Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle

A book like Start-Up Nation takes great risks in drawing broad conclusions from a narrow span of time. Israel has had a few decades of great growth and entrepreneurial activity. However, there were a previous few decades of slow growth. Was this growth spurt a revision to the mean or something lasting? 

The military is an important part of Israeli life. Everyone must spend time in the military unless they have a specific exemption (such as religious orthodoxy.) The armed services serve as a special training ground. People get opportunities to be creative and lead. The country faces existential threats with a low-resourced military. This gives the youth many opportunities to master skills of doing more with less independently. They also develop relationships in the service that carry forward to their reserve activities. 

Other countries, such as Korea and Singapore have mandatory military service, yet they do not have the same entrepreneurial activity. The author speculates it is cultural. The Asian countries tend to be very subservient to authority, while Israelis will actively question rulers. Even Israeli political leaders are often referred to by common nicknames.

Israel went through a fairly unique formation process. It was a "restoration" of a state that had not existed for a few Millennia. The people had been greatly persecuted (with the holocaust happening immediately before Israeli independence. The neighbors are also extremely hostile towards Israel. It is not easy to survive. Yet, the new country has survived and thrived. The Jewish population has regularly been active participants in culture and the economy. There has often been criticism due to Jewish overrepresentation. Could it be Israel's success is just do to its Jewishness?

Could it also be that there is just a fluke? Many of Israel's startups are security based. This could be directly related to the importance of security in society. There are also others that seem to be tied directly to Israeli needs (such as irrigation). Despite these many startups, there are few companies that would be pointed out as essential companies or tech behemoths. The book mentions the electric car start up "Better Place". It had buzz, but never made it anywhere. Meanwhile, there are oodles of Teslas around today. Why hasn't Israel been able to create a dominating startup?