Waze app story- what we can learn from this traffic app according to its creator

Waze app story: Last week I traveled to hear a couple of gurus sharing their thoughts on different digital areas. The speakers were Wallace discussing Mobility, a nice trending topic these days. Also we had the chance to listen to the genius Wozniak sharing his memories on how Apple started and how he never built a computer to make money. They did it because they believed that was the way to go for the future of humanity. He wanted to solve a problem, to add value to peoples’ lives. A great advice indeed: go for the value and the money will follow.

Amongst the speakers was Uri Levine, the co-founder of Waze. Waze is a fantastic app, something we all dreamed about at some point stuck in traffic. I found Uri particularly inspiring, simple and to the point. The message in his t-shirt caught my attention: “Fall in love with the problem not the solution”. Next to me was a person asking around: «What does his t-shirt say?», «What does it mean?»
Finally, after his talk, Uri Levine  referred to his t-shirt. Thanks God!, we were all wondering.

His message was to understand any problem you face from inside to outside and the other way around before even thinking to find a solution. Please do not rush into finding solutions, stay there with your problem

The approach

First, look at your fish and clearly understand what the problem is. Why is it a problem in the first place?, Is it a problem for many people, for few people or just for you?. This last question can help you evaluate if you have a business at hand as Waze did or if you dont.

Next, ask yourself: Who’s is gonna be out of business if you go live with a solution for that particular problem?. If the answer is nobody, if there is no collateral damage probably your are not thinking big enough. So go back and reframe everything, including the problem you are trying to solve.

At the end. Waze co-founder concluded that if the problem is worth solving, meaning it will serve many people and will take somebody out of business, then go and make your best to find a solution and work consistently until you have it, no matter how many times you gotta try and above all do not quit because if these two criteria are met then you will be successful

Thats is exactly what he did when he created Waze. Uri told us he pursued and pursued and pursued again until he had the glorious insight: The guy ahead of you in traffic knows something that you dont know and Waze was created from that powerful ideas as a platform to allow drivers to share this information.

Now you know, next time you face a problem, just fall in love with it

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