Disrupting Japan podcast

26:24

While American AI startups are dominating the headlines, one Japanese company has begun rolling out "AI employees" to famously cautious Japanese enterprise customers. Today we talk with Shota Nakagawa the CEO of Caster and discuss their model of human-AI collaboration, why Japan is positioned to lead real-world AI deployment, and the big steps needed for Japan to catch up with the West. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Caster’s new model for gig-workers Why almost 90% of Caster's workforce are women How remote work is evolving differently in Japan than in the US Can remote work really revitalise rural Japan? Why Caster uses full time staff rather than gig workers How AI employees could be the solution to Japan’s labor shortage How Caster makes extensive use of AI in their workflow today What is responsoble for the low level of trust that Japanese have in AI and how to fix it Which tasks AI agents will take over and which they will never do Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Caster Follow Caster on X @caster_jp Friend Caster on Facebook Friend Shota on Facebook Follow him on X @nakasy000 Leave a comment Errata Caster's percentage of female employees is about 87% not 95%. Caster was founded in Tokyo, later moved to Miyazaki, and then moved back to Tokyo after the IPO Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. While American CEOs are competing to see how quickly they can leverage AI to replace both full-time employees and gig workers alike, one Japanese company is taking a different approach and they're already rolling out their AI workforce. Today we sit down with Shota Nakagawa, founder and CEO of Caster. Now, Caster is a remarkably progressive and innovative Japanese company. They were a strong and vocal advocate of remote work years before the pandemic hit, and even after their IPO, their 800 person workforce remains fully remote with our corporate headquarters located in a shared office space in Tokyo. Caster has now begun rolling out its AI workforce, and they're taking a very Japanese approach. Rather than leveraging a collection of flexible gig workers or freelancers, Caster continues to build a long-term full-time workforce who is co-developing and already working alongside their AI employees. If history is any guide, Caster’s thinking today might tell us what the Japanese market will be thinking 10 years from now. Shota and I talk about the long-term AI trends in Japan, how Caster solve the problem of corporate, Japan's deep skepticism about AI and whether or not AI can really provide a solution to the economic problems associated with Japan's declining population. But, you know, Shota tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Shota Nakagawa, the founder and CEO of Caster, who is creator of an outsourcing platform and a relentless advocate of remote work. So thanks for sitting down with me. Shota: Thank you very much. Tim: So, I explained very briefly what Caster did in the intro, but I think you can explain it much better than I can. So, what does Caster do? Why is it unique? Shota: People are all work remote every day, every day. Tim: So, the entire company is remote. Shota: Yeah, yeah. All people. Tim: That's pretty unusual. And we're here today actually sitting in a share office space to have this conversation. Well, actually let's talk about that in detail later. But first, let's talk a little more about Caster. So, what do you do for your customers? Shota: BPO, business process outsourcing, client about SMB small business, want back office service. Tim: So, what kind of back office services, is it like recruiting, accounting? Shota: Many types. Tim: So,…

Disrupting Japan

1
Welcome to Disrupting Japan (Podcast Trailer) 1:06

6 weeks ago1:06

1:06

Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan’s most innovative founders and VCs. I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. There is so much happening in Japan right now. Startups and innovation are beginning to reshape Japan with the same dynamism we saw during the post-war boom or the Meji-era re-opening. And I’ve been in the middle of this for a long time. I’m now a partner a JERA Ventures, but over the over 30 years that I’ve lived in Japan, I’ve started four startups here, worked at TEPCO Ventures, ran Google for Startups Japan, and, of course, I’ve been running the Disrupting Japan podcast for more than 10 years. Every episode, I sit down with friends, VCs, founders, and leaders who are shaping Japan’s startup ecosystem to give you an inside look at what’s really happening here in Japan. So, please subscribe and join me on this journey. I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for listening to Disrupting Japan.…

Disrupting Japan

1
The catalyst (finally!) pulling industrial Japan into the digital age 32:27

8 weeks ago32:27

32:27

Japanese business loves paper. From fax machines, to business cards, to massive project binders. Paper processes are slow to die in Japan, especially in industrial facilities. Today we talk with Jumpei Yoshida of Kaminashi who explains why that's finally changing and how foreign workers are driving the transformation. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes What is Kaminashi, and who is using it? Why it took Kaminashi four years to to gain traction The biggest challenge in digitizing blue-collar industries Advice for selling software to Japanese companies How foreign workers are driving digital transformation in Japan How to reach analog customers The sales cycle for SMB and enterprise software Why enterprise sales in Japan is fundamentally different from in the West Kaminashi’s global expansion plans Real innovation comes next Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Kaminashi ... and about their products Connect with Jumpei on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan is unquestionably one of the most advanced nations in the world, and yet corporate Japan's love of paper processes and its resistance to going digital has become kind of a running joke even within Japan. At the more traditional industries all over Japan, at corporate headquarters, regional offices and frontline facilities you'll still see people rushing about carrying thick three ring binders to prove to the rest of the office that they are busy and productive. It seems some things never change. So, why? Explaining this kind of thing is a cultural difference is a cop out. It doesn't actually explain anything. It ignores potentially valuable business opportunities. And more important, it overlooks the startups that are finally beginning to change things. And so today we sit down with Jumpei Yoshida of Kaminashi - a name that literally means paperless - and he explains how Kaminashi is pulling factories, food processing, and other critical industrial processes into the digital age. We talk frankly about why it's taken Japan so long to begin this transition and the recent trigger that has really kicked open the market. Jumpei also shares some great advice about how to sell innovation to conservative Japanese companies, the importance of foreign workforce to Japan's future prosperity and what to expect if you're a startup selling to SMBs in Japan. But, you know, Jumpei tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Jumpei Yoshida, the CFO of Kaminashi, who's digitizing frontline and field service work. So, thanks for sitting down. Jumpei: Thank you for inviting me. Tim: It's a pleasure to have you on. Now I gave a really high level explanation of what Kaminashi does, but I think you can explain it much better than I can. Jumpei: Sure. Kaminashi is a company focused on providing SaaS solutions to empower frontline workers. Our main offering include tools that digitize and streamline paper-based workflows. Tim: What is the primary focus? Is it mostly just checklists? Is it inspection comments, like approval, workflow? What kind of things does it cover? Jumpei: The application itself is checklist, but there are so many variety of usage. Tim: And what about the hardware runs on, is it iOS, Android, is it onsite terminals? Jumpei: Initially it was only for iOS and iPad, but now our products can use any devices like Windows or Android. Now it's on the web-based software. Tim: Now a bit later I want to get into more detail about the business model and the value you're providing beyond just the checklists. But tell me about your customers. Jumpei: Regarding our flagship product Kaminashi report,…

