This is a good time to recommend a 2009 book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, Start-Up Nation, about the rise of high tech and many other cutting edge businesses in modern day Israel. The book destroys all kinds of myths about start-ups of many kinds and puts to rest some political beliefs that turn out to have groundless foundations. . First, it takes money to make money. This is axiomatic, and not to recognize this fact of life is to be delusional. In Israel not only do private organizations provide startup-money, but the gvt sponsors all kinds of programs to give significant seed money to people who have the know-how to create businesses with promise. There are so many successful start-ups in Israel because there is a system in place to make sure this happens. There is next-to-nothing "libertarian" about this even though all start-up founders work with maximum freedom in their enterprises. . Second, failures are part of the process of start-up success. Israelis know that a minimum of 4 out of 5 start ups will fail. That is simply a fact of life. But the experiences of people who fail are regarded as assets and, while there are limits, these people get several second chances, if it is necessary, until they achieve breakthroughs. . Third, although the list could be expanded, Israelis have developed a culture of co-operation, of people helping each other as much as humanly possible. The attitude is, we are all in this together, and we need to maximize our assets and not squander them in needless zero sum games of cutthroat competition with each other. Compete to the hilt with outsiders, sure, but in Israel, help each other succeed must come first. This also involves a lot of networking and cultivating contacts. . You can see the results, a tiny nation of 7 million people is # 2 in the world in terms of start-ups. . But what's wrong with the Horatio Alger model that is part and parcel of Silicon Valley mythology ? Answer : It is false. . HP did not start with nothing, it stated with about $ 500 in cash, maybe $ 2500 in today's dollars, and it started with a garage and utilities that would have been valued at maybe $ 30,000 in today's money. It started with significant investments in such things as "free" research done by the founders, and a good deal of know-how with real value, like where to get the best deals on items needed for the new business. . One of my objectives for a new branch of RC, if I can ever get this off the ground, is to make good use of the Israeli model for development. Identify rising talent and make maximum use of proven talent ; yes, make sure that people are "tested," and it takes some time to build up a sense of confidence, but eventually get serious. Create a pool of resources that people can use for common purposes. Make sure people have what they need in order to operate, and, maybe most of all, make sure they have the contacts they need in order to get things done in society. And like the US military which is an educational institution from top to bottom, not just a defense organization, invest in all necessary training so that everyone has sufficient know-how to do what is needed for their good and the common good. . No-one thinks that way here ; or, anyway, it is unusual when anyone does. Well, OK, everyone has other virtues, including some really Good Virtues. It would be ludicrous not to acknowledge them as such, major positives that give RC.org real value. Which, hopefully everyone realizes, is meant with heartfelt sincerity. . But RC can never become a movement by following the assumptions at the root of the group as it now exists. . Dan Senor and Saul Singer's book, Start-Up Nation, cannot be recommended highly enough. Something very much like the assumptions in its pages are the kinds of assumptions that I want most of all to work with to develop whatever it takes to actually make RC into a movement that matters in America. Billy ----------------------------------------------------- Jerusalem Post After Silicon Valley, TA ranks best for tech startup By BLOOMBERG 11/24/2012 17:03 Tel Aviv ranked the No. 2 startup ecosystem in the world by researcher Startup Genome. . For Silicon Valley entrepreneurs seeking the next-best tech hub, plan to spend at least 17 hours on planes. Eventually, you’ll make your way to Tel Aviv, which was ranked the No. 2 startup ecosystem in the world by researcher Startup Genome.. Israel’s Silicon Wadi beat out the places commonly thought of as startup hotbeds, such as Los Angeles (Silicon Beach), New York (Silicon Alley) and Seattle (Silicon Rainy?). In a study recently published, which happened to coincide with renewed hostilities in the Middle East, cities were evaluated based on eight criteria including the performance of companies located there as well as their access to funding. . So why Tel Aviv? The city is overflowing with software developers and venture capital. Larger companies, including Google, have set up offices there. Facebook is now there, too, after acquiring facial-recognition developer Face.com in June. But Tel Aviv isn’t a shrunken Silicon Valley. Distance aside, there’s a wide cultural gap between the two. Only 13 percent of founders there have lived in Northern California at one time, according to the report. That’s much lower than many others on the list. For example, in London or Paris, the rate is one out of every four founders. Another thing: Israeli entrepreneurs tend to have a lower appetite for risk than their counterparts in other top regions, the report said. Besides Tel Aviv and London at No. 7, North American cities dominated the top 10. Here’s the full ranking from the study, which was funded by Spain’s Telefonica: 1. Silicon Valley 2. Tel Aviv 3. Los Angeles 4. Seattle 5. New York 6. Boston 7. London 8. Toronto 9. Vancouver 10. Chicago 11. Paris 12. Sydney 13. Sao Paulo 14. Moscow 15. Berlin 16. Waterloo 17. Singapore 18. Melbourne 19. Bangalore 20. Santiago
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