Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle by Dan Senor

Jan 06, 2013 Lorenzo Lara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: venture-capital-entrepreneurship

Historia fascinante sobre un país que antes de su fundación en 1948 creó institutos de investigación científica y universidades de clase mundial. El espíritu y la cultura emprendedora en Israel se gesta en las familias, se fortalece en el ejército y en las universidades, apoyada por políticas públicas de vanguardia que estimulan la innovación y el arranque de nuevos negocios. Mi abuelo fue militar, de tendencia democrática y civilista, apoyó a López Contreras, a Medina y al nacimiento de la demo...more

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Alejandro Teruel En Basta de historias (Debate, 2010), el periodista Andrés Oppenheimer le dedica un capítulo a la educación en Israel (Israel: el país de las startup)...more
updated Jan 07, 2013 07:05am

Lorenzo Lara Alejandro wrote: "En Basta de historias (Debate, 2010), el periodista Andrés Oppenheimer le dedica un capítulo a la educación en Israel (Israel: el pa...more
updated Jan 07, 2013 07:31am

Jun 25, 2011 Andrew K. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: entrepreneurship, jewish

Start-up Nation is a fun overview of a side of Israel you don't hear much about: the incredible success of its start-up companies, traced back to:
1. the multidisciplinary army training everyone gets at age 18,
2. a culture of embracing and learning from failure,
3. all those Jewish immigrants from places like Russia that show up with science and engineering degrees looking for something to do, and of course
4. Jewish chutzpah!

The book also helped me understand better why high-tech, high-growth ent...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Andrew Rosner added it

An inspiring, terrific book. Israel is a tiny nation of seven million people with few natural resources, surrounded by countries eager for its destruction. Yet Israel has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any other country except the United States. How has it developed into a high-tech tiger in the face of such adversity? In this brief but lively account, authors Dan Senor and Saul Singer explain how Israel has made a habit of turning disadvantages into advantages through continual innovation...more

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May 14, 2013 Jan Rice rated it 4 of 5 stars

If a book discussion is upcoming I'll do my homework and read a book I'd otherwise never pick up, and that's a good thing. I had a negative impression from this title. I thought it would consist of boosterism and a defensive enumeration of accomplishments as justification for Israel's existence, but, thankfully it was not that. It was an exploration of why entrepreneurialism, particularly of the hi tech variety, is working so well there, and how to overcome obstacles to that elsewhere.

One aspec...more If a book discussion is upcoming I'll do my homework and read a book I'd otherwise never pick up, and that's a good thing. I had a negative impression from this title. I thought it would consist of boosterism and a defensive enumeration of accomplishments as justification for Israel's existence, but, thankfully it was not that. It was an exploration of why entrepreneurialism, particularly of the hi tech variety, is working so well there, and how to overcome obstacles to that elsewhere.

One aspect of the success is chutzpah and brashness in the context of informality and de-emphasis of hierarchy. Everybody speaks up and challenges management, and everybody takes responsibility. People take risks. Failure is tolerated--if the party learns from it. Defensiveness is not tolerated. Since about everybody goes into the military at a young age, they also take responsibility at a young age and then transfer that approach to the civilian context. Multitasking and multi-talents are encouraged. The emphasis, then, is on a true meritocracy, with necessity posed by the various problems the mother of invention. In that vein, the hostility of neighbors and others apparently has itself led to hi tech products, travel, and new markets.

Given the status of the country, Israelis have a deeper purpose beyond simple financial success, much like America during the period we were having to respond to the Sputnik challenge. It made me a little sad for our country, where I don't think I see so much inspiration at a young age to take responsibility for our direction or even belief that it's theirs to take--and I mean action, not protest--but rather, discouragement, risk-aversion, and anomie.

Something else that made me sad for America: the separation between the civilian world of enterprise and work and the volunteer military, so that, unlike in Israel, the upper classes look down on the military, increasingly staffed by the lower classes who are responsible for society's safety and security.

Predictably some reviews lauded the book, while negative reviews looking down their respective noses at Israeli "propaganda," more or less reducing the book to a deflection from the occupation, injustice, etc.--but, then, that's spin, too, that eliminates everything positive that doesn't fit the requisite narrative. So this book is an occasion to stop the negative propaganda. This book also doesn't deal with income inequality or prejudicial treatment of those who don't serve in the military, but, on the other hand, those issues get plenty of treatment elsewhere. This just isn't that book.

There are a lot of positive reviews on Goodreads--including reviews from people in Arab countries wanting to emulate the success. The book aims to make the secret of success an open one, to the extent it can be emulated.

Make enterprise, not war!

(less)

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May 04, 2013 Michael Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: compsci-tech, non-fiction, politics, science, startup

Start-up nation analyzes the sources of innovation in the modern history of Israel, up to 2009, and identifies as the main source a propensity for research-based start-ups funded with venture capital coupled with many uniquely Israeli elements. Overall, it's an interesting book but with several important shortcomings.

Dan Senor and Saul Singer build a case for linking innovation in Israel to the country's start-up culture. They identify how start-ups and starting research labs of major off-shore...more Start-up nation analyzes the sources of innovation in the modern history of Israel, up to 2009, and identifies as the main source a propensity for research-based start-ups funded with venture capital coupled with many uniquely Israeli elements. Overall, it's an interesting book but with several important shortcomings.

Dan Senor and Saul Singer build a case for linking innovation in Israel to the country's start-up culture. They identify how start-ups and starting research labs of major off-shore companies generate innovation and train future innovators. They show how major high-tech consumers---the army, in particular---use the services of start-ups, sometimes spun off the consumer itself. They compare the funding sources of Israel start-ups and show that Israel is a world-class attractor of venture capital in large amounts; for example, the average Israeli start-up attracts a few millions of dollars in seed money, almost an order of magnitude more than the Finnish counter-part. They also attempt to explain why Israeli brains prefer to work in start-ups, rather than in mammoth companies or outside the country---a mix of tradition, networking, and alpha behavior.

Some of the main positive aspects in this book are the good understanding of the research spectrum in Israel, access to high officials for interviews (albeit not reproduced entirely in the book or in online material), and an attempt to argue for the proposed thesis---that innovation in Israel is interwoven with a start-up culture. I liked very much the IBM and Intel examples, and the dramatic memoir of Shai Agassi and Shimon Perez's pitch of a fully electric car to the car industry. I liked the discussion about Yozma, the dynamic matchmaker between Israeli innovation and US distribution lines, and the economic clusters, which in Israel play a vital role.

I found, however, that many negative aspects have crept in the book; I will mention two. First, the lack of a convincing argument for the theory presented in this book. The authors claim that the link between innovation and start-up is uniquely Israeli---they go at extreme lengths to identify as uniquely Israeli an amalgam of improvisation, anti-hierarchy, immigrant soul, sense of "against the world", high-tech/intellectual background of a large part of the population, ambition to be very good at several things rather than a single one (the desert Jeep vs Formula One metaphor), leadership skills gained from early army service, forgiving start-up environment ensured by government intervention, flexibility of Israeli mentality, unique networking structure (all-to-all), undisciplined nature of the Israeli, critical spirit of the Israeli, etc. ... the list is so long, that the theory cannot be verified.

Second, but equally negative, is the constant bashing of the Arabic countries; in the authors' view, the apparent economic success of, for example, Dubai, contrasts starkly and somberly with the bright prospects and achievements of Israel: Dubai's economy is ephemeral, based on a consumption and not true production, with a poor education system, and doomed to failure. Although the bashing could be based on hard facts, there is little evidence to support the claims and the rhetoric is tendentious at best.

