#147 Ex-Waze CEO & Founder of Post News, Noam Bardin: Hockey Sticks and Plateaus
Grit17 Jul 2023

#147 Ex-Waze CEO & Founder of Post News, Noam Bardin: Hockey Sticks and Plateaus

Guest: Noam Bardin, founder of Post News

One of the “aha” moments that could sway a dubious Waze user, recalls former CEO Noam Bardin, was navigating around “all those idiots sitting in traffic... and you’re like, ‘I’m a genius.’” Now, at the social news app Post, Noam says the “aha” is avoiding partisan gridlock and paywalls. Social incumbents boost engagement by making users angry, while Post just wants you to read. “If we can remove friction and give you the right articles at the right time, so you feel smarter when you walk away,” he says, “that’s the aha moment.”

In this episode, Noam and Joubin discuss stories vs. execution, ROFRs, culture clash, timing an acquisition, corporate tags, fear of going bigger, joining big companies, mobile app retention, big tech monopolies, competing against Foursquare, and not optimizing for “culture warriors.”


In this episode, we cover:

  • Putting your opinions out there (01:15)
  • Waze almost sold to Facebook (06:10)
  • Getting in the room with Google (13:04)
  • How the first Google deal fell apart (15:10)
  • Back to Facebook — briefly (17:15)
  • The news begins to leak, and Google returns (20:26)
  • Grinding for five years at a startup (23:57)
  • “Hockey sticks” are never smooth (28:32)
  • The personal impact of volatility (31:37)
  • “Everything is a mess in startups” (34:38)
  • The worst day of Noam’s life (38:22)
  • How Waze started, and how Noam joined (42:22)
  • The failure of Intercast Networks (45:07)
  • Brave faces and “corp-speak” (48:33)
  • Integrating into Google’s culture (53:13)
  • No constraints and too much money (01:01:08)
  • Defining metrics that matter (01:04:11)
  • Maps and social (01:06:46)
  • Silicon Valley’s worst invention: “Pivoting” (01:09:56)
  • The social news problem Post solves (01:14:51)
  • Misinformation and authoritarianism (01:18:42)
  • Post’s microtransactions (01:21:08)
  • Being misunderstood and the “aha” moment (01:23:58)
  • Who Post is hiring and what “grit” means to Noam (01:27:09)

Links:

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(290)

The Sales Framework Every Founder Needs | Mark Roberge

The Sales Framework Every Founder Needs | Mark Roberge

"There's 20 fires going on at every moment in the office and you have enough water to put out four."Mark Roberge shares what it takes to build and scale a company, from finding product-market fit to k...

13 Jul 1h 22min

Airwallex's Jack Zhang on Fintech, Failure, and Growth

Airwallex's Jack Zhang on Fintech, Failure, and Growth

In 2020, Airwallex lost nearly half its revenue overnight. Today it's worth $11 billion.Jack Zhang reflects on the decisions that kept the company alive, raising capital during uncertainty, and leadin...

29 Jun 1h 11min

Why 80% of the Fortune 100 Chose Qualtrics | Ryan Smith

Why 80% of the Fortune 100 Chose Qualtrics | Ryan Smith

AI may change software overnight, but company building still takes time.Ryan Smith explains why, despite the pace of AI, “the race is going to be way longer than anyone thinks.”He reflects on Qualtric...

15 Jun 1h 12min

What It Takes to Build Software for 171,000+ Restaurants | Aman Narang

What It Takes to Build Software for 171,000+ Restaurants | Aman Narang

Great software companies often come from understanding pain points at a very deep level.On Grit, Aman Narang shares how Toast built trust with 171,000+ restaurant operators by helping restaurants mana...

1 Jun 1h 17min

What It Takes to Build a Generational Company | Anduril’s Trae Stephens

What It Takes to Build a Generational Company | Anduril’s Trae Stephens

Founder quality becomes more important as startups become easier to build.Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril and partner at Founders Fund, has spent years backing founders with strong conviction, in...

18 Mai 56min

How AIG Is Reinventing Insurance With AI | Peter Zaffino

How AIG Is Reinventing Insurance With AI | Peter Zaffino

What does it take to run a company where the business is risk itself?In conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan, Peter Zaffino shares what the role demands at AIG, including high stakes decisions, constan...

4 Mai 56min

From Airbnb to Linear: How Karri Saarinen Redefined Product Design

From Airbnb to Linear: How Karri Saarinen Redefined Product Design

In a market that hadn’t changed in decades, Linear didn’t win by being faster. They won by being more thoughtful.Karri Saarinen helped shape design at Airbnb and Coinbase before building Linear around...

20 Apr 1h 17min

How Kevin Mandia Built the Most Trusted Name in Cybersecurity

How Kevin Mandia Built the Most Trusted Name in Cybersecurity

What does security look like when attackers use AI better than you do?Armadin recently raised $200M to build for the “attacker of the future,” where attacks are autonomous and harder to contain.On the...

6 Apr 1h 2min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
pengepodden-2
rss-pa-konto
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
utbytte
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
rss-skravla-gar
liberal-halvtime
pengesnakk
finansredaksjonen
lederpodden
rss-kron-podden
paretopodden
okonomiamatorene