What It's Like to Build a Tech Startup in One of the Oldest Cities on Earth

The skyline in Jerusalem, Israel, on March 16, 2014. Photographer: Ariel Jerozolimski/Bloomberg
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Like most Israeli tech entrepreneurs, Lia Kislev lives in Tel Aviv. But her online styling company isn’t based in the country’s startup capital alongside the nation's fledgling fashion industry. Instead, she and her co-founder commute every day to Jerusalem.

Kislev's startup WiShi sits in a whitewashed building about a kilometer from the ancient stone walls of Jerusalem's Old City, a popular tourist attraction that houses sites holy to all three monotheistic religions. The tech complex in the holy city was built by Erel Margalit, the founder of Jerusalem Venture Partners, who is now a lawmaker for the Labor party.