Best insights of Israeli innovative ecosystem from Lviv Business School of UCU

1. Initially it was the trip of MSc in Innovations and Entrepreneurship and also pre-acceleration program of the Center for  Entrepreneurship of UCU members. Among others, they visited OurCrowd, the global Summit of investors in Jerusalem and obtained knowledge about innovative investment areas development, global challenges that are to be considered by investors, and where startups can currently start. Young start-uppers had an opportunity to get valuable advices from journalists of Fast Company, TechCrunch, BBC News as well as Business Insider, for example: the impact should be made from the very beginning because the world is oversaturated with various ideas, and even more flooded with those who are searching for venture capital.

The participants also visited high-tech company Mobileye Israel, one of the world leaders in the development of safety systems for drivers and autonomous driving of the car. The company states that global success of technological business has become possible due to the fact that one of the executives is a scientist while the other is a businessman. One more advantage that distinguishes fast development of the MobilEye is a very simple organizational structure that helps top management to get feedback as quick as possible. All these factors, combined together with persistent work, made it possible that in 2017 Intel bought the company. It became the most powerful exit in Israeli history – the company made more than $15 billion.

2. In the end of March another group of LvBS students were impressed by innovations in Israel. Israel is a mindset. Innovations deserve to determine the way of thinking and every day routine. Otherwise it would be impossible for the country to reach this level of successful startups and exits as it can be observed now. These are the first impressions that students of the MSc in Technology Management #LvBS got from this trip. The participants had various expectations: some wanted to study innovations, others wanted to understand in which way this nation of startups got the spirit of innovations:

- being very straight, self-confident, focused on the outcome, moreover they even have a special word for all this – חוּצְפָּה‎, «hutspa»;

- challenges provide you with opportunities, if you go on moving and not give up;

- if there is no inner market it can also become an opportunity;

- patriotism is beyond the level;

- learning skills they are «born» with;

- high level of presentational skills etc.

We share one more insight of our program participant Oksana Netak: 

 «Israel is widely known as startup nation. And when many come here to learn from their experience Israelis move forward and position themselves now as scale-up nation. The reason is that many startups get bigger, transform into successful companies and continue to innovate on a larger scale».