Disrupting Japan

1
How CVCs and startups are decarbonizing energy 20:32

10 weeks ago20:32

20:32

Most outside of the energy industry are (pleasantly) surprised to learn how aggressively startups and CVCs are pushing decarbonization forward. Decarbonization is a fascinating and incredibly important issue, so please join me on this short but special episode. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. This is a short episode. I wanted to share with you a panel discussion I moderated at the Global Corporate Venturing Asia Congress on the role that CVCs are playing in the green energy transition. It's an inside look at what some of the leaders in the field are thinking. You'll hear from Sophia Nadur, the managing director of APAC and Middle East at BP Ventures. Nicole LeBlanc, partner at Woven Capital, and Jim Aota, chairman of Yamaha Motor Ventures. You know, outside of the industry, a lot of people are surprised to learn just how active and supportive of startups global energy and transport companies can be and how they're working to push meaningful innovations into the marketplace. So here are some quick insights into how some of the world's leading energy related companies are working with startups to green our power system and transition us all to a sustainable future. We talk about the specific kinds of startups we're looking to invest in, the different ways we have to support and work with startups and what we see is the most exciting energy startup trends for the next three to five years. But you know, the panel tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: Okay, thank you so much. I am really looking forward. We're going to be talking about how CVCs are supporting and fueling the growth of energy startups all over the world. And to start off, I'd like to do brief, brief introductions because there's four of us here. So I'm Tim Romero, I'm a partner at JERA Ventures. JERA is a Japanese electric utility. We generate about a third of Japan's electricity. We're investing in decarbonization, new business models and energy and looking for the best companies globally to bring to Japan. I also, for the last 10 years, have been running the Disrupting Japan podcast that talks about VCs and startups in Japan. And this is important because this is being recorded to release on the podcast. So, you are all part of the show. Nicole: Hi everybody. Nicole LeBlace. I'm a partner with Woven Capital and longtime listener of Tim's podcast. So, we're the Growth Venture fund for Toyota. So, we look at growth stage companies typically that are able to work with Toyota across a number of different sectors. So energy that we're about to talk about here is certainly one, but also looking at supply chain automation. And if you think about mobility 3.0, connected cars, that sort of thing. Our team is mainly based here in Tokyo, including myself, but we also have people in the US and in the UK. Sophia: Hi, I'm Sophia Nadur, MD for Asia Pacific and Middle East at BP Ventures. BP Ventures is a global energy company. I am delighted to have Masaki Kaison, who's the head of BP Japan with me, such as the importance that we are placing on looking for investments in Japan right now. We have $850 million assets under management. We invest $150 million at least every year from our balance sheet. We invest in series A, series B, potentially series C companies who are scaling up energy transition related offers, which could include battery storage, offshore wind, solar, hydrogen, mobility, even retail and convenience. Even these areas are of interest to us and we are actively looking to invest in in Japan. We have two, nearly three investments in India, two in China, and two in Australia. Just in this region alone. Jim: Right. So, my name is Jim Aota and I am the chairman of the Yamaha Model Ventures,…

Disrupting Japan

1
How AI startups can compete with the AI giants 51:44

12 weeks ago51:44

51:44

Japan is lagging behind in AI, but that might not be the case for long. Today we sit down with Jad Tarifi, current founder of Integral AI and previously, founder of Google’s first Generative AI team, and we talk about some of Japan's potential advantages in AI, the most likely path to AGI, and how small AI startups can compete against the over-funded AI giants. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why Jad felt Google was not pursuing the best path toward AGI The fundamental AI scaling problem and likely solutions Why robotics is critical for the advancement of AI (and the not the other way around) Why Japan is the ideal place to build a new AI startup The reason it is so difficult for robotics startups to make money Why humanoid robots are a dead-end How AI startups can compete with the foundation-model comnpanies How we get to AGI from our current AI Solutions to the alignment problem The challenge of making AI fundamentally benevolent The biggest challenge in AI development is not technological Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Integral AI Stream product announcement Follow Jad on X @jad_tarifi Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Check out Jad's new book The Rise of Superintelligence ... and the companion Freedom Series website Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan is lagging behind in AI, but that was not always the case. And it won't necessarily be the case in the future. Today we sit down with Jad Tarifi, current founder of Integral AI, and previously founder of Google's first generative AI team. We talk about his decision to leave Google after over a decade of groundbreaking research to focus on what he sees as a better, faster path to AGI or artificial general intelligence. And then to super intelligence. It's a fascinating discussion that begins very practically and gets more and more philosophical as we go on. We talk about the key role robotics has to play in reaching AGI, how to leverage the overlooked AI development talent here in Japan, how small startups can compete against today's AI giants, and then how we can live with AI, how to keep our interest aligned. And at the end, one important thing Elon Musk shows us about our relationship to AI. And I guarantee it's not what you, and certainly not what Elon thinks it is. But you know, Jad tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: I am sitting here with Jad Tarifi, founder of Integral AI, so thanks for sitting down with me. Jad: Thank you. Tim: Integral AI, you guys are “unlocking, scalable, robust general intelligence.” Now that's a pretty big claim, so let's break that down. What exactly are you guys doing? Jad: So, when we look at generative AI models right now, they usually operate as a black box. And because they have minimal assumptions on the data, they have to do a lot of work and they tend to be inefficient in terms of the amount of data they need and the amount of compute. We're taking a different approach that's inspired by the architecture of the neocortex, which roughly speaking follows a hierarchical design where different layers produce abstractions and then feed into higher layers that create abstractions of abstractions and so on. Tim: Okay, so this is not an LLM architecture or is this a kind of LLM architecture? Jad: When people talk about LLM, usually they talk about auto regressive transformer networks. So this would be a different type of architecture than that. However we can use transformers or other models like diffusion models as building blocks within that overall architecture. Tim: It's interesting that you took a different path than LLMs because you're not new to AI.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Why Japan is looking to France for startup inspiration 34:46

