| |  | Authors: Dan Senor, Saul Singer
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
Buy New: $14.63
as of 9/10/2010 04:44 CDT details
New (39) Used (23) Collectible (1) from $12.99
Rating:  88 reviews
Sales Rank: 1,886
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition (stated)
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 044654146X
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.95694
EAN: 9780446541466
Publication Date: November 4, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 88
 Start-Up Require Clusters and Israel has Them May 1, 2010
Arthur Ashendorf (Newport Beach, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Senor and Singer's Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle offers extensive interviews and insights into what makes Israel so amazing in starting new innovative companies. Israel is more successful than Europe in high tech! 10% of he population is involved with entrepreneurial businesses. The why and how are the questions.
The book states that American businesses and schools should be actively pursuing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans because many have shown the leadership skills that Israeli's routinely learn. Senor and Singer suggest that Michael Porter's cluster concept is amplified in Israel because mandatory military service forces "everyone to know everyone," which forms from Israeli's having only 1 or 2 degrees of separation and a military that identifies top students in high school for special programs involving teams. In other words, 23-year-old's accomplish things that Americans twice their age haven't with the involvement of a cross-section of society (reserves meet annually), where results truly matter.
Subsequently, hierarchies break down and people develop a wide spectrum of skills. People talk, argue and create mash-ups like pills with cameras built-in. Furthermore, the culture supports "davka:" performing spectacularly when people don't believe in you, and the related concept of "success with survival" which means delivering everything even when you have excuses, such as war, making matters very difficult!
While not a must read; Start-Up Nation is nonetheless food for thought. The features that make Israeli's rude to many people may also make them successful, and refreshingly, to some, honest. Similar countries, such as South Korea, haven't formed many start-ups. This may be due to the excessive politeness shown management by employees! Consider Gladwell's review of South Korean air flight management in Outliers: The Story of Success. Subtle differences force different outcomes.
 Amazing book! April 21, 2010
M. Chachkin (Oreland, PA USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I can't rave enough about this book. It is well-researched and documents the accounts of Israeli entrepreneurs and how they got to where they are. It also explains how the United States is so dependent on Israel for technology and why.
It helped me understand how and why Israelis think and act the way they do. The authors did a terrific job of keeping my interest until the end--I wanted the book to go on and on; I simply couldn't put it down! Initially, I borrowed the book from my local library; when I was half-way through the book I ordered it from Amazon and returned my copy to the library. I want my entire family to read it. I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who wants to learn more about Israel.
Review April 17, 2010
Trudie Dearinger
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book is in excellent condition was happy to receive this interesting book on time and at good cost.
Review of "Start Up Nation" April 16, 2010
American Express (SW Ohio)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book. Gripping and informative from beginning to end. We can all learn a lot from it.
Israel Inc. - So much chaos and innovation in a tiny place April 12, 2010
Brian Kodi
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In April 2002, author Dan Senor took twelve Harvard business school classmates from various nationalities with him to Israel. After studying Israel's economy for a week, many of them were intrigued by the dearth of innovation and entrepreneurship in a country of only 7 million. A search by Mr. Senor and Mr. Singer for a publication that shed light on what baffled the Harvard B-School students turned up nothing. So the two authors set out to research and publish "Start-Up Nation", and identify the reasons why Israel, a country created less than a century ago is a hotbed of innovation.
With all of the negative press about Israel, "Start-Up Nation" is a welcome change. The authors, however, seemed to be more interested in selling Israel Inc. as a viable recipient of foreign capital than providing a successful blueprint for other nations and companies to emulate. Much of Israel's economic miracle can be attributed to cultural and geopolitical factors. According to Shimon Peres, one of the most highly influential Israeli politicians who helped craft Israel's economic success, "The greatest contribution of the Jewish people in history is dissatisfaction. That's poor for politics but good for science." Start-Up Nation does a decent, albeit somewhat unbalanced job of covering the science part. The politics aspect which was largely ignored in the book will play an integral part in Israel's long term success as a nation.
Start-Up Nation is just as important a publication for business readers as foreign politics and military enthusiasts.
Showing reviews 21-25 of 88
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