A Conversation With Lirone Glikman
Israel’s tech ecosystem is often described through numbers: exits, funding rounds, unicorns. But beneath the metrics sits something harder to quantify and far more powerful. Connection.
In a recent IsraelTech conversation, Lirone Glikman, global networking expert, author, and founder-brand strategist, breaks down why relationships are the real infrastructure behind Israeli innovation and how founders can learn to build them intentionally, at home and abroad.
Turning Human Connection Into a Profession
Lirone did not stumble into networking. She built a career around it.
Working across 27 countries, Lirone has turned her passion for people, travel, marketing, and innovation into a structured methodology that helps founders and executives build credibility and opportunity through relationships.
Her work focuses on two core areas:
- Teaching networking and personal branding as practical skills
- Helping founders build authority through founder-led branding, media, and visibility
The premise is simple. Everyone networks, but almost no one is taught how to do it well.
Why Networking Is an Untaught Critical Skill
According to Lirone, networking is one of the most important skills in business, yet it is rarely taught formally.
People are expected to figure it out on their own, often through trial, discomfort, and missed opportunities. Her work reframes networking not as manipulation or small talk, but as a learnable, repeatable system grounded in authenticity.
That philosophy is central to her book, The Super Connectors Playbook, which combines relationship-building principles with modern tools, including AI.
What Makes the Israeli Tech Ecosystem Different
Israel’s ecosystem stands out not because of individual brilliance, but because of collective behavior.
Lirone highlights a pattern that surprises outsiders: competitors help one another. Founders share insights, investors speak openly, and information flows more freely than in many global hubs.
This behavior is not accidental. It is cultural.
Israeli founders often understand that one company’s success improves the credibility of the ecosystem as a whole. Helping another founder today increases trust in Israeli startups tomorrow.
Shared Success Over Zero-Sum Thinking
A defining feature of Israeli tech culture is the idea that success is shared, not scarce.
Founders who exit often reinvest time, capital, and attention into the next generation. Mentorship, introductions, and informal guidance are treated as responsibilities, not favors.
Lirone ties this directly to Jewish values of mutual responsibility and community continuity, where helping others is not charity, but expectation.
October 7 and the Strength of Community
The conversation also touches on how October 7 reshaped relationships inside the tech ecosystem.
Within high tech, Lirone observed stronger bonds and faster mobilization. Founders and executives stepped up financially, operationally, and personally to support soldiers, families, and displaced communities.
At the same time, she acknowledges tension elsewhere in Israeli society, where polarization and pain have also intensified.
Her takeaway is clear. Connection matters most when people feel supported. Hurt people hurt others. Supported people build.
Networking Without a Network
One of the most practical parts of the conversation focuses on immigrants and first-time founders who arrive in Israel without connections.
Lirone’s advice starts internally:
- Believe people want to help
- Be clear about who you are and what you are building
From there, action matters more than pedigree. Israel’s ecosystem is open, English-friendly, and event-driven. Meetups, accelerators, alumni groups, trade missions, and informal coffee meetings are all entry points.
The key is follow-up. Relationships are built after the event, not during it.
Giving Before Asking
A common misconception is that networking requires leverage.
Lirone pushes back strongly on this. Everyone has something to give, even newcomers. Insight, perspective, energy, curiosity, and attention all count.
People may forget what was said, but they remember how a conversation felt. Being present, engaged, and generous with attention builds long-term trust.
The Association Method
One of Lirone’s signature tools is what she calls the Association Method.
When someone comes to mind, reach out. No agenda. No ask. Just a message acknowledging the thought.
This creates warmth and continuity. When an ask eventually comes, it feels natural rather than transactional.
The Four Topics That Never Fail
To avoid awkward conversations, Lirone teaches a simple framework built around four topics:
- People
- Places
- Passions
- Present moments
These themes work across cultures and contexts and allow conversations to flow naturally.
Cultural Awareness Is Not Inauthentic
One of the most important insights in the conversation addresses a common Israeli challenge abroad.
Being authentic does not mean ignoring cultural norms.
Lirone explains that authenticity must coexist with awareness. Directness, informality, and speed work well in Israel, but can backfire in the US, Europe, or Asia.
The solution is not to change who you are, but to let the other side set the pace at the beginning.
A Lesson From Japan
Lirone shares a story of an Israeli startup that nearly lost a partnership in Japan by showing up underdressed and informal.
The follow-up meeting told a different story. Israelis arrived in suits. Japanese executives dressed down slightly. Both sides adapted.
Connection happened not because they were the same, but because they met in the middle.
Founder Branding as a Strategic Asset
For founders seeking investment or partnerships, Lirone stresses one principle above all. Build your brand before you need it.
Investors and partners will look you up. What they find should reflect clarity, credibility, and intention.
Founder-led branding is not about ego. It is about trust at scale.
Connection Is Israel’s Real Competitive Advantage
The Israeli tech ecosystem is not powered solely by technology. It is powered by people who show up for one another.
Lirone’s work puts structure around something Israelis often do instinctively, helping founders translate local strengths into global success.
In a world moving faster and feeling more fragmented, connection remains Israel’s most durable advantage.
