What do big multinationals see in Israels small startups?
U.S. multinationals do more R&D here than any other country in the world, more than in China and India, which are known for their manufacturing and software [respectively]. We are in the role much earlier in the food chain. This is a ‘startup country,’ socially and culturally, it is in our heritage, our ethos. It all started with the kibbutz that started a new way of life in agriculture. The country is constantly renewing itself all the time. This question often comes up: Is entrepreneurship something that can be learned? Where do you stand in this debate? No. It can be honed but not learned. Either you have it or you don’t. You can learn to write a business plan or to develop software. After ICQ exploded and was downloaded millions of times, I asked myself what was the secret attraction. If you look up ICQ on Google there are 675 million mentions. It is a huge brand. I spent three years trying to figure out why it was so compelling as a product and at the end of the day my conclusion
