Waze founder uses tech and tenacity for tikkun olam

STEVEN GRUZD

In 2007, his frustration with traffic jams led this Israeli to co-found Waze – a community-based traffic and navigation app with 250 million users – which he sold to Google for $1.1 billion (R15.8 billion) in 2013. It freed him to drive other start-ups seeking to solve big problems.

He shared his entrepreneurial journey with the SA Jewish Report in Johannesburg last week.

Levine says that, like many Jewish entrepreneurs, he is driven by the concept of tikkun olam. “I can change the world, and I want to make it a better world for the next generation, for my kids,” he says.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1965, Levine says, “From the early days, I had the two things that were the combination of the entrepreneur I am today: I was a troublemaker and a computer geek.”

In the Israeli army, Levine served in an intelligence technology unit. He has a message for diaspora Jewish communities: “If you want to do a favour for your kids, send them to do military service in Israel. It helps them to mature faster, defines them, builds character with much more grit, sustainability, and leadership. And it develops skills that are very important for the rest of their lives.”

After years as a developer at voicemail company Comverse in Israel and the United States, Levine ventured out on his own in 2000, first trying to develop mobile email.

“Building a start-up is a roller-coaster journey, essentially a journey of failures. You try many things, and eventually find something that works. You never give up,” Levine says.

Waze was conceptualised with two Israeli partners in 2007. Says Levine, “I hate traffic jams. And every time I run into something at a personal level that I don’t like or get frustrated about … I actually allow myself a longer period of time to remain frustrated, so that I can try to think if I can change that.”

He realised that to fight traffic he needed a community of drivers sharing the driving conditions where they were in real time.

“So many people told me this will never work. Persistence is the critical part of it.”

He chuckles as he explains Waze’s unusual spelling. “We wanted ways.com, but that cost half a million dollars that we didn’t have. Waze.com cost $12 000, which we did have.” He says the only criterion for a good product name is pronounceability.

Waze was publicly launched in 2009, and achieved massive growth in 2012. “Google came in 2013 and made us an offer, and we simply said ‘yes’. I left the day after the acquisition so I could build more start-ups.”

His website, www.urilevine.com, displays these diverse new ventures. Moovit, in 2 500 cities worldwide, is like Waze for getting around on foot, bicycle and public transport, and is growing faster than Waze did.

FeeX makes transparent the opaque financial fees on investments that eat up huge value. Zeek has created a marketplace for unused store credit and gift cards. Engie deals with the frustrations of visiting the mechanic, helping to diagnose car-repair requirements. FairFly helps save money on fluctuating airfares after tickets are booked. Refundit simplifies VAT reclamation for tourists, which 95% of people never do. SeeTree uses drones to diagnose the health of individual trees in orchards. LiveCare is a wearable alert system for older people in assisted-living facilities.

“I keep on building them,” says Levine. “They all have the common denominator of trying to solve big problems. And, they are all doing good, and doing well.”

“If you’re trying to solve big problems, and you’re successful, two things are going to happen. One, you’re going to make an impact; you’re creating value. Two, if this is a big problem, it’s going to end up being quite a big company.”

To figure out how to build a solution, Levine really tries to understand people’s perception of the problem, and who the right person to execute it would be. It’s always someone with persistence, who can take hard decisions, and develop strong teams to follow him or her. Good mentorship – someone knowing what to do when and imparting that – is vital.

“The bigger the frustration is, the easier the marketing is. Fall in love with the problem. It’s an easier story to tell.”

Levine still chooses to live in Israel. “It’s called the ‘start-up nation’ for a reason. The country itself is a start-up. It is a miracle how successful it has been in 70 years. Living in a rough neighbourhood always helps. You develop persistence, and realise that giving up is not an option right now. You need to be creative, very quickly, to overcome the deficits we have.” He cites how a tiny, dry country like Israel today leads the world in water and desalination technology.

He also believes that Jewish history has fostered entrepreneurism. Almost 2 000 years without a country fed the need to survive in difficult places. Education has been critical, and everyone was taught to read and write. The written language was valued. He observes that the adulthood ceremony in many ancient cultures was to hunt an animal. “In Judaism, it is to read the Bible, but not just read the Bible; do it in front of other people.” He adds the dynamics of parental encouragement, and a community of people who protect and defend each other, making people more capable and supported.

Those wanting to boycott Israeli products for ideological reasons “should go back to the Stone Age then, because Israeli technology is everywhere”, Levine says. He muses that it’s funny that some countries have become so pro-Palestinian. “What value have Palestinians brought to the world?” he asks, compared to Israel.

Finally, Levine says there is huge opportunity for Israeli companies in Africa, with so many big problems to solve. But it is up to the African countries to bring them here, to make a strong business case. “Otherwise, Africa will come last.”