A certain mystique surrounds the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The university has helped make Israel the "Start-Up Nation" celebrated in books and venture-capital circles, has spun off dozens of companies, and has taught entrepreneurship since long before it became popular. Its worldwide prestige is why Cornell University chose the Technion four years ago as its partner to build a new technology-focused campus in New York City. Yet for all its vaunted reputation, there’s actually little in the Technion policies or formal practices that’s all that different from the approach at dozens of other successful institutions around the world. On paper, at least, it doesn’t stand out.