Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle - 2009 - by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

 

Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle - 2009 - by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

"How has a small nation of 9 million people, forced to fight for its existence and security since its founding and riven by ethnic, religious, and economic divides, proven resistant to so many of the societal ills plaguing other wealthy democracies?

Why do Israelis have among the world’s highest life expectancies and lowest rates of “deaths of despair” from suicide and substance abuse? Why is Israel’s population young and growing while all other wealthy democracies are aging and shrinking? How can it be that Israel, according to a United Nations ranking, is the fourth happiest nation in the world? Why do Israelis tend to look to the future with determination and purpose while the rest of the West struggles with an epidemic of loneliness, teen depression, and social decline?nture capital investment as the US and thirty times more than Europe?" from dansenor.com

The central question of the book is: How is it that Israel, a country of only 7.1 million people, has been able to produce more start-up companies than much larger and more stable nations? The authors attribute Israel's success to a unique combination of factors, including:

A culture of immigration and immigration that brings together people from diverse backgrounds and skillsets.

A mandatory military service that instills discipline, teamwork, and leadership skills in young Israelis.

A strong emphasis on education and research and development.

A government that is willing to take risks and support innovation.

A close relationship between the Israeli military and the private sector, which has led to the development of many new technologies.

Saul Singer is coauthor of the bestselling book Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. He is a former editor and columnist at the Jerusalem Post and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other publications. Singer has given keynote speeches at innovation conferences around the world including Beijing, Sydney, Singapore, London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Oslo, Nairobi, and Sao Paulo. Before moving to Israel in 1994, he served for ten years as an advisor to US Members of Congress. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children.

Daniel Samuel Senor (/ˈsiːnər/; born November 6, 1971) is an American Canadian columnist, writer, and political adviser. He was chief spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and senior foreign policy adviser to U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the 2012 election campaign. A frequent news commentator and contributor to The Wall Street Journal, he is co-author of the book Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle (2009) and The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World (2023).