part 4

But, it’s a balance. Because, as salaries rise, companies are lessdrawn to the lower cost of hiring an Israeli engineer - currently $73 thousand over, say, a Californian - 114 thousand. 

Salaries are so high in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, that, if you’re feeling particularly cheap, you might just buy a $20million private jet to save money, so you can hire employees in less-expensive Houston and fly them over for the work day. 

Israel has to be attractive enough for people but not so expensive that businesses look elsewhere. Together, these three ingredients go a long way towards making Israel one of the tech capitals of the world. But there’s also another, harder to measure, but, no less real, factor to consider: culture. If you graduate from Stanford with a degree in Computer Science on Friday, there’s a very real chance you could walk into a Facebook or a Microsoft on Monday and start making $100+ thousand dollars a year. Or you could spend your days begging for money with the possibility of losing a lot only to end up back at square one. When the vast majority of new companies fail, starting one is a huge risk, especially considering how lucrative the alternative. 

It takes a certain kind of personality that’s willing to fail - and do so very publicly. 

In many Asian countries, the culture of saving face makes entrepreneurship unthinkable for many. 

The reputational damage of failure is simply too great. 

In Israel, however, a spirit of Chutzpah - roughly,audacity or bravery - has just the opposite effect. 

The author of the book Start-up Nation writes “Somewhere along the way - either at home, in school, or in the army - Israeli's  learn that assertiveness is the norm, reticence something that risks your being left behind.” 

Israel is one of a handful of countries that requires long military service for everyone - 3 years for men and 2 for women. 

During their service, Israeli's learn skills that apply to the workplace, make life long friends and business partners, and are reminded that their country can’t be complacent. Ultimately, Israel proves that there is no single factor to economic success. 

It has high rates of education, lots of government investment, and, especially considering its geography, an impressive standard of living. 

But it isn’t ranked number one in any of those categories. Instead, a combination of all these things, along with factors like American foreign aid, allow the country to prosper. It also shows that top-down, government policies are only so effective at encouraging entrepreneurship. 

Countries can hand out money left and right, but innovation occurs at the level of the individual - his or her ability to take risks, start new projects, and learn new things. This one is taught by Guy Kawasaki, the guy responsible for marketing Apple’s revolutionary 1984 Macintosh. 

In short, bite-sized videos, he answers business questions like How to ask for money from investors, how to pitch your idea, and why you should network