16 weeks ago34:46

34:46

While the rest of the world is copying Silicon Valley, Tokyo is looking at Paris. Today we sit down with Mark Bivens and Matt Romaine, the co-founders of Shizen Capital to talk about Japan's new startup policies, the changing role of M&A, the main force behind the changing attitudes about startups in Japan. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why Japanese startups need to start buying other startups The root of Japan's odd attitudes towards M&A and the forces changing it Structuring investments into foreign startups making a Japan market entry Why the Japan's angel investing tax-break is not really about taxes What Japan plans to import from the French startup ecosystem The best way to win the hearts and minds to change startup culture What's driving the recent explosion in startup events, and will it last? The best Japanese startup ecosystems outside of Tokyo Can authenticity scale? Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Shizen Capital Connect on LinkedIn Follow Shizen Capital on X @shizencapital I highly recommend Mark's blog Rude VC Follow Mark on X @markbivens Follow Matt on X @quanza Check out Mark's Nostr https://rude.vc/nostr Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Everybody wants to be Silicon Valley. Regional and local governments the world over proudly announced that they will be the Silicon Valley of, you know, whatever. We've seen Silicon Glen, Silicon Beach, Silicon Harbor, and countless other less publicized variations. Now, politicians calling out to Silicon Valley works fine as a metaphor, but you know, it's not really a plan. Well, the Japanese government has a plan and they are not looking to San Francisco, but to Paris. And today we're going to talk about that plan and so many other things as well. When we sit down with Mark Bivens and Matt Romaine, the co-founders of Shizen Capital, an early stage fund focused exclusively on Japanese startups. Now, Matt and Mark are both startup founders who became VCs, and that's still pretty rare in Japan. These VCs tend to be overrepresented on disrupting Japan because I don't know, it's a small group and I'm friends with a lot of them. But founders turned, investors are critical to the success of any startup ecosystem, and they're playing an outsized role in shaping what's happening in Japan right now. Mark, Matt and I talk about what's driving the changing attitude around M&A in Japan, which part of the government efforts to support startups are actually working and Japan's potential advantage in becoming a startup powerhouse in the coming years. But you know, Matt and Mark tell that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Mark Bivens and Matt Romaine, the two founding partners of Shizen Capital. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Matt: Delighted to be here. Mark: Yeah, pleasure. Tim. I think I mentioned this privately to you before, but I'm pretty still relatively new in Japan. Seven years ago I moved here and you were my first source as I wanted to learn about the Japanese startup ecosystem. Tim: Well, thank you. Mark: Somebody introducing me to your podcast, so thank you. Tim: Well, no, thank you. It's been a great project and I'm glad this has kind of come full circle and I get a chance to sit here and interview you on it. Mark: I also have to say, in a past life I was a radio DJ. You have a great radio voice, Tim. Tim: Thank you. It's funny, people tell me that all the time, but this is just the way I talk, like normally. Well, thank you. So, let's get into it. So, tell me about Shizen Capital. Who are you investing in and why? Matt: Yeah, well, so I first met Mark in 2015 at a conference in Fukuoka. It was the B dash conference.…

Disrupting Japan

1
A game plan for working artists to beat AI in the marketplace 33:57

20 weeks ago33:57

33:57

Today, we are going to talk about AI, but not in the way you expect. Today, I’m going to give creatives a solid three-point plan to beat AI in the marketplace. I’m going to explain how musicians, podcasters, authors and other artists can survive and even thrive amidst the unstoppable flood of AI generated slop we will all be forced to wade though for the foreseeable future, And to maybe do some good in the process. It’s taken me over a year to write the script for this episode, and like so many of my solo episodes, I originally planned on it being very different from how it turned out. But sometimes the scripts takes on a life of its own, and I have to follow it to what always ends up being a far more interesting place. Those episodes tend to be my most popular I hope you enjoy it. Introduction This is a solid three-point plan for beating AI in the marketplace. I’m going to explain how musicians, podcasters, authors and other artists can survive and even thrive amidst the unstoppable flood of AI we will be forced to wade though for the foreseeable future. Artists, don’t kid yourself, generative AI is here to stay. There is no going back. But there is a way forward. This is a personal topic for me. I used to be a professional musician. I put myself though college playing in bars and clubs. I was Japan’s first professional podcaster. I also love generative AI and am excited about the amazing creative potential it promises. I want to see all of these things thrive. AI will be fine, of course. It’s supported with practically unlimited funds and by lawmakers and industry leaders around the world. Artists, however, could use a little help. What exactly does AI create? People asking if AI can create real art are asking the wrong question. Artists who need to put food on the table need to be asking what artistic needs AI meets in our economy. With those parameters, let’s look at what exactly AI is creating, using podcasts as an example. Google NotebookLM can take any textual input (your website’s FAQs, a press release, last quarter’s sales reports, anything) and create a convincing podcast from that input. A male and a female voice will smoothly and professionally banter about the topic and tease the listener that they won’t believe what’s coming up, and they express broadcast-caliber levels of surprise and admiration over the most trivial bits of information. It’s really good. NotebookLM has very high production standards. But there is nothing really inside. After a minute or two, it’s just not that interesting to listen to — even when the input information was interesting. This is because NotebookLM is incredibly good at imitating the structure and affect of a quality podcast. This is how all LLMs generate art, music, and video. They imitate a particular structure and affect, but the quality of the content is irrelevant. Structure and affect are the logical and emotional cues that let us classify a work as a particular type of art. The structure is the logical parameters; a pop song should be about three minutes long, it should have an identifiable melody. An image should be rectangular. An email should start with a greeting and end with a signature. Those kinds of things. The affect is the emotional parameters. It refers to the emotional reaction we have to a given work. It’s the vibe. Rock and country covers of the same song will have a different affect. They will feel different. Generative AI is successful today in those areas where structure and affect are important but quality is irrelevant. Saying “quality is irrelevant” is not an insult or a backhanded way of saying that quality is poor. The key fact is that AI-generated art (whether it is of high or low quality) excels in situations where quality is irrelevant, and human-generated art (whether it is of high or low quality) excels in situations where quality is relevant.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Inside the government program to invest $1B into Japanese startups

