1. Connectedness

One of the key success factors is that everyone knows each other with everyone, they are extremely connected (meeting in Mass Challenge: an acquaintance of mine knows the prime minister/president). Connecting the State Administration and Start-Ups:

1. the military is one big R&D (no NDAs or patents preventing use, quite the opposite);
2. start-ups use the data/infrastructure of the city (see PILGRIMAGE).

In Tel Aviv there are 20 meetups in an evening (!!!) — said in The Platform, verified on Meetup.com

What we do for this in our country:

1. BusinessCon — the dissemination of the culture of interconnection (4th and 5th degree)
2. TechMeetup — interconnection of agents
3. Red Button — linking and disseminating expertise
4. Agile circles and communities (ScrumBeer) Prague, Brno, Ostrava

What we can or plan to do for this (more):

1. Connecting Business and Government (MuniCon)
2. Connect founders (startups), non-profit and senior managers (ManaCon — part of BC)
3. Link to offices/school principals, see #brainbrush

2. People — confidence (dare to fail) and growing mindset

It was obvious that instead of investing in roads, highways, building empty houses (the EU approach) here is investing in people and ideas. The state provides a loan, which in case of failure the company does not have to return and it is OK (compare with bankruptcy in the Czech Republic). Israel Innovation Agency and accelerators reduce administration and barrier to rollout. In the EU, we focus on process and papers, they focus on building relationships and securing the means (ecosystem).

Innovation Agency: every shekel invested in a startup/person returns 5-10 shekels to the state from the economy (they have been verified).

Township Yokneam: 50% of the budget is invested in education. It starts with children, see Taglit: in OECD tests, Israeli children are 38 out of 41 when asked after the test how much they believe they have it right 10 out of 10 = self-confidence, strengthening a growing mindset. In our country we raise sheep that give the right answers to questions and we wonder that then they resist as millennials in adulthood.

Attitude example: founder Mobileye (they were bought by Intel for $15.3 billion!!!) : “We weren't bought by intel. We needed their computing power. “

Example: the boss of Mellanox (a billion dollar company) appears in front of international delegations in a Nike hoodie and sneakers, yet he spreads an unreal aura and throws a few minute pitch that we can sit on our ass, even though we have him in the chair a long time ago.

What we do for this in our country:

1. #brainbrush program for high school students
2. Competence for life — development of key soft skills already in schools (communication, teamwork, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, etc.)
3. Introducing Career Counselling to Schools

What more can we do for this:

1. #brainbrush for children in sports/hockey
2. Diagnosis of pupils' potential and development of their natural talent (a good teacher is supposed to push pupils to the limits of their abilities and sometimes beyond them)

3. Pitch Perfect

Of all the people we met, there was confidence, focus and a great presentation — sales pitch. All of them were able to clearly and concisely present any idea, to argue. Everyone intrigued us, no one bored, and despite the demanding program, we were in full attention.

Great idea with a central place (Taglit), where there are achievements and top Israeli innovations in one place. It is presented to visitors and Jews who live abroad and want to get to know Israel. Again -- effectively utilized referencing the bestseller Startup nation. Why bother when someone has already built a brand around the world. One slide with Warren Buffett's comment about Israeli businesses and it's painted over.

What we do for this in our country:

1. #brainbrush program for students
2. 60 seconde workshop
3. Czech Innovation Expo at Bruntal Secondary School

What more can we do for this:

1. To build Ostrava Taglit in DULL
2. Take advantage of Czech Innovation Expo and install it on DULL (discussed)

4. Goal orientation

Whether we were talking to the mayor of Yokneam or the founder of a billion-dollar company, or a waitress in a restaurant or a taxi driver, everyone had a clear focus on business and the customer. Example: even though we were a relatively small delegation from somewhere in the Czech Republic, the mayor of the city or the CEO took care of us all the time. With us, it would be someone from the PR department. You'd think how much they didn't have to do, but they dedicated themselves to the most important thing — building a relationship and that brings them business. In the Czech Republic we are engaged in administration, we are overwhelmed with operations. Even that day, there were often emails from people we met, for example, an hour ago at a meeting. We rarely find time to follow up in a week or 14 days.

What we do for this in our country:

1. Agile and Lean Games
2. BusinessCon at ManaCon
3. #brainbrush

What more can we do for this:

1. Offer business role models and ignite for your own business
2. To further connect schools with practice, to show modern trends, in cooperation with companies and school leaders to develop modern educational content and disseminate it to schools — see the example of Bruntál Secondary School and the upcoming Technological and Entrepreneurial Academy

5. Scalability

This was their constant mantra — eg. Mobileye: “Why did you choose cameras instead of other sensors?” A: “It's cheap and scalable.” All other startups presented scalability. It's cheap and scalable.

What we do for this in our country:

1. Business model navigator
2. Agile
3. #brainbrush

What more can we do for this:

1. Getting it into schools — EduCon
2. Accelerators mentor this principle.

There were a lot of lessons, experiences and awareness that week. There was so much that it is beyond my possibilities to write everything down and your desire to read it :-) If you want to know more or have questions, do not hesitate to contact me: roman.smirak@rainfellows.cz

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