Why Israel is the best place in the world for a young entrepreneur
1. How difficult it is
2. How the entire Israeli industry has joint efforts to help its young entrepreneurs take their baby steps in this world
I'm going to share some of the support I've been receiving, I'd really like to hear what kind of help other startups receive abroad and why.
For those of you who don't know, Israel has got a mandatory military service. It means that you only get your first real chance to start your own startup at the age of 21-22. On top of that most Israeli released soldiers take a long trip around the world. So, the image of 21 or 22 year old fellows running around the country, trying to build their business is still considered to be somewhat new. Every week or so Israeli media covers a story about a startup company being sold, raising money or succeeding abroad, so you can really say that startups have become some sort of an Israeli national sport.
Ok, having laid the background for why I think that people in Israel enjoy helping young entrepreneurs, I will just give a couple of example:
1. People enjoy sharing their connections
I was released over a year ago, In that time I had a few month in which I worked as a QA in a High-tech company. At some point I felt the urge to open my startup. I went to my boss and I told him I going to quit. He was very surprised and asked for the reason. When I told him about my need to start my own company and when I shared my idea with him, he summoned a meeting with the CTO (the company wasn't too big). I was sure they were going to try and persuade me to stay. Instead, we set there the three of us, the CTO and my team leader and they both started giving me names and phone numbers of people who might find my product useful. I am still in contact with my ex-CTO. He has bridged some successful connections, including meetings with private investors and angels.
2. Successful entrepreneurs enjoy sharing their experience and advice
I was at a conference in which the CEO of a successful Israeli startup gave a talk. Then he left time for some questions. I tried asking as many questions as I could, but at some point his time ran short and so the lecture ended. When he went off stage I approached him and ask for some advice. I saw that he was tired, and so I wasn't surprised that he answered in a rather abrupt manner, saying that he is in a hurry. As I turned away, he called towards me and invited me to escort him to his car. It was a rather long conversation, and at its end he gave me his personal email address.
3. Law firms are willing to give you a free of charge bank of hours
Well, this is quite self explanatory. 40 hour free bank of hours. Thats nice.
4. Celebrities are willing to help you
I just emailed a local Israeli rock star. He answered back and we met. he introduced me to some of his friends, and now they too are using our product (it's not that successful for them, need to investigate that).
5. Even large companies, such as banks give you a chance
Today I went into my online bank account to check my credit status (working on a startup makes this into a necessity, keeping each penny). And there, on the main page of the bank I saw that the bank is running a competition. People need to write up ideas for new ways to use credit cards. If the bank likes your idea you can get up to 100,000 NIS in seed investment (link to competition, https://idea.cal-online.co.il/).
Well, there are my impressions until now. Do you have such experiences from where you come from?