Inbal Arieli is an author, serial entrepreneur, tech influence, investor, and a key figure in the Israeli tech ecosystem. Arieli is author of Chutzpah: Why Israel Is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Managing Partner at Big.IL, tech investment firm headquartered in Tel Aviv. She formally served in unit 8200, the Israel Defense Forces’ elite intelligence corps.
Arieli started the sharing with key facts about the startup ecosystem in Israel. For instance, the country has 1 startup per 1400 people, ranks #1 globally by R&D intensity and #3 globally in terms of number of start-ups listed on NASDAQ. This demonstrated the significant prowess of Israel as a start-up and scale-up nation.
While there are many factors which helped Israel accomplish these incredible feats, one of the key distinguishing reasons for Israel’s success is the way Israelis were brought up. For example, the kindergarten teaching pedagogy of setting minimal constraints for kids to play allow stimulation of their creativity and encourages teamwork from young. Also, Israelis are encouraged to be comfortable making decisions amidst uncertainties and not be afraid to challenge the status quo when serving in the military. These different life stages of Israelis constantly reinforce critical qualities for entrepreneurship, priming Israelis for entrepreneurship from an early age.
Arieli distilled these key entrepreneurial qualities which Israelis embody into 6 key ‘Chutzpah’ principles: Embrace uncertainty, Ask questions, Dare to fail, Collaborate, Challenge the obvious, and Make it happen. These were incredibly insightful food for thought as we reflect on our own path forward as aspiring entrepreneurs! For instance, the principle to ‘dare to fail’ resonated with many of us as it encourages a different way to think about failures (I.e., to view failures as learning experiences) in a space where the failure rates are incredibly high.
Thank you @Inbal Arieli for your time, your passion, and your wonderful explanation of Israel’s success as The Startup Nation!
