All language subtitles for Montagem_Uri Levine

So, I think that the most important
thing when we are thinking of any

types of solution is speak about
the value that it creates, right?

And usually I would say, look, if
you want to create value, the simplest

way to create value is solve a
problem.

And when you look at the AI today,
of the generative language AI,

then the main thing is to ask
yourself, so what is the use case?

What is it being used for?

And in some cases, it could be very
valuable, but in many other cases,

we haven't found it yet.

Now, what I would like to say is,
look,

building, creating value is a long
journey, right?

And if you start a startup today,
it might take you 10 years until you

become successful.

It's a long journey.

Now, people often tend to confuse
and saying, okay, wait a minute, Chad

GPT is since November, right?

And now we are in August.

So, this is nine months, right?

And in nine months, they become so
successful.

Wait a minute, they're seven years
old.

It took them a long time to figure
out their product market fit.

And I would claim for a second that
they are not there yet because there

isn't a use case that people keep
on using all the time, right?

Building a startup, the most
significant part of the journey is to figure

out product market fit.

And product market fit is about
value creation.

So, if you don't figure out product
market fit, you will die as simple

as that, right?

You actually never heard of a company
that did not figure out product

market fit.

They simply died.

That's it.

But when you think of company that
did,

and for a second, I would say, think
of all the applications that you're

using every day, right?

From searching Google to using
WhatsApp, Waze, Uber, Netflix, Instagram,

whatever it is, and ask yourself,
what is the difference between any of

those today and the first time that
you've used that?

And the answer is that there is no
difference.

We are searching Google today the
same way that we searched Google for

the first time in our life.

We are using Waze today the same
way, or WhatsApp, or Uber, or whatever

it is.

So, once a company figure out their
product market fit, they don't change

that anymore.

And there is one metric for product
market fit, and this is retention.

If you create value,

they will come back as simple as
that.

If you don't, then they don't, right?

And so, if you haven't reached the
retention, that means that you're not

creating value.

That means that you're not a product
market fit yet, and you still need

to do iterations and iterations and
iterations in order to improve that.

What people don't know is how long
does it take to reach product market

fit.

We just mentioned OpenAI, right,
with GPT, and say that that was about

six years, right?

It was four years for Waze, five
years for Microsoft, 10 years for Netflix.

It's a long journey to get to product
market fit, and if you don't, you

will die.

You know, it's easy, because when
you solve a problem, you create value.

So, the simplest way to create value
is solve a problem.

And I would say, think of a problem,
think of a big problem, something

that it's worth solving, something
that the world will become a better

place if you solve that.

And then ask yourself, so who has
this problem?

Now, if you happen to be the only
person on the planet, you know what,

go to a shrink.

Way cheaper and faster than building
a startup.

But if a lot of people actually have
this problem, what you really want

to do next is go and speak to many
of those people and understand their

perception of the problem.

And only then go and build the
solution.

Now, if you follow this path, you
start with the problem, you get the

perception of the problem for users,
and then you build the solution.

And your solution works, it's
guaranteed that you are creating value.

If you start with the solution, you
might be building something that no

one cares.

Now, when you focus on the problem,
what happens is that the problem is

going to serve as the North Star of
your journey.

And when you have a North Star,
you're going to make less deviation from

the course.

You increase the likelihood of being
successful.

But it's also going to make your
story way more compelling.

If I will be here in 2007 and we
will speak about Waze, I will tell you,

oh, I'm building an AI crowdsource-based
navigation system, and everyone

is going to say, oh, yeah, very
interesting.

No one cares.

If I will tell you that I'm going
to help you to avoid traffic jams,

then you do care.

So it's about how you tell the story.

It's also about how you tell the
story.

But you have to think problem from
the first day.

Because when you do, then you ask
yourself, you remain focused.

You ask yourself every day, if I'm
making a progress in addressing that

issue that I would like to address.

And then when you have this North
Star, then you are actually going to

achieve that faster.

In addition, it makes your story
way better.

I was under the impression that
that's your role, right?

So as stars at university, then part
of what you are looking to encourage

is entrepreneurs to build more
startups that are actually creating value

and solving problems and so forth.

But let me say the following, right?

If you,

you know, all the people in the
world, they see their own environment

and they're saying, OK, we have a
lot of problems, right?

We have a lot of problems in Israel.

And if you will be in the US, then
you will say, oh, we have a lot of

problem in the US.

And if you're in Brazil, then we
have a lot of problem in Brazil.

So everyone sees their own problem.

And it's a good starting point,
right?

But many countries have a lot of
problems.

Many of the problems, by the way,
they are similar in multiple places.

Throughout the days of Waze, you
know, people would tell me every place

that I would go, they will tell me,
oh, traffic jams here is really bad.

