Infrastructure, Productive Capital And Its Efficiency, Human: Fill & Download for Free

Localism. Feudal society is extremely localized, which means there is very little migration within the domain. People live at the same region for all their lives and work at the same region all their lives, and serve the same lord all their lives. This has somewhat stultifying effect on both people themselves and the society.Fragmentation of power. We might whine about “evil guv’ment” and “states’ rights” and Libertarian dream, but when the central government is weak, the result is fragmentation of power. It means that things which are best carried out under a centralized administration - like construction and upkeep of infrastructure, organization of military and police, centralized standards (like weights and measures), education and social policies etc - are seriously impeded. Also petty wars, fights and duels tend to be commonplace as the state is too weak to control its subjects fully.Unfree labour. While feudalism is NOT slavery, the fact that serfs were bound to turf had a stultifying effect on the society. While serfdom was certainly a great step forward from slavery, and an effective way on providing labour when there were low degree of technology and little capital, it had outlived its usefulness already in the 11th century. Unfreedom of labour impeded efficient distribution of work force - it prevented work force to gravitate in places and locations where it could produce the most efficient results, and seriously impeded the growth of cities.Inefficient use of capital. Feudalism is essential an agrarian system and intended to be implemented in agrarian society, where majority of the people are needed on primary production, but it seriously impedes the growth of other industries, especially refinement and services. Primary production can produce volumes, but it uses invested capital inefficiently.Having said that, Feudalism was still a major progressive step from slave-owning society, and a pre-requisite for evolution into Capitalism. The true Capitalism can evolve only in Feudal society, where rule of law instead of ruler’s whim prevails. Already Max Weber inspected this.In a sense, Feudalism made itself redundant in the long run. Instead of ossification and stultifying as happens in slave-owning societies, Feudal societies instead were dynamic, and income distribution was far more even than in Despoties and slavery based societies. Note how Feudalism is the pre-requisite for the Western city and urban bourgeoisie, and together with Roman law and rule of law creates free labour, which is yet another pre-requisite for Capitalism.Once the capitals accumulated, the cities simply outgrew the countryside in importance. New innovations made human labour redundant in agriculture, and the surplus population would move to towns and cities. Also the peasants could accumulate capitals and purchase themselves free.The transition from Feudalism into Capitalism was usually a smooth one. Capitalism began to supersede Feudalism in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Black Death spelled the final end to Feudalism in the Western Europe. Sharecropping and tenant farming also provided to be much more efficient methods of farming than serfdom.

