Funny you mention Finland, it is often brought up as a model of success in Israel. Many say that startups should aim to imitate Nokia's success instead of preferring short term gains by selling out to major US companies.
I think one reason for the difference may be that in Europe (though I haven't been to Finland yet) there's a very strong sense of continuity/stability - companies and indeed nations have been around for centuries - while in Israel everything feels fluid and uncertain, so people rarely do long term plans.
As for small talk, it exists but isn't required. It's not nearly as refined & important an art as it is in the US. People are comfortable with or without it. BTW, I just realized that many of the small talk among Israelis that just met is finding mutual acquaintances - with the country so small, you almost always find some. Is that so in Finland?
About emulating Nokia (est. 1865)... it "never" was a tech start-up so it shouldn't be compared to new companies in terms of continuity/selling out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia#History
I think it has more to do with its old industry - forestry and wood products. Some of the oldest companies in Scandinavia come from that industry. Swedish Stora Kopparberg (est. 1347) current Swedish/Finnish StoraEnso, which is the oldest LLC in the world was a mining company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stora_Enso#History%20of%20Stora
Strong tradition of continuity can also lead to risk aversion. That's a bad trait for entrepreneurs & VCs. We should take more risks, because our worst case scenario does not include losing health coverage etc.
I think one reason for the difference may be that in Europe (though I haven't been to Finland yet) there's a very strong sense of continuity/stability - companies and indeed nations have been around for centuries - while in Israel everything feels fluid and uncertain, so people rarely do long term plans.
As for small talk, it exists but isn't required. It's not nearly as refined & important an art as it is in the US. People are comfortable with or without it. BTW, I just realized that many of the small talk among Israelis that just met is finding mutual acquaintances - with the country so small, you almost always find some. Is that so in Finland?