24 weeks ago

—

The Japanese government is taking a very hands-on approach to funding startups. Yuka Hata, Senior Managing Director of the Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) explains the kinds of startups and funds they invest in, and why. We also talk about the two biggest challenges new Japanese VCs face, and what it’s really like for women in VC in Japan It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why JIC runs private equity and venture capital funds. Why Japanese companies struggle with secondary offerings How Japan's low-valuation IPS hurt deep tech startups in Japan How JIC's makes investment decisions Why JIC is investing in foreign VC funds The two big challenges that new Japanese VCs struggle with How JIC is using LP investments to change Japanese VC culture The changing role of women in Japanese VC and how JIC is supporting that change Two reasons it’s important to attract foreign investors into Japan What foreigners most misunderstand about Japan's startup ecosystem A new way for Japanese founders to Go Global Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) JIC's award for their work on female empowerment Connect with Yuka on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and investors. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. There is a lot of debate over the role that government should play in fostering innovation. From American founders loudly demanding that the government just get the hell out of their way, while quietly bidding on government contracts and accepting millions in subsidies, to Chinese entrepreneurs double and triple checking that their business plans and public postures are well aligned with the expectations of the central government. Japan, of course, is taking her own path. Today we sit down with Yuka Hata, Senior Managing Director of the Japan Investment Corporation, or JIC. Now Yuka will explain all of the details in just a few minutes. But briefly JIC is a government-capitalized organization that invests in VC funds, private equity funds, and also creates its own venture funds in order to make direct startup investments. Furthermore, JIC's mission is not just changing the economics of Japan's startup ecosystem, but changing the culture of Japan's startup ecosystem as well. And looking around, they seem to be having a real impact. Yuka and I talk about the kinds of startups and funds that JIC invests in, the two biggest challenges that new Japanese VCs struggle with, and what it's really like for female VCs in Japan right now. But you know, Yuka tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Yuka Hata, the Senior Managing Director of Japan Investment Corp, or JIC. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Yuka: Thank you. Well, thank you so much for inviting me. Such a great opportunity. Tim: I'm delighted to finally get you on the show. We've been talking about this for a long time. Yuka: Thank you. Tim: Well, let's start by talking a bit about JIC. So JIC, you make a lot of investments, but JIC is not really a traditional VC fund. So briefly, what is JIC? What's your mission? What do you do? Yuka: So, JIC has been created as a government-backed investment fund in 2018, to strengthen global competitiveness of Japan's industry. JIC has a kind of strong mission to support the next generation industry in two ways. One, we have created JIC Capitals, which is a private equity fund to pursue industry consolidation and restructuring. That's more private equity play. And the other side is obviously more venture capital play to create the next strong industry out of our country. For that reason, we created a subsidiary called Venture Growth Investment, and they are providing mainly growth-stage risk capitals. And in addition to that,…

Disrupting Japan

1
Everything you ever wanted to know about Fintech in Japan 36:06

28 weeks ago36:06

36:06

We live in a global financial system, but fintech innovation is surprisingly local. Makoto Shibata, the head of FinoLab, has been leading financial innovation Japan for over 20 years, long before the term fintech existed. We talk about the evolution of Japan's fintech landscape, and which fintech sectors are facing consolidation and which are facing growth. And we also explore Japan's rapid transition from a cash-based society to a cashless one and the startup opportunities that opens up. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The critical role of a dedication fintech community Why corporate support is still needed to succeeded in fintech in Japan The government's push to move society away from cash The likely fate of today's e-payment startups Opportunities for fintech startups in the next five years How AI is being used in Japanese banks (you won’t like it) Advice for how startups can successfully collaborate with large financial institutions What is preventing Japanese fintech startups from going global? The kinds of foreign fintech startups with the best chance for success in Japan How to know when you are at the peak of the fintech investing cycle? What foreigners most misunderstand about Japan’s fintech markets Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about FinoLab The FinoLab startup community Connect with Makoto on LinkedIn Friend him on Facebook An interview with Makoto on Xtech Ergomania article on the rise of fintech in Japan Fortune innovation Forum on fintech in Japan [Video] Japan FinTech Topics YouTube playlist [Japanese] Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. FinTech is a broad and confusing startup sector. It's a sweeping category that encompasses everything from pragmatic and meticulous applications, like the optimization and risk management of consumer loan portfolios to the most hype driven and outrageously transparent crypto scams. Of course, at Disrupting Japan, we focus on Japan. And so today we'll be sitting down with Makoto Shibata, the head of FinoLab and the FinoLab Fund. Now, FinoLab has been central to Japan's FinTech community for a long time, and today we're going to take a sober look at FinTech in Japan. What's working, what's not, and what's likely to blow up in the near future. Equally important, before running FinoLab, Makoto spent 23 years at a Japanese mega bank and was in charge of their innovation activities. So, he offers some very practical advice on how FinTech startups can partner with financial institutions in Japan. He explains why such partnerships are needed and where they can go wrong. Makoto and I dig into how Japan is rapidly becoming a cashless society, the opportunities that trend presents for FinTech startups in Japan, and the importance and challenges of Japanese FinTech startups trying to go global and oh, yes, we also talk about what is perhaps the worst possible business use of generative AI ever to be deployed. But, you know, Makoto tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Makoto Shibata of FinoLab. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Makoto: Thank you for having me. Tim: So, FinoLab is a community. It's much more than just the fund, but to start things out, tell me about the fund and its thesis. Who are you investing in and why? Makoto: We started from a business community, we realized that one of the top priority startup is to raise fund. And in their early stages, they may have difficulty, and we thought that it would be good to have our own fund to support these startups. So, basically we would focus on the early stage startup in FinTech related areas. These days FinTech has become quite wide. The territory of FinTech is expanding.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Hey Hey, It’s my birthday! 4:04

30 weeks ago4:04

4:04

Disrupting Japan is 10 years old today! This is a simple thank you rather than a full episode. Thanks for listening! Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. This is a very short and very special episode. It's not an episode really, more of a personal message. You see, ten years ago today. I released the very first episode of Disrupting Japan. And I just wanted to say thank you. I really mean that. Independent podcasting is an incredibly personal medium and it depends on there being a real connection between the host, and the guests, and the listeners. Commercial talk shows spend a fortune creating the illusion of that connection. And being in the center of that in real life is an honor and it’s amazing. It’s become a cliche when the host thanks their audience and reminds them that the show would not be possible without them, but it’s different at Disrupting Japan. You really do create a big part of the show’s value. Let me explain. It’s not about download numbers or affiliate link-clicks. I don’t sell anything and my guests aren’t selling anything on Disrupting Japan, so those metrics don’t matter much to me. However, my guests often comment on the surprisingly high quality of inbound contracts they receive after appearing on the show. These connections have resulted in a lot of new hires, and a handful of investments have been made as well. That community, the engagement and overall quality of the listeners is a big part of the show’s value. In fact, over the years, four Japanese startup founders have told me that listening to our guests’ tell their stories on Disrupting Japan gave them the confidence to start their own startup, and that’s pretty awesome. So, thank you! Ten years ago I never imagined how big Disrupting Japan would become. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out sometimes. But here we are. Ten years and well over 200 episodes later, and we have over 9,000 listers in more than 150 countries around the world — including one listener from Vatican City. Now, I have no way of knowing for sure exactly who that listener is. I mean, it could be anybody. But I like to think of it as a testament to the influential nature of Disrupting Japan’s listeners. Building Disrupting Japan is an honor and a joy. I love putting the show together, and despite having a fairly demanding day job, I always make sure Disrupting Japan is released on schedule and is a quality show that woth the time you put into listening to it. The show takes up a lot of weekends and evenings. I’ve done pre-interview research while in the hospital for a minor surgery. I’ve done post production editing in so many different airport lounges, and twice I’ve made a little pillow-fort in my hotel room so I would have decent acoustics to record the intro and outtro. So, whether you are a new lister or have been a part of Disrupting Japan ever since episode 1 was released 10 years ago, thank you for taking this journey with me. Startup innovation is really starting to flourish in Japan, and we have exciting times ahead. And most of all, thanks for listening and thank you for letting people interested in Japanese startups and VCs know about the show. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for listening to Disrupting Japan.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Why SaaS is growing so much faster in Japan Shinji Asada – One Capital 37:34

32 weeks ago37:34

37:34

SaaS startup valuations and growth rates have dropped sharply in most of the world, but not in Japan. SaaS startups are growing fast in Japan, and that trend is set to accelerate even more over the next five years. Today Shinji Asada of One Capital explains Japan's still-untapped SaaS potential, his unique SMB and product-focused investment thesis, and the big changes that are happening in Japan's startup ecosystem. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The untapped potential of SMB SaaS Unique requirements for product collaboration software in Japan What is will take for Japanese SaaS startups to go global How One Capital helps its investors with digital transformation Japanese CVCs play a different role than in the US, and that's a good thing Why Japan SaaS valuations will continue to climb What makes a great SaaS company How Japanese founders have changed over the past 20 years How they will change in the next five How Japanese VC will (and will not) change in the next five years What Shinji learned from doing inside sales as a VC Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about One Capital The SaaS metrics tool, Projection AI Follow Shinji on Twitter @asada23 Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. I have always been a fan of Enterprise SaaS. In fact, all of the startups I founded have been enterprise SaaS companies, and some of those were back when SaaS was called ASP. But these days it seems that SaaS has lost a lot of its former shine and sparkle, at least in the US market. Multiples are way down for both public and private SaaS companies. We're seeing a lot of flat and even down rounds. For the first time in a very long time, American VCs just aren't that excited about SaaS startups. But things are very different in Japan. Today we sit down with Shinji Asada, co-founder and general partner of One Capital. Shinji explains how SaaS in Japan has had a very different history and why it's likely going to have a very different future than it will in the West. And he brings the numbers to back that up. We also talk about why SaaS valuations continue to climb in Japan, how Japanese VCs are changing, and why Shinji spends his spare time doing inside sales for SaaS products. But you know, Shinji tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Shinji Asada, the founder of One Capital. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Shinji: Appreciate it. Tim: So, Shinji, first of all, let me just congratulate you on your recently closed Fund two, which was just last month, right? Shinji: Yeah. It was a great adventure too, because Fund two is different from Fund one. Fund one is totally, totally new, where you have to talk a lot, about track record and your strategy. And Fund two, you have a little bit of an easier life because you've started your Fund one and you've deployed most of the capital. So, you have a story to tell in a concrete manner. Tim: I'm going to dig into that whole journey in a bit later. But right now, tell me a bit about One Capital. What's your thesis? Who are you investing in and why? Shinji: We are a sector focused early stage Fund, focused on enterprise software. The reason is, I think Japan has a huge problem with the adoption of technology in the workforce. And I've been working at Itochu, which is a great company in a profitable large market cap growing. But the systems that I had to use was very, very old. It's on-prem customized software. You know, even under those IT system circumstances, I think corporate Japan is doing pretty well. And people didn't actually use digital workflows pre-covid because we had this thing called the Hanko, which is stamps.…

Disrupting Japan

1
How to build a startup in Japan 49:47

34 weeks ago49:47

49:47

If you have ever wondered what it really takes to start and grow a startup as a foreigner in Japan. Well, I have a treat for you today. Earlier this year, at the Japan FinTech Festival, I had the privilege of sitting down with four fantastic foreign FinTech founders and talking about what you need to succeed in Japan. There are some great insights here from Jeff Wentworth of Curvegrid, Paul Chapman of Moneytree, Sam Pemberton-Ahmed of SmartPay, and Samantha Ghiotti of Habitto. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Transcript I think in every startup ecosystem, foreigners play an outsized role in promoting that ecosystem, whether it's in San Francisco, whether it's London. And the reasons for that might be a desire, a people who are willing to uproot themselves and move halfway across the world, maybe are just bigger risk takers. Maybe it's new perspective. But today, we're gonna dig into what it takes to grow a startup, a Fintech startup in particular as a foreigner here in Japan. And to start out, we're gonna do really brief, really brief introductions. So I'm Tim Romero. I'm a partner at Jira Ventures. We invest in green tech energy, sustainability, next generation energy. Before that, I founded 4 startups here in Japan. I ran Google for startups Japan for a number of years. I helped Tapco spin out their CVC, and I run a podcast called Disrupting Japan, which is interviews with Japanese founders about what it's like to be a founder in a culture that prizes conformity. Samantha? Hi, everyone. My name is Sam, and I'm the cofounder of Habito. Habits is Japan's first connected financial experience helping people save, invest, and protect what they love the most. As my surname suggests, I'm Italian and I'm a mother of 2. And, I've been living and working across 4 different continents, London, New York, Dubai, Singapore, and now Tokyo. I spent about 20 years at the intersection of tech and finance, about 10 years as an operator, both in large financial institutions. And I ran the Singlife franchise in Singapore prior to its exit in 2021. And I spent 10 years as an investor sitting on the other side, predominantly in venture and also private equity, with a company called Anthemis Group, which is pioneer fintech investors in Europe and North America. And, that's where I met a lot of people there today is in this room. So it's great to see you all again. Excellent. Sam? Hi. My name's Sam. I'm from SmartPay. SmartPay is an embedded finance company. What does that mean? We provide installment loans to consumers at the point of purchase to help merchants, to grow their revenue. And then as of today as well, we just announced insurance as well. So we've partnered with Chubb, and we're providing product insurance and travel insurance with Chubb, at the point of purchase as well. We've signed over 20 banks and 201 credit unions. What does that mean? It means that you can pay directly from your bank account digitally. So we've connected with the 20 banks and 201 Credit Unions through APIs. So through our app, you can access your bank account. Me, personally, I've been working in Japan since 2010. Very lucky I was with Starbucks, where we rolled out in app payment, and loyalty card and obviously grew Japan to to be the 2nd largest market at Starbucks, moved to Mastercard, worked with Japan, as well with the banks, and then I was at Facebook, and WhatsApp, and Instagram in Japan and learned a lot from Zuck about success in Japan and decided to to go on my own. Good morning, everyone. My name is Paul Chapman. I'm the, the founder and and CEO at Moneytree. We're a financial data platform, based in Tokyo. We work with some of the largest banks such as SMBC, one of the sponsors, Mitsubishi OFJ, Japan Post Bank. We have some of the fastest growing, up and coming start ups in Japan using our data platform to get access to over 2,500 data sources. We we've been at this for a while,…

Disrupting Japan

1
The hidden danger of unicorn counting in JapanJames Riney – Coral Capital 45:37

36 weeks ago45:37

45:37

Japan has far fewer unicorns than one expects - or than venture capitalists desire. That fact, however, hides a fascinating story. Today James Riney, founding partner of Coral Capital explains the danger of unicorn counting. We dive deep into which startup sectors Japan is likely to lead in globally in the coming decade, how to identify unique startup value in Japan. We also talk about how Japan has become more like Silicon Valley in the past ten years and why they are about to become very different. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Coral Capital’s portfolio strategy How to find Japanese startups that can make a global impact Three categories of Japanese startups with unique opportunities for growth Sectors where Japan has a global advantage in startups Why “niche” startups in Japan can become hugely profitable What’s in Store for Carpal Capital Fund 4 Proof Japanese investors are long-term patent long-term investors The importance of VC portfolio services is growing in Japan How to get a job at a startup Starting a VC fund as a foreigner in Japan Japan’s “Just who does he think he is?! “ problem The error in the government's plan to attract foreign investors Why foreign VC struggle in Japan This biggest misconceptions foreign VCs have about the Japanese market Japan’s hidden unicorns Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Coral Capital Get in touch as a startup Get in touch as normal person (lol) Coral Capital on YouTube The Coral Capital podcast Follow James on Twitter @james_riney Connect with him on LinkedIn Japan's Hidden Unicorns James' Article on Japan's 41 Hidden Unicorns My panel discussion on the same topic : Live from Stanford: Where are Japan’s Unicorns? Coral Capital Fund IV announcement Get a job at Coral Capital Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative startups and VCs. I'm Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. Venture capital in Japan is changing, but not in the way that most people think it is. Today, we sit down and talk with longtime friend of the show and founding partner of Coral Capital, James Riney. Now, James first came on the show about eight years ago, back when he was at 500 startups and before he even started Coral Capital. Over those eight years, James and Coral has probably done more than anyone to bring Silicon Valley style VC investment and VC founder support to Japan. And we're going to talk about some of those successes and failures. James also shares exactly what he and the team at Coral Capital are looking for in the startups they invest in and how they identify unique startup value in Japan. We also dive into the recent push to attract more foreign VC investment into Japan, what foreigners misunderstand about investing in Japanese startups, the challenges of establishing a VC fund here in Japan, and what Japanese and Silicon Valley VCs still need to learn from each other. But you know, James tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with longtime friend of the show. James Rainey, who's CEO, founder of Coral Capital. So, thanks for sitting down with us again. James: Thank you. I guess it's my third time. Tim: Third time in almost 10 years. James: It's crazy. Time flies. Tim: It does. Man, so much has changed. It's just incredible. But we will go down memory lane some other time. And today let's talk Coral. So, tell me about your fund. Who are you investing in and why? James: Yeah, so we are basically looking for what we call Power Law companies in Japan. So, as you know, venture capital is very much driven by Power Law, which means that there's only a handful of companies in the industry or at a firm level that are really going to drive most of the returns.…