You don't get it.

It's worse than anything else, right?

And I would hear that every place
that I go.

By the way, here in Sao Paulo, you
might be right.

It's really bad.

It's going to be very challenging.

You know, I have a chapter in my
book that is called Going Global.

And the funny part is that I wrote
this chapter and then erased that and

wrote it again and erased that again
because not always you think global

from the first day.

If I would be starting my startup
here in Sao Paulo, then I would focus

on Sao Paulo.

And when I'm successful in Sao Paulo,
then I would go to Rio, Curitiba,

Porto Alegre, or Brasilia, or
Salvador, and so forth.

And by the time I would start to
think about other markets, it might be

too late for me.

So you have to, if you want to become
a global player, you have to think

global from the first day.

And you have to ask yourself, okay,
assuming I am successful here,

assuming I'm demonstrating the value
creation here, where is the next market?

Now occasionally people would say,
okay, the U .S.

is going to be the next market.

But wait a minute.

Not everything that we are building
here actually creates the same value.

So even though that there might be
similar problems, the nuances of the

problems could be very different.

And the result is that you might
want to look for countries that are

more similar to Brazil in order to
go there.

The most similar country to Brazil
is Indonesia.

280 million people, about the same
GDP per capita, suffering from the

same challenges that you have here.

You know, building a startup is a
journey that I can describe in three

different dimensions.

The first one, this is going to be
a roller coaster journey with ups and

downs and ups and downs, and way
more ups and downs than any other

business that you can think of.

The second dimension is this is
going to be a very long journey.

And in particular, the longest part
is that when you try to figure out

product-market fit, and it could be
years until you get there, and

meanwhile nothing works, right?

Everything that you try and nothing
works.

But the third element, which is
maybe the most important, this is going

to be a journey of failures.

We're trying to build something new
that no one did before.

And the result is that we are trying.

We're trying what we think is going
to work.

We are actually, we are 100 % sure
that it's going to work, but it's not.

And so we are trying another thing
and another thing and another thing

until we find one thing that does
work.

When you realize that this is going
to be a journey of failures,

then there are two immediate
conclusions.

The first one is that if you're
afraid to fail, then in reality you

already failed because you're not
going to try.

That is one of the major barriers
in Latin America in general, in many

countries, by the way, not just
Latin America.

Also in Brazil, people are afraid
to fail because if you will fail, then

maybe people will call you a loser.

Maybe the regulation will be such
that you actually owe money for people

that trusted you and so forth.

So the fear of failure is relatively
high in Brazil.

And what we need to do is lower that
because if we are lowering that,

then we will have more entrepreneurs
that will actually go into this journey.

The second part that you need to
realize is that if this is going to be

a journey of failures, then you have
to fail fast.

The faster that you fail, you still
have plenty of time and plenty of

resources to try another version,
to try another go-to-market approach,

to try another partnership and so
forth.

And the more attempts that you are
making, you increase the likelihood

of being successful.

That's it.

Very simple.

This is statistics, right?

The attitude in Israel, the fear of
failure is way lower.

It's way lower in Israel and in the
Silicon Valley.

And these are, by and large, the
two places that fear of failure is low.

Everywhere else is higher, right?

In some places, it's a little bit
higher, like maybe Berlin or London.

In some places, it's really, really
high.

And that could be in a few places
in Asia, right?

So obviously, if you fail in Japan,
then this is definitely not good.

And for a second, I would say Latin
America in general and Brazil in

particular are improving.

There are way more entrepreneurs
today than there were 10 years ago.

You know, I spoke with many
entrepreneurs that their startup failed.

And I asked them why.

What happened?

And about half say the team was not
right.

And I kept on asking, okay, what do
you mean the team was not right?

And what I heard is that, you know,
we had this guy not good enough and

this guy not good enough.

So not good enough was the main
reason.

Another reason that I heard quite
often was that we had communication

issues, something that I actually
called ego management issues.

And then I asked them the most
interesting question.

When did you know that the team is
not right?

All of them knew within the first
month.

All of them knew within the first
month.

There was one that told me before
we even started.

Then he said, wait a minute.

If you knew within the first month
that the team is not right and you

didn't do anything, the problem was
not that the team was not right.

The problem was that the CEO did
not make hard decisions.

Firing someone is a hard decision.

There is a chapter in my book that's
called Firing and Hiring.

When I sent the book proposal to
different publishers, some of them told

me, look, it should be hiring and
firing.

And I said, no, no, no, no.

Firing is hard decision.

Hiring is easy decision.

Now, the biggest issue is very
different.

The nature of the beast is when this
is a small team, when there are 10

or 20 or 30 people and there is
someone that shouldn't be there, everyone

knows.

Everyone knows and the CEO doesn't
do anything.