A good read on the Israeli tech and start-up environment, but too incomplete and crude.(less)

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Jan 26, 2012 Mohamed Sabry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: اقتصاد

انتهيت سابقا من قراءة نسخة عربية ملخصة من الكتاب ، مترجمة بشكل تطوعي من أحد رواد الأعمال العرب

تجد هنا نسخة من الملخص المترجم:
http://almsaodi.com/?p=484

الكتاب يتحدث عن دور الشركات الناشئة في تكوين الاقتصاد الإسرائيلي ، ستكتشف أن إسرائيل متقدمة جدا في مجالات التكنولوجيا وخصوصا المتعلقة بالتسليح

الكتاب يصف الروشتة التي تتبعتها حكومات إسرائيل لدعم ريادة الاعمال
(entrepreneurship)
فيها ، عن طريق صناديق الدعم الحكومية ، وإغراء الشركات الكبري للحصول على مقرات داخل إسرائيل (أعني داخل أراضي فلسطين المحتلة...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Herve rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thought I knew a lot about Israel, but the book is rich in anecdotes. The history of Israel is well described and innovation was probably a necessity to survive. If there is a point I appreciated less is the importance the authors give to the military. They may be right, that’s not the point, but I thought the topic came too often in the chapters. This remains a great book and a must read for anyone interested in high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

I’d like now to quote a few things I li...more

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Dec 10, 2010 Vince Wu rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is about the ingredients that make up a successful entrepreneurial environment. Authors Dan Senor & Saul Singer does a good job explaining what's fascinating about Israel and unravels some of the possible sources for the incredible amount of entrepreneurship. I highly recommend this book to folks interested in entrepreneurship and international business.

Consider:
- Israel is home to high growth start-ups that transform entire industries. Israel has more companies on the NASDAQ than...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Howard Olsen rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great book about one of the under-told stories out of the Middle East: that of the economic development of Israel from a desert filled with refugees to a dynamic high tech economy. Senor and Singer analyze Israeli culture, society and institutions in their quest to find out why, for example, so much of Intel's recent growth has come from its Israeli division, or why it is that a nation of just 7 million has had more NASDAQ IPO's than any other, but the US. The authors look at such factors as t...more

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Apr 04, 2010 Rosenthal Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read the following review on Amazon:

As a serial entrepreneur, VC and angel investor, and teacher of entrepreneurship for many years, I am enthralled by "Startup Nation". It is a fascinating story of how Israel has succeeded disproportionately to its size and certainly to its geographic situation. It teaches valuable and unique lessons about region building and industry building. The principles of the country that stimulate individual entrepreneurial behavior in the military, in agriculture, an...more

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Mar 09, 2010 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars

A friend from lab lent me this book to read over vacation. I thought it was a great read. It's very quick - double spaced, big font, and even then only ~230 pages. However, the content was quite interesting and fast paced. The authors attempt to describe what qualities of Israel culture make it ripe for the development of an entrepreneurial spirit. The case studies they give are extremely interesting in themselves, and I was left with the impression of a nation as vibrant as Silicon Valley in it...more A friend from lab lent me this book to read over vacation. I thought it was a great read. It's very quick - double spaced, big font, and even then only ~230 pages. However, the content was quite interesting and fast paced. The authors attempt to describe what qualities of Israel culture make it ripe for the development of an entrepreneurial spirit. The case studies they give are extremely interesting in themselves, and I was left with the impression of a nation as vibrant as Silicon Valley in its approach to new businesses. In one chapter, the authors describe the rapid influx of immigrants from the ex-Soviet Union during the 90's, and how the government set up systems to aid in their assimilation. One example was setting up a robust network of language classes so that every new immigrant had the opportunity to learn Hebrew. These classes are essentially full time jobs for 6 months, during which time the government provides a stipend so that the new immigrant can concentrate on their studies of the new language. They describe a country where politicians compete on who can bring in more immigrants, which was a refreshing change from the typical dialogue in the U.S., where politicians bloviate about who can keep the most out.

Another particularly interesting chapter details the growth of the venture capital system in Israel. Originally, there was very little VC money to be found, which drastically hampered the ability of entrepreneurs to setup shop. With a few simple measures on the governments part though (essentially offering to put up 30%-50% of the capital, assuming a large portion of the risk, but limiting their reward to essentially payback) the state developed a robust VC system. This was another instance where it seemed to me our country could really learn something.

