Matzo balls and the Israeli start up syndrome
by Gil Rosen

“We were few…they wanted to kill us…we won…now lets eat” (Jewish Holiday Pathos)
 
24 hours have gone by since the myth has climaxed  (at my family as well as the whole country and Jewish people world wide) and the matzo balls I ate are still weighing heavy on me – literally and mentally.
 
It was during the reading of the Hagada, as story of Moses and the Pharos was being unfolded, that I realized why Israel is so much the land of startups. For start, we are not good when it comes to being big. Normally, a nation with only seven million citizens should be happy with churning out so many hi-tech start ups. But if such a pool of talents is at hand, how come we can’t pull it off when we go for the whole nine yards?.
 
There has been a passionate debate going on about this forever. I will spare you the academic thesis and give you a little of what’s on my mind. I  hope that each few paragraphs (and I’ll keep it short) will help me digest one more matzo ball (including that one too many that I had…hell, it’s once a year).
 
You see, for the past 3000 years (or so) we’ve been on the run. And when not physically, definitely mentally. A landmark story in our birth of a nation started on the run ( A.K.A – the exodus), and since then we have been escaping gentiles that were stronger, more organized and better established then we were. 3000 years of history have been carved into our DNA – we are small and on the run.
 
Just like mice on the run, what does that turn you to? a fast thinker! The fastest adapter! Tactics guide you, innovations save you and making something out of nothing becomes your master trade. I can just imagine the VC partner standing next to Moses when he hit that rock and water came out of nowhere, burning him with rapid fire questions – is that a real demo or the working product?   Is it scalable? What’s the penetration strategy? Will the biggest well enterprise, ‘Woogle’, kill you with a similar product? what will you do then?
 
What dawned on me during that fifth and senseless matzo ball is that for me, and probably subconsciously most of ‘my people’ Moses is the  ultimate entrepreneur who’s memory I carry inside my DNA. Unlike   Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Larry Page whom we have heard of and might admire but not follow.
 
Jews (and I can say that because I am one) will often tell  themselves (if no gentile is around)…well…they might be bigger,   stronger, organized, well financed etc. etc…..but we have our brains.
 
When a whole nation is slowly formed, over a very, very long period of time, it gets engraved into the collective DNA and there is no escaping it.
Or worse: Big, well organized ‘things’ remind us of our enemies.
 
We became experts in diamonds because for long that was the only profession that allowed us to carry something tangible with us,  put in a pocket and leave overnight. We were not in the business of building long term, steady and organized…..Empires.
 
On the contrary, the startups folks are modern day heroes. They are in fact the direct descendants of Moses, following the path of David as well as other ‘Mashugana’ patriots. We thrive on disorder. God forbid we do something that resembles a Roman Empire or even worse the Nazi’s. When an Israeli sees a well run operation (could even be the local IKEA store ) you would likely hear some good “soul” say “Those damm… they  run the place like Nazi’s there….” It’s the perfect compliment oxymoron - an ultimate compliment rapped in a profound sin.
 
Nobody wants to be that (Nazi)…which means no Israeli or Jew has the necessary DNA to become super, duper, ultra planned nor organized. Somewhere, we want to keep it rough on the edges no matter what we do. Got to be a little bit crazy, cynical,  god forbid not become a well run machine like the Roman, Nazis or any other gone Dynasty that attempted to annihilate us over the ages.
 
So now it might be clearer why we are good with change, how we became fast thinkers. You can find us making somthings out of nothings, probably for cheaper then anyone else. We thrive on tactics and are nearly blind to strategy…5 year plaaan…what????. We will make it grow big, not too big. It will be nice and organized but not more and its probably something you could put in your pocket like a disk with software, algorithms, a bio tech invention, even a disk-on key, but never a Mercedes.
 
I feel better now, my matzo balls are on their way to rest in peace. God bless and Happy Holidays

Gil Rosen
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