DeveloperWeek 2023

Uri Levine, Co-Founder, Waze

Unicorns—companies that reach a valuation of more than $1 billion—are rare. Uri Levine has built two.

Levine is co-founder of Waze, —the world’s leading commuting and navigation app with more than 700 million users to date which Google acquired in 2013 for $1.15 billion—and his second unicorn, Moovit. Dubbed “the Waze of public transportation,” Moovit was sold for $1 billion to Intel in 2020.

In his session, Levine will share the formula and key components of building a successful start-up that drove those companies to compete with industry veterans and giants alike.

As a mentor and teacher, Levine intends to help entrepreneurs disrupt inefficient markets and improve under-functioning services, to focus on solving society-wide problems while saving consumers time and money.

The session will explore:
● The impetus of Waze and Moovit and the stories of their sales to Google and Intel
● Why the key to success is starting with the problem first
● The key components of building a successful start-up that will disrupt “broken” markets
● The importance of firing and hiring the right people (yes, in that order).
● Deciding when to sell and how entrepreneurs can prepare for their eventual exit from the company
● The problems the startups he’s working with are hoping to solve
● The importance of paying it forward and guiding other entrepreneurs in need