Disrupting Japan

1
The surprising future of Japan’s new robot companions 33:58

40 weeks ago33:58

33:58

Japan thinks about robotics and AI differently that the West. In addition to their functional, productive role, a lot of thought is also given to our personal interactions, their social role, and the relationships we build with them. Today we sit down with Shunsuke Aoki, founder of Yukai Engineering and one of the most innovative and creative thinkers on the emotional connection between humans and machines. We talk about the future of robot companionship, how AI will change the definition of "culture", and why the future of Japanese robotics will have a lot more participation by foreigners. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The importance of emotional connection with robots Why children will listen to robots more then parents The importance and future of robot companionship Japanese vs western robot attitudes in culture and fiction How GenZ is is accepting AI boyfriends and girlfriends What a healthy emotional connection with an AI or robot looks like How to keep AI from influencing us into developing bad habits and Why do we keep building human like robots Why it’s easier to form an emotional connection to Qooboo than Abbot How to (maybe) make money on emotional robots Why the Japanese approach to robotics needs more foreigners in Japan now Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Yukai Engineering Follow Shunsuke on Twitter @aopico Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Yukai's Products Bocco Emo Qoobo Nekkomimi Fufury Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative startups and VCs. I'm Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. Today, we're going to talk about robots because I mean, hey, who doesn't love robots? Now, in past episodes, we've talked a lot about how Japan's relationship with robots and automation is fundamentally different from what it is in the West. It's not really about technology. I mean, technology is universal. It's more about the personal and cultural connection to machines in general. Well, today I have a real treat for you. We sit down and talk with Shunsuke Aoki, the founder of Yukai Engineering. Now Shunsuke may not be that well known outside Japan, but he's one of the most innovative and creative thinkers on the topic of how humans and machines can connect on an emotional and a subconscious level. Now, to be fair, an audio podcast can't really do justice to Yukai engineering's creations, but we're going to do our best. You need to see the videos or really you need to interact with Shunsuke's creations in person to fully understand the emotional impact. Shunsuke and I talk about the future of robot and AI companionship, how AI will change the way we think about culture, and why the future of Japanese robotics will involve a lot more participation from foreigners. But, you know, Shunsuke tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Shunsuke Aoki, the founder of Yukai Engineering who's creating lifestyle robots, and thanks for sitting down with us again. It's been a while. Shunsuke: Thank you. It's been a while. Tim: Yukai over the last decade and a half has been making so many cool, interesting things that just to name a few, your first big hit was the Nekomimi wearable cattier that respond to brainwaves. You have the Qoobo sort of companion pillow which has the cat tail on it. The Bocco family robot that seems to be getting a lot of traction and it's hard to describe these on an audio podcast. But we'll put videos and pictures on the site, but it's hard to understand this kind of emotional impact unless you can touch and interact with these robots. With so much robotics research going on, you've been very focused on this sort of emotional connection. Tell me about that. Why is that important? Why do you focus on that?…

Disrupting Japan

1
How VCs drive (and murder) global startup ambition in Japan 41:44

44 weeks ago41:44

41:44

What keeps Japanese startups stuck in Japan? It's not a lack of opportunity or ambition. It's not a lack of knowledge or talent. In fact, one of Japan's most experienced venture capitalists thinks that VCs themselves that are the problem. Today we sit down with Ken Yasunaga, founder and Managing Partner of Global Hands On VC, a fund focused on finding and supporting the Japanese startups with the highest potential to succeed in the global market. Before founding GHOVC, Ken was managing director at INCJ (Japan's public/private $21B venture fund) as well holding multiple leadership positions in the Japan Venture Capital Association. We talk about the unique opportunities for investment in Japan, the trap of going public here, how some VCs are holding startups back, and why this might be a turning point for Japan's new global startups. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The two most pressing needs in Japan's startup ecosystem What's driving the increasing quality of Japanese founders Why we are not seeing Japanese unicorns What's preventing Japanese startups from going global The trap of going pubic in Japan Why Japanese startups struggle to go global The importance of mentors and hands-on support The important role of foreign VCs in Japan The right role government needs to play in supporting innovation in Japan Are Japanese founders becoming more conformist? Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about GHOVC Check out GHOVC on YouTube Follow Ken on Twitter @ken_yasunaga Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative startups and VCs. I'm Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. Talking about how Japanese startups need to go global is like talking about needing to go to the gym to lose those 10 pounds. I mean, everyone agrees it’s a great idea, a necessary one in fact, everyone is incredibly supportive. There are classes, networking opportunities, a wide and encouraging network. We all agree that it needs to be done, but somehow very few actually get off their ass and make it happen. Well, today we sit down with Ken Yasunaga, who is going to explain what he and his team are doing to fix that. The going global part, I mean, getting motivated to go to the gym is a discussion we'll save for a later time. Ken is the founder and the managing partner at Global Hands-on VC a fund. He and his partners put together to focus on finding the Japanese startups with the strongest global potential, and then providing them with the resources and guidance they need to actually do so successfully. Before starting his most recent fund, Ken managed one of the largest Japan government VC funds and has advised both METI and the Cabinet Office on startup policy. So, we also dive deep into the role that government should play in supporting the startup ecosystem here. The IPO trap that many Japanese startups fall into, the unique opportunity for foreign VCs in Japan. And of course just what it's going to take to get Japanese startups to succeed in global markets. But, you know, Ken tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Ken Yasunaga, the founder and managing partner of Global Hands-on VC. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Ken: Well, thank you for having me. Tim: I've really been looking forward to this conversation because we've known each other for quite some time now through several iterations of our career path. So, let's talk about your thesis at Global Hands-on VC because I think you're addressing two really important needs in Japan's startup ecosystem. Ken: Yeah. So, let me first tell you what the Global Hands-on VC. We call it the GHOVC. This is a VC fund that invest to the Japanese technology startup.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Big News from Disrupting Japan! 2:33

46 weeks ago2:33

2:33

There is important news for Disrupting Japan this week. It's a very short episode because I just want to let you know what's coming, and to thank you for all your support over the years. Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan Straight talk from Japan’s most innovative startups and VCs. I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for listening. Big changes are coming to Disrupting Japan. Our 10th anniversary is coming up this September, and you know, I thought about making this change then, but no. No, there is too much going on right now now to wait for four more months. For the past ten years Disruption Japan has brought you the stories of Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs, and I am going to continue to do that. But starting today, we are going to be hearing from Japan’s leading venture capitalists as well. There are a few reasons for the change. Part of it is that the Japanese venture landscape is changing fast, and in some very different snd important ways than what we see in the US. Understanding innovation and startups in Japan requires understanding how it all gets financed and understanding the changing role that venture capital is playing here. The other reason for the change coming now is that these days as a Partner at JERA Ventures, these are the waters in which I swim. And there are some incredibly interesting trends and changes going on in the ecosystem that I will be sharing with you. Naturally, we’ll also talk about the kinds of startups VCs are investing in now and where they see the market heading in the future. And of course, Disrupting Japan will still be talking with founders — a lot of them! After all, that’s where the change and the innovation really comes from. The founders are the are men and women who are actually in the arena, fighting the good fight, and changing the world. So I’ll see you right back here in just a couple of weeks. And most of all thanks for listening, and thank you for letting people interested in Japanese startups and investors know about the show. I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for listening to Disrupting Japan.…