Thanks for this question.I've answered it a couple of times for international delegations that visited either of the Venture Capital funds I worked/work for.This is a good opportunity to answer it on Quora as well.It's a unique combo:1. Israel is an immigrant country - Much like the U.S, the Israeli human landscape is a combination of various cultures, various schools of thought and approaches and - as such - is a breeding ground for new takes on a matter.This was part of the United States secret sauce.2. Necessity is the mother of invention - Unique needs in the security, agriculture, energy, and other sectors brought about the birth of inventions in military, communications, medicine, irrigation, solar energy fields - you name it.3. Education - From its inception Israel has put an emphasis on the importance of education: From Elementary to Academic - and in spite of its small size, it holds some of the world's leading academic institutions.4. Investment in innovation - 5% of Israel's GDP is invested into the private sector through various plans and grants of the Office of the Chief Scientist in the ministry of Economy - No country in the world comes close to this percentage.From as early as seed stage companies, to as far as publicly traded technology companies, Israeli tech innovators enjoy these grants and investments, aimed at increasing the amount of Israeli Intellectual Property and successful tech companies.But it doesn't end there.ALL major global tech companies have R&D centers in Israel : Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, Facebook - you name it: They're here. And it's a win-win situation.Also, approximately 80% of the private investments made into Israeli startups comes from overseas.This is on top of a vibrant, and experienced Israeli Venture Capital ecosystem, which is now entering it's third decade.5. The IDF technologies - Tech developments for special forces, air force, ground forces, navy etc., later find their way into private market applications, giving the companies a unique edge over global competitors. Given Imaging is a great example.6. Unique intelligence and data tech capabilities - The Mossad, Military Intel, Cyber warfare units, other agencies - No need to elaborate on the fact that some of the best - if not the best - minds in intelligence work for Israel. Young Israelis undergo unparalleled training and engage in sci-fi like activities.Then they leave the service.Now what do you think they're going to do?7. The military service - By definition, the fact that at a young age an Israeli has to learn what responsibility means, what challenges are, what a mature set of proportions is, molds many Israelis into potential entrepreneurs and leaders. (see comment by Ahuvah Berger-Burcat for elaboration on this)8. Local market too small - From day 1 Israeli startups think globally. There is no point in aiming for the local market. It's tiny.You aim for the needs of the giants.BTW - many Israeli solutions are aimed at giving the little guy a chance to play in the big league, and it makes perfect sense in light of the above - they invented the tools THEY needed: Fiverr, EatWith, DubaMobile, Wix.9. "Chutzpa" - It's a Hebrew word for attitude, sort of (Sorry republicans) a "Yes We Can" state of mind."Of course our underfunded, 3 people strong, Middle East based startup will kick IMB's ass! What other option is there?"10. Efficiency over protocol and hierarchy - This is a cultural thing. By the time an american or European company will finalize its company structure, product road map and work plan, an Israeli startups will have its Beta product ready for installation.********************************Recent addition of #11, by managing partner at Gemini, Yossi Sela:11. A tolerance towards failure - Israeli investors are very "forgiving" compared with other counterparts, with regards to past failure/s of a startup founder. The fact you failed COULD mean you've learned. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it could. We're interested in checking if this is the case, so past failure doesn't get you shunned.While very respective of Yossi's addition, he totally messed up a perfectly round "10 items" list... Gee, thanks...********************************Sure, when it becomes a big company we need outside management, cause we are have plenty to learn from others when that phase arrives.But till then...I tell you, there are few places in the world that a VC like me has so much to choose from in such little space, full of entrepreneurs that focus on Israeli fortes:Big data: IronSource, SimilarWeb, SiSense, Panoply Smart Cloud Data Warehouse, Logz.io: Secure & Scalable Log Management with Cloud-Based ELK, Windward, Dynamic YieldAd tech, content, and discovery: OutBrain, Taboola, MinuteMedia, Kaltura, PlayBuzz, YotPo, EyeView, SundaySkyDevOps and infrastructure: Jfrog, Redis Labs, Cloudinary, SpotInst, Velostrata, StratoscaleEnterprise software: WalkMe, Capriza, Gong, SAmanageGIS and automotive: Moovit, Gett, Nexar, Innoviz, Via (and, of course, success stories like Waze and MobileEye)Cyber security and fraud prevention: BioCatch, Forter, Riskified, Cybereason, Argus, Coronet, Guardicore, Morphisec, Dome 9, EnSilo, Minerva LabsHope this was an interesting snapshot.

I´ll add my two cents (I´m Mexican, by the way)1.- Lack of support for new companies/businessMost of Mexico´s entrepeneurship activity sums up to what we call "changarros": little shops selling food and/or chinese imported crap. There isn´t a formal/fast/efficient financial system to support local businesses. It´s tough in Mexico for someone with the human capital and ability to do something to start up something related to their studies because of this, but also because since NAFTA most ocmpanies already come up with their own experts, expecting Mexicans to just assemble their products. So there is no local improvements to the coming of foreign companies, unless a more suitable agreement is done between local governments and the incoming plants/factories.Returning to the argument of financial backup for starting businesses, it used to exist in Mexico in the from of NAFINSA, a public institution aimed at financing small and mendium sized companies. But, corruption destroyed it. Which takes me to the next argument:2.- Corruption is embedded in Mexico´s everyday life, but in my opinion the worst form is mostly aparent in the state and local governments.Let me give an example of the type of corruption I am talking about: usually public infrastructure projects (i.e. highways, etc.) are financed by federal, state and local governments together (say, 1/3 each). Federal government sends its 1/3 part, but when the money arrives, it is used in many other things (state and local politicians take their share), and when finally what´s left of the money arrives, cheaper materials must be used, so the project is compromised (one just has to look at Mexican roads and highways to see their crappy quality).So, all in all, I think Mexico´s biggest obstacle for achieving a better quality of life is Mexico itself.