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 podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe