From orange to cyber: the role of international business policy in creating “Startup Nation”

This chapter argues that the unifying factor in creating and developing ecosystem, behind the scenes, is international business government policy. As the chapter shows, government policy has, and still is, creating the environment and the conditions in which international entrepreneurship thrives. In a way this is an oxymoron, because when thinking of entrepreneurship one considers the individual, who frequently, despite many setbacks, is able to establish a startup. This startup is the outcome of grit, resilience, and merit of the individual, or of a small group of individuals. Thus, government policy has little to do with the individual entrepreneurial spirit. However, entrepreneurship cannot exist without an ecosystem and without a culture that encourages and nurtures entrepreneurial behaviour and entrepreneurial ambitions. This chapter shows how Israel’s international business policy changed the entrepreneurial spirit in Israel’s culture, and how it created an ecosystem that encourages and supports international entrepreneurial behavior. Furthermore, it discusses what can be learned from the Israeli case.