A founder’s guide to crisis management | Uri Levine (Waze co-founder, serial entrepreneur)
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—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs• Rippling—Automate HR, IT, and finance so you can scale faster• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster—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-order—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email
[email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
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