Fall in Love With The Problem Not the Solution: A Deep Dive with Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of Waze, Uri Levine | Ep #691

Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies

What would you do if you sold your agency tomorrow? Are you clear enough on your purpose that you could keep on creating value? Today’s guest is the founder of a beloved app that changed the way people drive nowadays. He eventually sold that company but hasn’t stopped looking for ways to improve people’s lives through his startups. He’ll share what he’s learned from failure, why he was out of the company as soon as he sold, and why you should always look to understand users to create real value. Tune in to learn valuable insights into building successful startups.

Uri Levine is the co-founder of Waze, a popular app that helps users have a better driving experience, get to their destination faster, and avoid speeding tickets. After his business was acquired by Google a decade ago for over $1 billion dollars, Uri went on to focus on other ventures. He more recently wrote the book Fall In Love With the Problem, Not the Solution.

He shares his entrepreneurial journey, from creating Waze to building Moveit, and discusses the importance of solving real problems to achieve product-market fit and the impact of failing to do so.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

• Cracking product-market fit.

• Making hard choices with conviction.

• What comes after selling an agency for $1 billion.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

Find a Problem Worth Solving: Advice for Agencies to Create Lasting Value

Years ago, Uri had the chance to meet one of his technological gurus – Steve Wozniak – at an event. He got to take a picture with him and that exchange inspired a chapter of his book called “Understanding Users”. In it, he explains there’s no right or wrong way to use a product, something he always tried to take into account when it came to Waze users and how they overcame problems.

In his view, every entrepreneur should start by solving a problem. “Think about something worth solving,” he advises. If a lot of people have the same problem, speak with them, understand their perception of the problem, and only then set out to build the solution. For Uri, this is the only way to guarantee that you’re creating value. Instead, starting with the solution may lead to creating a solution that no one was asking for.

Uri encourages entrepreneurs to find a problem worth solving and make it the North Star of their journey. This way, you’ll be much less likely to deviate from the path toward your goal and much more likely to succeed. To agencies, he reminds them that the problem is a significant part of their marketing. The story you’ll tell about the problem is much more compelling than one about the solution. An enticing story will help you make customers care, and if they care, they’ll make you successful.

Biggest Successes and Failures Outside of Waze

Although Waze has over 700 million users, and even more use Moveit, neither is Uri’s most successful product. His most successful venture was a voicemail company called Converse Technology. At the time, it had many more users than either Waze or Moveit and it was a massive success. Years, later, he switched to software development, always looking for innovation and change.

On the other hand, his first startup focused on mobile email and it became his first big failure. Uri knew focusing on a problem worth solving was the starting point for any successful venture. This should always be followed by speaking with potential consumers. This way, you’ll see whether or not they share your vision of the problem. If not, they may still point you to a different approach to the problem.

Unfortunately, Uri found a problem worth solving that later disappeared. Someone, in this case, Blackberry, had solved it better. It was time to pivot to a new problem.

Define Your Agency’s DNA Early in the Creation Process

Finding a problem and identifying a proper approach to a solution are the surest ways to create a venture with a better opportunity to succeed. However, a major part of your happiness in an organization will revolve around the people you surround yourself with, rather than you and what you’re doing. Because of this, Uri believes the agency’s DNA and the culture you build around it will be just as important as the mission you have.

This is something you can start to create from day one, as Uri did with Waze. From its creation, he decided the company would be the best place to work at and built the culture around that idea. Since then, he’s built more companies and always makes sure to define their DNA early in its creation process. The result will be nearly no attrition because you’ve created a favorable work environment where people want to stay.

Beyond the Myth of Overnight Success: Cracking Product-Market Fit

Half of all startups will fail as a result of not figuring out their product-market fit, which simply put entails figuring out how you create value for customers. If you can’t figure that out, then your business doesn’t have a future.

There’s only one metric when it comes to product-market fit: retention. If you create value, customers will come back. If they don’t, then you’re either too complex and they can’t figure out the value or you’re not creating enough value.

Think of the apps you use every day like, Netflix or Facebook, and ask yourself what’s the difference between how you use it today and how you used it on day one. There is no major difference. Once companies figure out product market fit they don’t change it because that’s the value they bring to customers. What users don’t know is how long it takes a company to get that product market fit just right.

New companies compare themselves to these giants and assume they’re failing if they haven’t made it big by the two or three-year mark. In reality, none of these big brands was an overnight success and we’re just not aware of how long it took them to succeed. For Waze, it was four years and it took Netflix ten years.

Creating value for customers is a continuous process that requires time and effort. It’s not an overnight process.

Why CEOs Should Make Hard Choices with Conviction

Ever since he sold Waze ten years ago people have asked Uri whether he still thinks it was the right decision. For him, there are no right or wrong decisions. There’s just deciding on making no decision.

Some people prefer to remove all emotion to make decisions based purely on the logic of what would be better for the business. For Uri, the most important thing is making hard decisions with conviction, which is a crucial skill for a successful CEO.

For instance, there’s a chapter in Uri’s book called Firing and Hiring, inspired by conversations with CEOs regarding their underperforming teams. In most cases, they knew exactly which employees were just not cutting it and had known for some time. For Uri, the big problem in these cases was that CEOs were being too slow to make hard decisions because they’d have to assume responsibility for the consequences.

If you struggle with an underperforming team, Uri recommends you take a look at any team member and ask yourself would you hire them today knowing what you know about their work? If the answer is no, then fire them immediately. It’s advice he believes can be applied to anything in life, your professional path, your relationships. If you’re not happy with where you are, then start making changes in order to change that today.

Selling for $1 Billion & How Embracing Failure Can Take You Closer to Success

People may be surprised to hear that Uri was out the door the day after selling his company for $1 billion. However, by that time, he was already thinking of new startups he wanted to build, so this was the right move to close that chapter.

Furthermore, he says that, contrary to what people may believe, the sale did not mean he was walking away with $1 billion in his pocket. By that time he owned just 3% of the company and after taxes and a divorce, he was left with far less, which he mostly invested in his new startups.

Nowadays, he spends his days coaching different startups Some of these could become even more successful than Waze at some point, while others will probably end up being big failures. The prospect of failing is not one that plagues him too much since, in his view, failure is an inevitable part of the entrepreneurial journey, but it is through these failures that one can learn and grow.

At the end of the day, if you want to create new things you’re set to fail. Over the years and by accumulating new failures, he has managed to become statistically more successful thanks to the experience he has gained.

Selling Your Agency: Key Considerations and Uri's Advice on Timing and Motivations

If you’re trying to figure out the right time to sell your agency, Uri believes you should consider whether the offer you’ve received is life-changing or not. If it is, then it merits serious consideration. Additionally, if you have aspirations to pursue new ventures and innovate to benefit others and revolutionize the industry, selling may be the right move.

On the other hand, if you believe you’re company is a once-in-a-lifetime thing then you should keep it. Don’t sell unless you know what you’re going to do next.

Above all, avoid selling solely due to exhaustion and the desire to rest, as this may lead to restlessness sooner than expected. Entrepreneurs are inherently driven to create and take action and often find it challenging to embrace prolonged periods of rest.

Finding Purpose in Value Creation

Nowadays, Uri feels happier and more fulfilled than ever and it’s because in the last decade, he was finally able to figure out who he is and who he wants to become. He now states confidently that his purpose lies in value creation and he finds equal enjoyment in both creating something himself and guiding someone else to do it.

Finding a purpose will center you, the sense of purpose and impact on the world can lead to greater happiness and satisfaction in one's work. Finding something you’re good at and that people will pay for will be the cornerstone of your happiness. Identifying one's strengths and finding a market for them is pivotal for personal contentment. When coupled with a meaningful mission to make a positive impact, it becomes the key to enduring happiness.

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