Building against the odds - Insights from an Israeli serial entrepreneur

"The ingenuity and determination of Israeli entrepreneurs are unparalleled. They are redefining the tech landscape on a global scale." – Marc Benioff.

Bestselling books like Start-Up Nation, released way back in 2009, captured some of Israel’s remarkable technological advances. Since then, the pace of innovation has only accelerated—despite global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and now, the self-defensive war.

Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffet famously said, “Israel is the leading, largest, and most promising investment hub outside the United States.” This sentiment has been echoed by industry leaders like Elon Musk and, more recently, Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia. Huang remarked:

"Israel is home to world-leading AI researchers and developers creating applications for the next wave of AI. With Nvidia’s Israel-1 AI supercomputer, a broad range of innovative companies in Israel will create AI that can transform the productivity and business models of enterprises around the world."

I had the privilege of attending an interview with Shachar Bialick, an alum of Tel Aviv University TAU, an accomplished Israeli entrepreneur with at least five exits under his belt and the current CEO of Curve, a fintech company making waves across the UK and Europe. Overcoming the complexities of financial regulation, Curve has grown rapidly under Shachar's leadership.

Shachar was Interviewed by David Fogel, a veteran venture capital advisor and advocate for fairness in fundraising for female entrepreneurs, the conversation highlighted not only Shachar's success but also his willingness to continually learn. Shachar sold his first company at 22—impressive even by Israeli entrepreneurial standards—Shachar consistently credited his achievements to focus, hard work, and the collective efforts of his team.

It didn’t take me long to identify the impressive background of the guests, which is to be expected from TAU alumni, so any imposter syndrome by myself can surely understandable? However not today, as I come prepared with the thought that ‘comparison is the killer of confidence’ , coupled by Shachar’s humility.

I lost count of how many times he reminded attendees that his commercial success could not be attributed to any high intelligence, that the audience was likely to assume he has. Instead, he attributes the achievements to super focus and hard work. Exclaiming “if you don’t believe me, you can ask my wife” who smiled back at him from a few rows from the front.

The broader geopolitical challenges Israel faces were not the focus of today’s session—and rightly so. The emphasis was on innovation, resilience, to overcoming challenges.

Some take aways from the session that I found helpful:

• The value of education: Surround yourself with like-minded, talented individuals, and maximise your learning opportunities.

• Listening to elders’ wisdom: Advice from mentors or even persistent family members can offer long-term benefits, particularly the push to study and learn while you're young.

• Team input is vital: Your team's feedback on strategy is invaluable and can lead to pivotal changes.

• Never stop learning: Embrace a lifestyle of continual learning, both for yourself and your team.

• Visionary leadership: Think beyond your business—your work can have a positive impact on the nation and even the world. For example, one of Shachar's former medtech companies back in Israel developed a programme to relieve the pain of cancer sufferers, which resulted in medical legislation changes.

Although we ran out of time, the insights shared were truly inspiring. Shachar’s story resonates with the wider philosophy of Israeli entrepreneurs: get to the heart of a problem and solve it, efficiently and effectively.

As Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, aptly said, “The speed and agility with which Israeli entrepreneurs move is remarkable. They see a problem, and instead of talking about it, they solve it.”

Against the backdrop of Israel’s war, the world should not only acknowledge Israel’s achievements but support and learn from its ecosystem of innovation in its time of need.

Israel has evolved far beyond its "Start-Up Nation" label—it’s now a Scale-Up Nation, with rapidly growing companies continuing to disrupt industries and shape the future.

For business leaders here in the UK, there is much to learn from this ecosystem. Let’s welcome the wisdom and seize the opportunity to collaborate with Israeli entrepreneurs with track records of overcoming the odds, no matter where in the world they are located.

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