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Overview
Can you be born into entrepreneurship? Can your nationality give you an advantage over others, or is it something that can only come from within? According to the authors, being from Israel gives people a head start when they’re born with the gift of innovation.
In this passage, the author identifies three key points that show how Israel has become a global powerhouse in innovation and entrepreneurialism. The country’s culture and geopolitics make it conducive to start-ups developing electric cars, money transfer systems, and other technologies. This passage will help you understand how successful countries are built.
In this passage, the author shares three key points about how an Israeli idea overcame obstacles to be successful; that the anti-hierarchical ethos of Israelis is a significant factor in their success; and that military service creates highly successful business people.
Big Idea #1: Israel has a high concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship – fertile grounds for creative start-ups.
The media often portrays Israel in a negative light, only covering its political conflicts and ongoing issues. However, there’s more to Israel than that; it has many economic successes and innovative achievements.
Israel is a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. It has the highest density of start-ups in the world, with one for every 1,844 people. Many companies have taken notice of this trend and acquired Israeli start-ups, including Cisco.
Israel is a great place for start-ups. They receive a lot of venture capital, which is the most important measure of technological potential. In 2008, per capita venture capital was 2½ times higher in Israel than in the United States and 82 times higher than China’s.
Israel also has a strong presence on the American stock exchange, NASDAQ. Israel’s start-up scene is innovative and creative with one example being BetterPlace. They promote electric cars that have disadvantages like expensive batteries, short driving range, and lengthy recharge time. However, if people don’t need to purchase the batteries outright with the car then they can be as cheap as gasoline cars because of leasing them out.
The start-up scene in Israel is booming, but why? Let’s find out by looking at the country and its culture.
Big Idea #2: A culture of doubt and argument, assertiveness and informality shape the national ethos of Israel.
The Israeli’s success in entrepreneurship can be attributed to their mentality. They’re rebellious, informal, and assertive people who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. For example, PayPal bought an Israeli company called Fraud Sciences because its employees weren’t intimidated by PayPal’s methods for detecting fraud and openly challenged them.
Scott Thompson is known for his chutzpah, which means “audacity” in Hebrew. Israelis are taught to be assertive and value that quality.
Israeli people are open to questions. They also believe in an anti-hierarchical system.
The Jewish faith is based on questioning and argument. This was due to the centuries of Rabbinic debates concerning interpretation of the Bible. As a result, there were anti-hierarchical mind-sets present throughout Israeli society.
The Israeli military intentionally has fewer senior officers, because it encourages individual initiative at lower levels.
In addition, each year thousands of men are enlisted in the military reserves. This curtails social hierarchy because these people can give orders to millionaires and train their older relatives.