And that's the nature of the beast.

Now, when this happens,

the result, by the way, is always
the same.

The top performing people would
leave.

And so now you have an organization,
there is someone that shouldn't be

there and he's still there.

And the top performing people are
leaving.

And that's the beginning of the end
of your journey.

Now, one of the most important
conclusions is that when you are a hiring

manager, when you are going to hire
people, 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?

Now, if the answer is yes, then go
to this person and tell them that

they are exceeding your expectation
and you are very happy with them

being in this company.

And if you are a startup that you
have equity part or equity plan, then

give them more equity.

But if the answer is no,

fire them immediately.

Fire them immediately because from
this point on, they are creating

damage to you as a leader, to the
team, because everyone knows, and to

themselves.

They are not going to be successful
and they deserve to be successful.

And therefore, they need to be sent
to someplace else that they might

be successful there.

It's a problem everywhere, right?

It's not just the technology company,
right?

And you know, there were many years
that until 2021, that the large

corporation, large technology
corporation didn't fire anyone, right?

Now, you ask yourself, is this
possible?

Is this possible that everyone is
excellent?

And the answer is no, it's not
possible.

But if the business is growing so
rapidly, then you don't care.

The reality is that you do care
because the second that you run into

some business challenges, then all
of a sudden, the fact that everyone

knows is becoming an issue.

There is a story in my book, there
is nearly half a chapter that speaks

about DNA of companies, right?

And the story goes back into 1999,
and three friends of mine started a

startup called HumanClick.

No one heard about this company.

But about a year later, they were
acquired by LifePerson.

LifePerson today is a public company.

Now, usually, if you're an entrepreneur
and your startup is being acquired,

and they ask you to stay for two or
three years, then what happened is

that the first year, you're trying
everything in your power to make

integration work.

And then the second year, you're
starting to look for someone to replace

you.

And then the third year, you're
starting to work on your new startup, right?

And these three friends of mine
stayed there until 2007.

And I asked them, why?

What happened?

And they told me that was the best
working place we ever had.

And I decided that we're going to
build Waze that way.

So Waze is going to be the best
working place we ever had.

And we define what it means for us.

And we define, and we actually
execute upon this plan.

Later on, when I left Waze and built
more startups, all of them following

that methodology.

All of them are following the
methodology that we are basically going

to spend a lot of time here, and we
want to enjoy the time that we are

here.

And the enjoyment is not about
success.

Part of it is about success.

But by and large, who do you work
with?

And so the people become the most
significant part of the journey.

And as a leader,

when Waze was acquired,

75 % of all the employees had equity.

75 % of them became millionaires
overnight.

And that was the guidelines to all
the companies, right?

So be extra generous with equity,
because these people are going to build

a company.

It's not you.

You are just a leader.

They are the builders.

As an entrepreneur, you don't know.

You will never give up.

That's maybe the most important
behavior of an entrepreneur, is never

giving up, right?

And so they will not give up.

From someone from the outside, I
would say, look, there are two reasons

why you should quit.

One is that the problem disappeared.

If the problem is no longer there,
then the mission of your journey, the

destiny,

is no longer valid, and you should
quit.

The other one is that if the team
is not right, then you are unable to

change that.

Say that you have, you know,

poisonous investors or board, and
you are unable to change that, then

you shouldn't stay.

But that, I would say, from the
outside.

If you would ask me if I would do
that in my own company, no, I will

never quit.

If you are an entrepreneur, you
don't.

You simply don't.

That's it.

You get 300 % into the startup and
about plus minus zero for the rest.

So Israel had an amazing ecosystem
for startups, right?

And when you think about ecosystem,
then there are essentially four

cornerstones that you need to address.

The first one is entrepreneurs, and
the way to address that is actually

through the media and encourage
entrepreneurs and lower the fear of failure.

And then you have more entrepreneurs,
right?

And so this is one part.

The other part is investors.

And in order to encourage investors,
in particular, foreign investors

to invest in an ecosystem, then you
need to make the regulation that

it's easy for them and they don't
pay taxes and so forth.

So these two are easy to deal with.

The other two are a little bit more
complex.

Engineers.

Not enough engineers in Brazil.

Not enough engineers in Brazil.

And we need to encourage to have
more engineers.

We need to encourage younger
generations to go and study engineering.

And there are many ways that we can
do that, but we have to do that

because otherwise we're simply not
going to have enough engineers.

And the fourth element is experience.

And we are starting to see some
successful Brazilian entrepreneurs

building companies, and we want them
back into the Brazilian ecosystem

to guide and mentor other entrepreneurs
to build it.

I'm not Brazilian, but hopefully my
book will actually do that significant

impact on the Brazilian ecosystem.

