Popularly known as the father of Israel's hi-tech industry, Zohar Zisapel, chairman, RAD Data Communications Ltd, is truly an example of a man obsessed with technology. Having started RAD at a time when things were not that easy in Israel for start-ups, Zisapel has since added 26 new companies under the RAD umbrella. Even though founding new companies still remains his biggest passion, this Israeli entrepreneur still finds time to pursue his other interests like classical music, and international auctions and exhibitions related to art. Just like in any other typical Israeli family, my parents believed it to be very important for their children to attend university and then go on to become doctors, lawyers or accountants. If not, an engineering degree would do. Like my elder brother, with whom I later founded the RAD Group, I earned a BSc in electrical engineering from the Technion, the Israel institute of technology. Immediately thereafter, I enlisted myself in the Israeli army, where I was put to work as an engineer. I went on to serve as head of the Electronic Research Department of the ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv. I also hold an MSc from the Technion, and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

I have always had an innovative bent of mind. I remember reading Einstein's theory of relativity in school, and discovering not only how revolutionary and innovative it is but also how easy it is to understand.

The cholent that changed it all
If there was a single turning point in my whole professional career, then that was my decision to leave my position at the ministry of defence in 1981 and accept my brother's offer to try our luck at establishing RAD Data Communications. You can say that RAD Data Communications was founded because of my mother's ‘cholent'. It is traditional on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, to gather around the family table for lunch and be served a dish commonly called cholent, which is a heavy stew filled with meat, potatoes and beans that has been cooked all night. And it was there, seated around the table, that we originally developed what was then the unheard-of idea of a company that would manufacture data communications products in Israel for export abroad. Today, RAD is the anchor of the RAD Group, which currently comprises fourteen separate companies with 3,500 employees, and reached $720 million in aggregate sales in 2006.

Naturally, our family ties are very strong and we fervently keep them so. Avoiding emotional conflicts is the trick. We decided from the very beginning that we would not allow anything to come between us as brothers.

Modest beginnings
My professional journey began in 1981 with the establishment of RAD Data Communications. Our country was very different back then. Apart from some government-owned companies, there was not any Israeli hi-tech to speak of, and most of what little did exist was government-owned and focused mainly on military applications. There was no venture capital in Israel at all. Local banks were unwilling to provide loans to hi-tech start-ups, which they viewed as risky propositions, at best. But we succeeded and helped change the face of the country. Today, Israel has more companies traded on NASDAQ than any other nation apart from the United States, and that number is sure to grow. There are more hi-tech start-ups in Israel today than anywhere else in the world outside of Silicon Valley.

The work environment that we have created stresses that customer satisfaction receives the highest priority. We believe in mutual respect between management and employees, fairness, honesty, innovation, teamwork and we always strive for excellence. We emphasise that there are no shortcuts. As a result, our relationship with our employees, customers and suppliers is a long-term one. There is no office politics and no bureaucracy. My office door is always open.

Troubled times
The burst of the so-called 'dot com' bubble was certainly the most challenging period of my career. While Israeli hi-tech was affected much less than hi-tech elsewhere in the world, especially, of course, in the United States, we still learned a lot from it. Leadership and organisations are really tested in bad times. Luckily in 2003, the market changed direction and began to grow again. At first, some may have thought that it might have been a mere technical blip or temporary phenomenon, but the trend has steadily continued right up to the present. True, the telecom market is only growing by 10 or 15 per cent a year and not by 100 per cent as it did before the bubble burst, but there are many industries out there that would be quite happy with a similar ‘modest' growth.

Midas touch
I plan to continue doing what I know best - founding new companies. Together with my brother, we have established a total of 27 RAD group companies over the past 25 years. Today, six trade on NASDAQ, seven were acquired, eight remain private, and two have left the group. We closed only five companies, which is a risk that comes with the business. But it is still an impressive ratio. On an average, we start one company every year. Of course, we still have not established a Microsoft yet, so there is a lot of work left to do.