There were a few faults to the book though. The first is that the section of the book describing the potential dangers to their current system was incredibly sparse. Additionally, like many books of this type, there are a number of passages that are filled with statistics illustrating the various superlatives of the topic at hand. For instance, the authors might spend two paragraphs providing various statistics such as per capita spending on education, various measures of literacy, average length of the school day etc. to show the robust nature of the Israeli education. But after a few sentences, it is easy to just let the numbers and facts wash over you and say "Yeah, I get it, their doing a great job."

All in all however, this book provides a compelling look at the characteristics one nation has inculcated to create a thriving entrepreneurial culture. There are many characteristics worthy of emulation.(less)

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Apr 05, 2012 Imnot Anipod rated it 2 of 5 stars

Being as generous as possible, this book should have been entitled "The Story of Israel's Start-Up Culture" rather than of its "Economic Miracle." Being honest, the title was misleading and this book was doomed to inadequacy from the start. The authors equivocate between an exploration of entrepreneurship and start-up culture, pro-Israel activism, Israeli military marketing and Israeli history and lore. All well and good, but as one unfamiliar with Israel's "economic miracle" I'm still not educa...more Being as generous as possible, this book should have been entitled "The Story of Israel's Start-Up Culture" rather than of its "Economic Miracle." Being honest, the title was misleading and this book was doomed to inadequacy from the start. The authors equivocate between an exploration of entrepreneurship and start-up culture, pro-Israel activism, Israeli military marketing and Israeli history and lore. All well and good, but as one unfamiliar with Israel's "economic miracle" I'm still not educated about or convinced of Israel's (holistic) economic gains and viability.
This book read more like a "Why Israel Is So Great" manual than anything else. The authors seem to have selected a thesis, then found anecdotes to support it rather than observing a phenomenon and proffering a thesis in explanation. Not that there is anything wrong with a thesis-forward model, but that just wasn't the way I initially saw the book going.
Furthermore, much of the "innovation" and "unique culture" they cite are truly not that special--Israelis innovate and improvise, but so do citizens of every state. Israel grew according to multiple growth/development indices, particularly for such a new state, but they didn't quite start from scratch--unlike former colonies or long-established states, Israel started with (generally) well-educated immigrants, "top notch universities were founded well before there even was a state" and a world that was well into the age of support and progress through technological innovation.
What was also troubling was that the authors seem to have slipped in a few swipes at other nations, disguising them as comparative assessments. Ethiopian Jews are mentioned as an immigrant group 'rescued by white, Israeli benefactors', then described as "an enormous economic burden" and dismissed after being contrasted with immigrants from the former Soviet Union "who have been a boon to the Israeli economy." Arabs are taken to task for falling behind in so many areas of growth and development yet the authors acknowledge a weakness in Israel's non-tech sectors; Arab schools are described as being challenged by rote memorization and standardization, yet this is arguably also the American model (and the authors freely acknowledge America's primacy in numerous areas). And though "some...countries have grown faster for longer than Israel has and enjoy higher standards of living...none of them have produced anywhere near the number of start-ups or have attracted similarly high levels of venture capital investments"--hardly an economic miracle to me.
Unfortunately, I couldn't shake the feeling that this book was a pro-Israel pitch, and the "miracle" described just seemed contrived.(less)

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Jun 03, 2010 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a great book. Any of the other reviews will tell you why that is so. I enjoyed reading this book and do not regret it. The goal of this review is to tell you why you may NOT want to read this book.

This book touts Israel's success a bit too much. You definitely get the impression that the author is trying to SELL you on Israel. This is a bit disconcerting. It comes across as a book by Jewish authors who love Israel and may not be as critical as they should be. This does not take away from...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Khaya rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: proud zionists; businesspeople

Recommended to Khaya by: my mother-in-law

Shelves: israel, readablenonfiction

A shot in the arm for a proud zionist, "Start-up Nation" asks the following question: "How is it that Israel -- a country of 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources -- produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom?" To answer this question, the authors offer a web of anecdotes illustrating the following themes:

1. Cu...more A shot in the arm for a proud zionist, "Start-up Nation" asks the following question: "How is it that Israel -- a country of 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources -- produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom?" To answer this question, the authors offer a web of anecdotes illustrating the following themes:

1. Culturally, Israelis are a persistent people. While socially this often manifests as perceived rudeness, in the business world this is an asset.

2. Israel's mandatory army experience is conducive to developing maturity, responsibility, initiative, networking, and a wide range of job skills.

3. Israelis tend to innovate rather than remaining set in their ways, even after success.

4. Israel welcomes immigration, and Israel's new immigrants are a boon to the economy.

5. Israeli workers respond to outside attacks and other adversity with efforts to work harder and prove themselves. For example, when France abruptly stopped supplying Israel with arms, Israel began developing the technology to create their own.

6. The Israeli government has created programs to offer venture capital to start-ups.

7. Israel has a "multitask mentality" which results in flexible thinking and creative solutions.

8. Overall, Israel has a unique combination of a strong educational system, encouragement and funding for research and development, culturally reinforced aggressiveness as well as a team orientation, and an integral sense of "being small and aiming big."

Though I appreciated the book's reinforcement of my pride in Israel, I probably didn't enjoy the book as much as I would have if I were more of a business-minded reader. The anecdotes occasionally felt repetitive and started to blur into one another after a while. With that said, it's still a great feeling to finish a book thinking, "Go Israel!"(less)

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Jan 17, 2010 Gaby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

Dan Senor and Saul Singer's Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle is well researched and a fascinating read. The book is divided into four main parts:

* The Little Nation That Could
* Seeding a Culture of Innovation
* Beginnings
* Country with a Motive

In The Little Nation That Could we learn PayPal's Scott Thompson's first impressions of a young Shvat Shaked, whose young company, Fraud Sciences, developed the most up-to-date solution to the problem of online payment scams, cred...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Leora Wenger rated it 3 of 5 stars

I greatly enjoyed reading this book about how so many start-ups pop up in Israel. I loved the anecdotal story about PayPal and how a tiny Israeli company outdid their analysis on catching the "good guys and the bad guys" (and so PayPal bought the company).

The disappointment was that I don't really think this could be so easily applied to the U.S. or elsewhere. I think the authors also downplayed the Jewish element, saying that Jews in Israel are from all over. It's not about race - it's about a...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Rebecca Radnor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: business-studies, israel-middle-east

A bit out of date and not quite critical enough for my taste, this book covers a variety of cultural and structural mechanisms that help explain (according to the authors) why Israel runs 2nd only the US in patents filed, and has become a quasi silicon valley where larger companies go to find innovative startups to buy-out. What it doesn't talk about in any length is the fact the Israel seems to completely lack the ability to implement most of its innovations in order to form its own successful...more

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Oct 04, 2011 D Books rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book disappointed me on so many levels! If I can not say anything good about this book then I won’t say anything at all. O.K., maybe I’ll say just a few things. The book is tediously written to the point of almost being completely boring. The authors use quite a number of exerts from other (Jewish) people’s lives, as well as a little research thrown in, to justify their claims of 'Israeli supremacy' in the tech industry when it comes to “innovation and entrepreneurship.” The bashing of othe...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dan Senor and Saul Singer showed a side of Israel of which I was only dimly aware. As a software engineer, I have noticed the large number of tech-based ventures coming from Israel. "Start Up Nation" was able to shed light on the entrepreneur culture of Israel along with the burning drive that permeates the Jewish culture in general. It was also a reminder that the IDF is made up of bad-ass soldiers.

Filled with both anecdotes and figures, I found "Start Up Nation" to be an entertaining read. Sen...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Igor Korousic rated it 3 of 5 stars

This very euphoric book on Jewish supremacy on all fronts attempts to explain the reasons for the success of Israel. It's Jewish authors analyze a number of Jewish declared individuals who are successful in science, art, business and military. While bravely dismissing genetic reasons, the book focuses on peculiarities of the Jewish culture and Israeli politics to explain the phenomenon.

Having lost all faith in politics, this book has however convinced me that it is possible to have an effective...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Micah Stubbs rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is a decent aggregation of the stories of many Israeli tech firms. The material doesn't read as original text, but rather has a history textbook - high level sound.

