Why the Asian tech scene has lots to learn from Israel’s

Photo credit: Laurel Dunay

With a population of just over 8 million people, the number of startups per capita is what makes Israel, or “Silicon Wadi”, stand side by side the world’s major startup ecosystems. Despite the differences in size, according to the Economist, Israel “boasts the world’s highest concentration of high-tech startups per head”, with “almost 1,000 new firms launched every year.”

The impressive growth rate of Israeli tech companies is something major VCs, investors, and tech thought leaders are starting to take notice of. According to Geektime, 2015 was a breakthrough year for the small Middle East nation, “the total number of new startups rose to 1,400, of which about 373 companies raised around $3.58 billion” and “69 companies were sold for a total sum of $5.41 billion.”

So what can the Asian market learn from the rise of the Israeli tech scene?

Finding creative solutions to pressing problems

While innovation doesn’t necessarily mean reinventing the wheel, it does mean thinking outside the box in order to come with unique ideas and solutions.

In Israel, this is very characteristic of many of the most promising startups, some of which have impressed the likes of Google and Facebook. For instance, Israeli-founded and Chinese-invested Waze found a crowd-sourced approach to tackling traffic issues. Waze is now an inherent part of the Google family for a cool $1B. By reaching out to actual drivers, Waze creatively and successfully leveraged the power of user-generated content in tackling a common concern for drivers worldwide.

There is no fear of failure

Constantly second guessing yourself and withholding a product launch until your product or service has been ‘perfected’ is uncommon in Israel.

The country is known for speaking their minds, regardless of potential criticism and more importantly, failure. This daring culture is a major part of what makes the Israeli startup ecosystem unique. Asian startups can learn a lot about the way Israel tech founders approach meetings, launches, conferences, and more, by the way they confidently describe their companies.

This absence of fear of failure goes in hand in hand with the word chutzpah, or tenacity to do something regardless of what others think or say.

John Rampton, the founder of invoice and time-tracking software Due, visited Tel Aviv recently, and says that Asia has lots to learn about chutzpah and how this empowers Israeli startups.

“I went to one of the largest startup events in Israel where a large Chinese VC put it very clearly, “You have the tech, we have the money,” to which I totally agree. Israeli startup culture is innovating at a much faster pace than most Asian tech companies, while Asian companies have the money to provide further assistance. This is a very good relationship to have.”

Professionalism over politeness

In Israel, it is perfectly acceptable for you to have a major professional disagreement with your supervisor, and then a moment later, go out for a few drinks. This is largely due to the emphasis of professionalism over politeness. If you have a concrete reason to argue or disagree with your boss or employers, in Israel, not only is it ok to speak up, but it is encouraged – this stems from a culture of brainstorming and re-thinking ways to approach problems.

In contrast, Asia has long been known for traditional customs, both in business and family life.

Major investments in young people with potential

It is no coincidence that in most of Israel’s tech startups, you can find at least one team member that graduated from one of Israel’s leading tech intelligence army units.

Why should Israel look for opportunities to penetrate the Asian market?