different companies. You've been on the board of 20. You've also built two unicorns, including Waze. The biggest startup lesson you seem to have taken out of that is to...

Fall in love. Fall in love. Fall in love. Fall in love with the problem. And then actually what you're trying to do is engage everyone else to fall in love with the same problem, to go into this journey, into this path, and follow your leadership there.

Anything you wanted to share around hiring/firing?

Every time that you hire someone new, mark your calendars for 30 days down the road and ask yourself one question: "Knowing what I know today, would I hire this person?" If the answer is no, fire them immediately.

Let's actually talk about fundraising.

Most people are missing the most important slide of their presentation. It's the first slide. This slide is going to be presented for the longest period of time. This is the place that you're gonna put your strongest point. Uh, the second most important slide is the last one.

(Intro music) Today my guest is Uri Levine. Uri is the co-founder of Waze and nine other companies. He sold two companies for over a billion dollars. He's also been on 20 different startup boards, including a dozen he's still currently on. He's also advised over 50 founders and startups over his career. More recently, he wrote a book that summarizes all of his advice for founders called Fall in Love With the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs. In the forward to the book, Steve Wozniak said, "This book will change your life and become your bible if you're an entrepreneur." And I cannot disagree with that. This book is very tactical with amazing stories, and walks you through the ideation phase all the way to exiting your company. In my conversation with Uri, we chat about many of my favorite chapters, including why falling in love with the problem is so important, how to find product market fit, a really clever tactic for firing people who aren't a fit for your company, a ton of really genius tactical advice for improving your fundraising pitch, and so much more. With that, I bring you Uri Levine. And if you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to subscribe and follow it in your favorite podcasting app or YouTube. It's the best way to avoid missing future episodes, and it helps the podcast tremendously. Uri, thank you so much for being here. Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Okay, so here's what I've gathered about your career, and let me know if I've missed anything. You've co-founded 10 different companies, including four you're still operating. You've been on the board of 20 companies. You've advised 50, maybe more companies. You've also built two unicorns, including Waze, which you sold for over a billion dollars, which back then was an astronomical amount money. It still is. So does that all sound right? Is there anything big I missed about your career? (laughs)