Disrupting Japan

1
How to sell innovation in cut-throat, low-margin industries 44:40

48 weeks ago44:40

44:40

Some industries need to be dragged kicking and screaming to innovation. When margins are tight and profits are small, CEOs often don't want to spend a dime on the promise of increased efficiencies or long-term savings, and so external leverage is needed. Today we talk with Shinya Shimizu, founder and CEO of Elephantech, who explains how he found that leverage in his mission to make the global technology supply chain more environmentally friendly. We explore how Elephantech and other startups are helping the world meet net-zero targets, strategies for scaling manufacturing startups, and how you can make money while doing good in the world. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The surprising impact of circuit boards on global CO2 emissions Growing from a kickstarter camping into a multi-million dollar startup How to raise debt financing rather than equity financing How Elephantech is selling eco-friendly solutions in a low-margin commodity industry How they built their first factory, and Shinya never wants to build another one How to scale a manufacturing startup Advice on successfully selling to and collaborating with Japanese enterprise How to take a deep tech startup global without massive amounts of capital Advice for sustainability startups on how to survive and thrive in cost-conscious industries When government regulation is good for startups and when it's damaging The danger of the wrong kinds of founder role models in Japan. Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Elephantech Follow Shinya on Twitter @shinyashimizu_e Connect with Shinya on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Circuit boards are one of those things that are everywhere, but that we really don't think about very much. Personally my only direct experience with circuit boards was years ago and involved a fair amount of cursing and a lot of solder burns. But printed circuit boards or PCBs, or a $90 billion global industry that is highly standardized, tightly controlled, and surprisingly damaging to the environment. Well, Shinya Shimizu and the team at Elephantech are changing that, they've not only developed the technology to re-engineer PCB manufacturer to be more environmentally friendly and less expensive, but they've also built their first factory and are now selling to some of the world's largest manufacturers. Elephantech is a great example of how startups can succeed while making a positive contribution in this world. And Shinya also gives some great practical advice about how to sell to large enterprises as a new startup. How to raise money for capital intensive growth, and how to introduce new innovation into a low margin cutthroat industry. It's really quite an amazing story of their journey from a small Kickstarter project 10 years ago to make a pen that lets you draw working electrical circuits to selling PCB technology to some of the world's largest manufacturers today, to just maybe fundamentally changing the way circuit boards get made tomorrow. But, you know, Shinya tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Shinya Shimizu, the CEO and founder of Elephantech. The first company in the world to mass produce printed circuit boards using an inkjet printing, echo friendly, sustainable manufacturing process. Shinya: Yeah. Sure. Tim: That's longer to say than I thought. But thanks for sitting down with us. Shinya: You're welcome. So, I'm really happy to be here. Tim: Well, I try to explain what you do in that big mouthful of an introduction, but I think you can probably explain it better than me. So, what does Elephantech do? Shinya: So, Elephantech is going to completely change the way of manufacturing electronic circ...…

Disrupting Japan

1
Startups need to think global, but you need to beware of being global 42:56

52 weeks ago42:56

42:56

Japanese HR departments are in a bit of a panic right now. The increasing job mobility that startups have unleashed is forcing them to rethink their entire mission. Today we sit down and Takako Ogawa, co-founder and CEO of Panalyt, a startup at the center of this transformation, and we talk about the changing career paths in Japan, when startups need to change CEOs, and the dangers of going global that people don't seem to talk about. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why it's so hard for HR to answer simple questions Google’s approach to people analytics and why that's important in Japan The dangers involved in the freemium model Why a Singapore-based startup started focusing on Japan Why it's better to build a startup today in Japan rather than Singapore How to change a startup CEO The importance and danger of transparency in a startup The problem most enterprise SaaS dashboard startups never overcome The right way for a startup to go global HRs new mission in Japan and its struggles to fufill it Why your next head of HR might come from marketing How Japan punishes failure Takako's near "career-ending" mistake in corporate HR that put her on the path to entrepreneurship Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know Panalyt Friend Takako on Facebook Panalyt's column in HRPro about modern HR in Japan [Japanese] Panalyt's book on modern people analytics [Japanese] Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japanese HR departments are in crisis right now. Oh, life was simple back in the good old days when the big firms all recruited straight out of university and employees stayed with the company until they retired. But things are changing in Japan. People are starting to switch jobs. Companies are hiring mid-career and startups? Well, startups are a source of employee mobility, that is forcing enterprise HR to completely rethink its entire mission. Today we sit down and talk with someone at the center of this transformation, Takako Ogawa, co-founder and CEO of Panalyt, a startup bringing modern people analytics to Japanese HR departments. But that was not always the case. Takako was not always the CEO and Panalyt, was not always a Japanese startup. So, Takako and I talk about that journey. We'll dive into how you know when a startup needs a new CEO, how to decide on your first overseas market including a few big mistakes that you should be sure to avoid. And the very important difference between having a global mindset from day one and actually being global from day one. But, you know, Takako tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So I'm sitting here with Takako Ogawa, the co-founder and CEO of Panalyt, who's bringing modern people analytics to Japanese enterprise. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Takako: Yeah, thank you. Tim: It's really great to have you on the show. But just for a background, what is people analytics? Takako: So, in a nutshell, how I see people analytics is taking a scientific or data approach to HR, kind of in the same way that when you build a new product, you do AB testing, or when you're building financial models, you test out a lot of things in numbers. And the super exciting thing is in the people space, now we can do this as well. Modern enterprises who uses a payroll system, a time and attendance system, HRIS, they have enough data to make data-driven approaches to people. