Naval defines agency as:
obsidian
approved
Published: 2026-06-21
Added: 2026-07-01
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source/instagram
---
title: "Naval defines agency as:
“People who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don’t even necessarily have to update you ever"
type: source
source_type: instagram
platform: instagram
url: "https://www.instagram.co...
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---
title: "Naval defines agency as:
“People who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don’t even necessarily have to update you ever"
type: source
source_type: instagram
platform: instagram
url: "https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1jvc7jgwi9/"
source_id: "instagram:reel/c1jvc7jgwi9"
creator: ""
captured_at: "2026-06-18"
processed_with: "yt-dlp + faster-whisper"
capture_status: media_downloaded
review_status: intake
confidence: high
relevance_score: 96
source_chat: "ig-fb-export"
topics:
- wealth
- hospitality
- practical
- culture
- health
tags:
- source/instagram
- source/instagram
---
# Naval defines agency as:
“People who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify th
## Source Metadata
- **Platform:** instagram
- **URL:** https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1jvc7jgwi9/
- **Relevance Score:** 96/100
- **Matched Topics:** wealth, ai, hospitality, practical, culture, health
- **Source:** ig-fb-export
- **Method:** yt-dlp + faster-whisper
- **Confidence:** high
- **Audio Language:** en
- **Audio Duration:** 79.52975s
- **OB1 Raw:** `ob1-deploy/sources/instagram/reel/c1jvc7jgwi9/`
## Summary
I would add another one to that whole set, which is this agency. People who just solve problems, without even being asked to solve the problem, they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don't necessarily even have to update you every step of the way, they're not asking silly questions, and t...
## Corrected Transcript / Extracted Text
I would add another one to that whole set, which is this agency. People who just solve problems, without even being asked to solve the problem, they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don't necessarily even have to update you every step of the way, they're not asking silly questions, and they're just coming out with solutions. Because building a startup is an infinite set of problems that are being thrown at you. There comes a day when you realize, I can't even look at every problem, let alone think about it, let alone solve it. It's not even possible. But at that point, as Vinod Kosovo famously said, the team you build is a company you build. At that point, the team you have built is the company you have built. Your ability to solve problems is based entirely on how many problem solvers you have below you. If you have somebody who takes 10% of your time in management and solves problems, you can only have 10 of those people working with you. If somebody takes 5%, you can have 20 of those people. People who are low ego take agency, solve problems, don't have to thump their chest about it, and are just professionals. They just get stuff done. I think in Air Chat and Angelist, when we were building the teams, I used to think of a Navy SEAL team. Everyone is just really good at what they do. They know their job. They do it. They don't complain. They're not egotistical about it. If they have to constantly be corrected, or they have to be let around by the nose, or if they clean up after them, or if they question even their judgment, it's not going to work out.
## Caption / Post Text
Naval defines agency as:
“People who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don’t even necessarily have to update you every step of the way, they’re not asking silly questions, and they’re just coming up with solutions.”
He believes this is important because “building a startup is an infinite set of problems that are being thrown at you.” And there comes a day where you can’t even look at every problem your company is facing—let alone solve every one of them.
He cites the Vinod Khosla aphorism:
"The team you build is the company you build, not the plan you make.”
And your ability to solve problems is based entirely on how many problem-solvers you have at your company. As Naval puts it:
“If you have somebody who takes 10% of your time and management to solve problems, you can only have 10 of those people working with you. But if somebody takes 5%, you can have 20 of those people.”
When building Airchat and AngelList, he thought of each team as a Navy Seal team:
“Everyone is just really good at what they do. They know their job. They do it. They don’t complain. They’re not egotistical about it. And if they have to constantly be corrected, led around by the nose, you have to clean up after them, or you question their judgement, it’s not going to work out.”
Source: @angellist
---
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## Key Claims
- I would add another one to that whole set, which is this agency.
- People who just solve problems, without even being asked to solve the problem, they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don't necessarily even have to update y
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