Israel, also called “The Startup Nation” is a global leader when it comes to tech startup companies per capita. 2000 start-ups were founded in the last decade and raised $4.8 billion from investors only in 2016. Flourishing venture capital markets and flexible, creative economy industries are the main fuel for developing innovation there.
Renu and Michael enjoyed chatting with Daniela about the innovation landscape of Switzerland and Israel. Primarily, we discussed the motivation behind such developments in both countries and why the mature Swiss market should find the urge to grow. It was fascinating to hear it from Daniela, as she has an entrepreneurship DNA in her veins from her cyber security expert mom and entrepreneur dad.
Some of the topics we discussed:
- Having Israeli parents and being raised in Switzerland
- Innovation being a necessity in Israel
- Her experiences working as a construction engineer, consultant, and innovation leader
- Diversity in the VC and executive network, but not in startup founders in Switzerland
- Comparing the insurance and banking industries in Germany and Switzerland
Other titles we considered:
- I Am Who I Am Today Because of My Parents
- First of All, I Really Like to Work
- We Need to Evolve to Be Able to Survive
- We’ve Learned That We Need to Educate Them a Lot
- Everyone Knows Everyone, and Everyone Helps Everyone
This episode was produced by Khrystyna Khmilovska.