Inbal Arieli
My favorite Israeli custom is - The transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day
My greatest Israeli childhood memory is - Summer vacation: pool, beach and hanging around with friends with almost no parent supervision at all
My first job was - Private tutoring, when I was in high-school
The one person I would really love to meet for dinner is - My dad, who passed away 16 years ago and whom I miss a lot
I am most motivated by - Potential for change and growth
I am most discouraged by - Dishonesty and malice
The worst piece of advice I was ever given is - Give up if you don't succeed rapidly
The quality I most admire in a person is - Integrity
If I wasn't doing what I'm doing now, I would - Apply to NASA’s astronaut program
If I could, I would go back in time and tell my younger self that - Dream big
My favorite Hebrew word is - Firgun (make someone feel good without any ulterior motives, exists only in modern Hebrew)
From the skills for the future, as defined by the WEF, the one that turned out to be the most valuable in my career journey is creativity, originality & initiative
One last thing before I go - The more you try, the more you actually do. And make great friends along the way!
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Author of Chutzpah: Why Israel is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HarperBusiness, 2019) and featured as one of the 100 Most Influential people in Israeli hi-tech and as one of the 100-tech-business-women-speakers in the world, Inbal took a leading role for the past 20 years in the flourishing Israeli tech industry, starting in her military service, as Lieutenant in the IDF elite 8200 unit; continuing in her professional career as General Counsel and executive member to several start-ups and leading Israeli hi-tech companies and as serial business and social entrepreneur.
Inbal founded a series of programs for innovators, including Israel’s first start-up accelerator and serves on the board of the top Israeli programs for entrepreneurship and innovation. Currently, Inbal is also Managing Partner at Big Il, investment firm focused on early stage Israeli tech start-ups.
Inbal lectures widely on the Israeli innovation and start-up ecosystem to business and government leaders around the world. Among her most popular lectures is "Chutzpah - Skills for the Future" which analyzes how Israeli culture breeds entrepreneurship at a very young age. Inbal is also a contributor to Forbes where she explores how businesses can learn from the way military special forces’ units operate.
Inbal holds an LL.B. Law, B.A in Economics and MBA, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, from the Tel Aviv University. She lives in Tel Aviv with her spouse and three sons.