Jewish Moms Are Behind Tech Success Of Israel

胡說八道 姑且聽之


Jewish Moms Are Behind Tech Success Of Israel

Israel lives up to its reputation as the Start-up nation. Israeli start-ups are everywhere. It is what people aspire to. It is what they dream of.

It was Dan Senor and Saul Singer who nicknamed the country that has given birth to more start-ups than any country outside of the U.S. It is a nickname that it well deserves.

There are many reasons given for this success. Israel has little in the way of natural resources, so it has had to create its wealth from the one thing it does have, its people. Then there is the unique role of the Israeli Defense Forces, and in particular the elite intelligence unit, 8200. At one start-up, all of the coders had met there. It functions almost as a high-tech networking event.

And then there is the unique Israeli culture and spirit. Call it chutzpah, call it simply refusing to be told what to do. For some it would be determination, an admirable quality in an entrepreneur, for others it looks a lot like sheer stubbornness -- a less desired trait.

Everywhere you go in this Start-up nation, there is one name you hear time and again, and although he will deny it when you meet him, Yossi Vardi is the father of the start-up culture in Israel.

To prove the point about how deeply woven the start up culture is in the society, at lunch, the avuncular Mr. Vardi starts to chat with the young waitress, switching between Hebrew and English. What is she doing, he asks her? She is a linguist, in her first year at university. What does she want to do when she graduates, he asks? 'Oh, I want to work in voice recognition,' she says. 'Probably in a small company or a start-up.'

So what is his theory for the success of this country of only 7.5 million and its ability to punch way over its weight?

'Jewish mothers,' he says. 'We succeed because of the guilt we all feel. From birth we are told we have to be better, that we are such a disappointment.

'You know the difference between an Italian mother and a Jewish one? An Italian mother says to her son 'Eat this food or I will kill you.' A Jewish one says 'Eat this food or I will kill myself.'

'They are our secret.'

創業之國以色列的成功秘訣英文

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以

色列沒有辜負它作為“創業之國”的美名。在以色列﹐新成立的企業隨處可見。這是以色列人的期盼。這是他們的夢想。

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中國猶太人面臨身份難題

正是丹‧塞諾(Dan Senor)和索爾‧辛格(Saul Singer)給了以色列創業之國這個稱謂。作為美國以外孕育最多新興企業的國家﹐以色列當之無愧。

這 份成功得益於多方面的原因。以色列的自然資源儲量並不豐富﹐因此它若要創造財富就必須依賴它真正擁有的一樣東西──：以色列人。以色列國防軍 (Israeli Defense Forces)也發揮了的獨特的作用﹐特別是它的精英情報部門──“8200部隊”。這也是一個新成立的機構﹐所有的編碼人員都在那裡匯聚﹐看起來就像是 一場專門為高科技人員舉辦的社交活動。

另外﹐還應該提到的就是以色列獨特的文化和國民精神。有人稱這種精神為chutzpah（過度自信 又厚顏無恥）﹐乾脆點說就是不肯接受別人的安排。對於一些人來說﹐這意味著決心和毅力﹐是一個創業家應該具有的值得嘉許的品質﹔而對其他人而言﹐這簡直就 是冥頑不靈──這可不是什麼好品質。

在這個創業的國度里﹐不論你走到哪裡﹐你總會反復地聽到一個人的名字﹐儘管當你見到他的時候﹐他不會認賬。這個人就是以色列的創業文化之父──約西‧瓦爾迪(Yossi Vardi)。

為 了證明這種創業文化已經深刻地融入了以色列社會﹐午餐時分﹐慈祥和藹的瓦爾迪用希伯萊語和英語與年輕的女服務員攀談了起來。她是做什麼的？他問她。她是個 語言學專業的學生﹐今年上大學一年級。畢業後她想從事什麼工作？他問道。“哦﹐我想從事語音識別工作﹐”她說﹐“可能會找一家小公司或者新成立的企業 吧。”

那麼﹐他認為以色列這個僅僅擁有750萬人口的國家是如何獲得成功﹐又是如何具備了發揮超出自身實力的能力的呢？

“原因就在於猶太民族的母親們”﹐他說。“我們能夠獲得成功﹐是因為我們都感覺到了我們的罪過。從出生的那一刻起﹐我們就被告知一定要做得更好﹐被告知我們是如此令她們失望。”

“你知道意大利母親和猶太母親有什麼不同嗎？意大利母親會對她的兒子說﹐‘吃掉這些東西﹐否則我就殺死你。’而猶太母親則會說‘吃掉這些東西﹐要不我就死給你看。’”

“她們就是我們的成功秘訣。”

Ben Rooney