The encounter with Moshe Yanai is deceptive. To this day, in interviews and articles written about him over the decades, Yanai (76) has been described as a successful high-tech entrepreneur, one of the pioneers of Israel’s tech industry in the 1980s, a brilliant electrical engineer, one of the founders of the modern data storage industry, and a member of the Startup Nation aristocracy. Now, however, the conversation with him takes place under the dubious title of “bankrupt.” A man whose creditors are pursuing his assets and who knows they will never be repaid in full.
But the deception also lies in the words that come out of his mouth. Yanai speaks openly and unusually for a man in his situation, but his words are often…