The book “Startup Nation” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer is climbing the bestseller charts these days.

It’s certainly a great read, and confirms so many of the observations I’ve had the privilege to make first-hand over the past two years since Rainier opened its Israel office (I travel to Tel Aviv again in about 10 days…).

And now the authors have an article in Newsweek – “Soldiers of Fortune: How the Israeli Army became the most prolific innovation engine on earth.”
The article focuses on one key aspect of the book – the Israeli military’s role in becoming a boot camp for new tech entrepreneurs.

I remember coming home from my first formal business trip to Israel in 2007, and saying (regarding the breathtaking innovation I’d seen over 25+ meetings), “There’s something about the army background that’s driving all this…”

 
Please don’t get the mistaken impression though, that Israel’s entrepreneurial success is solely about the military. As Yaron Samid says in his TechAviv article, “Without stealing the thunder from this uniquely well written book, here are a few of the observations Dan and Saul present from detailed case studies and interviews with Israel’s top innovators:

• Israeli immigration and assimilation policies bring and support a highly motivated, diversified pool of talent into the country.
• Israel spends more as a percentage of our economy on R&D than any other country in the world and knows how to make that money relevant to startups.
• Israel actively cultivates a culture of entrepreneurship and leadership in the military. Teenagers are not only given the responsibility to make life-saving decisions, typically with little data, but to question authority regularly in doing so.
• The Israeli economy respects and knows how to integrate the unique talents and “chutzpah” developed by soldiers in the military.

Next month I’ll make my 20th trip to Israel. I’ll meet with somewhere around 25 Israeli high-tech companies and many of the VCs who are driving this unique innovation engine. It’s an absolutely fantastic phenomenon, and a thrill for anyone like me who thrives on being around technology (and, of course, helping to bring technology to the market!).