And all those in Israel are actually
very good, right?

So we have a lot of engineers, and
there's never enough engineers, but

we have a lot of engineers.

We have experience that is coming
back into the country and guiding and

mentoring and coaching the younger
generation.

We have very solid ecosystem for
investors that they don't pay taxes in

Israel.

And at the beginning of the journey
of Israel to become Startup Nation,

the government actually had a fund
that they were matching foreign

investors, right?

So if you're an investor and you
invest in a company one dollar, the

government put another dollar, which
essentially leverage your own dollar.

And of course, lower fear of failure
brings a lot of entrepreneurs into

the ecosystem.

But Israel have one unique, one
unique advantage or difference, and this

is the mandatory military service.

Israel is, you know, in a tough
neighborhood.

And guess what?

When you grew up in a tough
neighborhood, you grew up tough.

That's it.

And so you go to do your military
service at the age of 18, and you

realize you mature faster, right?

You face challenges that are way
more significant for most other people.

You realize that giving up is not
an option.

You learn how to work in teams.

You figure out leadership.

You understand how does a good leader
looks like and how does a bad

leader looks like and so forth.

And you face challenges that are
way more significant for someone else

at the age of 18.

And the result is that you complete
your military service three years

later and you take all this experience
with you.

And so I'm not suggesting that you
should have tough neighborhood.

That's definitely not suggested.

But if you already have that, then
mandatory service is actually serving

well the society.

You know, I think that I learn
something new every day.

I learn from my wife.

I learn from my children.

I learn from my CEOs that I'm guiding
and mentoring.

I learn every day something new.

Ask why.

Ask yourself why.

Because this is how you get to
understand someone else's perception,

someone else's point of view.

If you don't, then you don't know,
right?

So they will say something, and you
don't know why, and you have a

different point of view.

And that's it, right?

And you are not learning anything
new.

If you ask why, then you realize
that, wait a minute, there is a different

perspective.

There is a different point of view.

There are different reasoning for
that, and you might want to adopt part

of it.

I think that three of my startups
have created huge impact on ESG, right?

So Waze, obviously, reducing traffic
jams.

So we improved the ratio between
number of passengers to number of

vehicles, which essentially reduced
traffic.

And these days, also Citri that is
dealing with actually monitoring and

empowering three growers to have
better yield, and as a result, better

impact on the planet.

But for most other companies, ESG
sounds like a penalty, right?

So, okay, now we have a problem.

We need to deal with that.

And I think that in general, as
society, if we want to change behavior,

then we need to change behavior of
the single person.

And this is not necessarily through
regulation.

This is through incentive.

So I'll just give you an example,
right?

There are researchers in mobility
that basically say, okay, you know what?

We are going to make the city center
without cars, right?

And if you are entering into the
city center with your car, then we're

going to penalize you, right?

We're going to charge you 100 reals,
right?

If, however, and the impact is going
to be only for a short while, because

the result is that people would
later on treat that as a new tax and

this is it, and they would go back
into the previous behavior.

But if you create incentive and you
tell them, you know what?

We are not going to penalize you.

But if you're not, we are going to
bonus you with additional money.

Then you change behavior.

So change of behavior have to start
from the user and not from the objective.

And in many cases, we are looking
at the objective and say, okay, the

simplest way to do that is X, right?

No, because we want to change
behavior.

If you want to change behavior, then
you need to create an incentive for

the users to change behavior.

Yeah, this one.

Of course, this one, right?

It's, you know, I think that I, it
took me two years to write, actually

one year to write the book and
another year of editing.

And I realized that writing a book
is a journey.

And it all goes back to the perspective,
right?

When I'm building a company, then
what I have in my mind is the user.

And the value that I can create for
them.

And usually it will start with the
problem.

So their problem.

And therefore, this is the user that
I have in my mind.

When I wrote the book, I had the
same thing, right?

So I had the reader in my mind.

And I tried to create that to be
valuable for the reader.

What we should be looking for is
those books, right?

And those that actually relevant
for you and look at you as the target

audience and not as just the general
specific, non-specific one.

And those books are going to be
those that you are going to take some

insights from them and probably
implement and improve your life.

So first of all, thank you.

So I think that at the end of the
day, one of the biggest challenges for

many startups is and for anyone that
is building a new product is the

user perspective, right?

And so we tend to think that we are
the users and we are amazing sample

of one person, right?

There is actually a chapter in my
book that's called sample of one person

because of that, right?

And in order to build something
valuable, then you need to understand

the users.

And the only way that you can
understand users is that if you watch them

and ask them why.

That's it.

You watch new users, you see their
behavior, and then you ask them why.

And this is how you are going to
make progress in your product development

and in understanding the market and
in understanding users.

That's the only way.

There is no other way.