There are long digressions about the history of the Israeli state and the military. I think the authors rely too heavily on the narrative that compulsory IDF service explains the success of Israeli startups.

The authors are sympathetic to state intervention in the economy.

I listed to the audible recording of this book, whic...more

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Jun 12, 2010 Fraser Kinnear rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, economics, business

A great book - I knew virtually nothing about Israel, and while this really would never suffice as a good political history book, it does cover a lot in regards to the economic history, with some politics and ethnography for context.

Perhaps more importantly, the book seems to do a good job of describing Israeli business culture, especially how it related to Israeli military culture.

I enjoyed the book - expect the same kind of writing as Fahreed Zakaria or Tom Friedman. Start-Up Nation feels like...more

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May 14, 2012 Muneeb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I started reading this book mainly to understand how and why Israel was able to do so well as compared to my country Pakistan. Both were created around the same time, both have had enemies surrounding it and both have one super power supporting it throughout its period.

This book goes outside of commonly heard standard reply of “US helps Israel so its doing so good”. I don’t really believe in everything what they’ve said in it but majority of it is inspiring. It puts extra special emphasis on ent...more

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Dec 21, 2012 أحمد rated it 4 of 5 stars

First of all, indeed I have learned from this book, and we, Arabs, have a lot to learn from our greatest enemy Israel
Second as a startup nation, the main reason from what I saw in the book and experience in real life is that they are a nation, a whole nation, a true nation. Also an idea, a strong one, and this whole nation is motivated by this idea. It's just like what has been mentioned here "The others are always making a pitch for their company, Israelis are always making a pitch for Israel"...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Dimitri added it

Thought they understated the impact of the Jewish culture in accounting for Israel's success. Very interesting stuff, however, in terms of the lack of hierarchy (arising from Israel's military) and how Israelis like to argue and debate. Good look at how those factors contribute to making Israel successful. Also interesting how much of the innovation arose out of necessity - it's a really interesting contrast with the Arab world, where oil might be as much of a curse as a blessing. Ben-Gurion com...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This book has a point to make and manages to stick to it, in a direct, convincing and extremely readable manner. It's interesting and inspiring. But one thing that is glaringly absent, in my opinion, is the presence of women. Sure, there are a few female names dropped here and there, but the authors don't talk about the access of women to careers in hi-tech. One has to assume women have less access, because, one has to assume fewer women are are accepted into - or even invited to try out for - t...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Zhifei Ge rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: entrepreneurship

This book is more about how to build a startup ecosystem rather than how to build up a startup.
Some days ago, the Startup Genome Report ranks the Israel the 2nd among all global startup ecosystems, only below the Silicon valley and above Boston. There are some magic ingredients about Israel. That's the reason I'm attracted to read the book, and the book does this job quite well.
Some take-away lessons about the success of the Israeli startup ecosystems:
1. everybody knows and respects everybody;...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Corinne E. Blackmer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, science, non-fiction, jewish, israeli

This is a must read for people interested in what policies might actually work to combat environmental disaster, economic decline, and the erosion of civil society. Israel, a nation of little over seven million people, has more companies on NASDAQ than all of Europe combined; its military veterans, far from succumbing to homelessness and PTSD, are groomed as successful heads of start up companies that specialize in innovation and risk-taking. The authors set out to explain and elucidate these an...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Brianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

My brother thinks I liked this book because I'm a Zionist. Possible. But I also was impressed that a book about finance and economics could keep my interest. Start-up Nation is a very interesting read for someone new to Israel, but I also think my American friends would enjoy it, especially given the current state of the US economy. This book showcases Israel's military society and the effect that culture has had on entrepaneurship. It also articulates the sense of eagerness to try something new...more

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May 20, 2013 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting examination of how Israel has taken advantage of its talent effectively. Discusses the role national service (military) plays in developing technical (Talpiot, 8200, Special Forces) and leadership skills, in addition to helping young Israelis build networks that will help them in their post-military careers. Other interesting pieces:

- Investment in education, and prioritization of science and engineering, has helped ensure Israel's technological edge over regional rivals while also c...more

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