With a land area of 22,145 square kilometers or almost the same size as the State of New Jersey, Israel has made its presence felt in the world stage in several fields such as the arts, science, technology, agriculture, innovation and entrepreneurship among others.
In the field of entrepreneurship, Israel is no doubt a powerhouse with more than 6,000 start-ups present in the land of Natalie Portman, Gal Gadot, Golda Meir, and yes, Jesus Christ. Thus, it earned the moniker “start-up nation.”
According to Israeli technopreneur and Synthesis, founder Inbal Arieli, Israel has the highest density of start-ups per population in the world with 1 in over 1,400 per population. Moreover, Arieli pointed out that start-ups are operating in diversified industries such as water, agriculture, irrigation, desalination, cybersecurity and financial technology (fintech).
In a recent webinar organized by the Israel Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ICCP), Arieli said one major factor behind the success of Israeli start-ups is the presence of “oxygen” or funding for growth and innovation. In 2020 alone, Arieli said, more than $20 billion was invested in venture capital, the highest in the world. The result was a massive success as Israel has produced a lot of unicorns listed in the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), a global electronic marketplace for buying and selling securities.
In 2021 alone, Israel has produced 65 unicorns from only 18 in 2019.
“These unicorns are creating markets overseas and are serving as bridges between Israel and the global community,” said Arieli, who honed her entrepreneurial skills during her mandatory military service, serving as lieutenant in unit 8200 in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite intelligence corps.
CBInsights defines a unicorn company as a private company with a valuation over $1 billion. As of November 2021, the company said there are more than 800 unicorns around the world. Popular former unicorns include Airbnb, Facebook and Google.
Chutzpah
Arieli pointed out the important role of chutzpah (pronounced as hutz pah) towards the development of an entrepreneurial mindset among Israelis starting at four years old. At that young age, Arieli stressed that Israeli culture encourages risk-taking and entrepreneurship. It is combined with skills acquired through educating and nurturing under the country’s support infrastructure.
One inherent feature of chutzpah, meaning boldness in English, is embracing uncertainty. It teaches entrepreneurs to be agile and not be afraid of failure. Arieli said Israeli start-ups are encouraged to ask, critique and collaborate.
Part of the chutzpah is adopting a Yihye Beseder mindset, which connotes optimism.
As technopreneur, Arieli and her co-mentors’ foremost responsibility is to address the challenges and uncertainties to make things better are the starting points of chutzpah.
She stated that one entrepreneur is not generally superior over the other. “We share the same muscles in our body but we have different skill-based environments. I believe that it should vary from one place to another,” Arieli said.
Arieli said chutzpah fits the gung-ho attitude of the millennials and Generation Z.
“I think it is a positive development and this gives them agility on making decisions in chaotic situations,” she said.
After completing her military duties, and for the past 20 plus years, she embraced leading executive roles in the flourishing Israeli tech sector and has founded a series of programs for innovators, where she currently holds board seats.
Among her most popular keynotes are Chutzpah: Skills for the Future, From Special Forces to the Board Room and The Secrets of Successful Interviewers.
Arieli holds an LL.B. Law, B.A in Economics and an MBA, all from Tel Aviv University. A force to reckon with, she was featured as one of the 100 most influential people in Israeli tech and as one of the top 100 tech businesswomen speakers in the world.
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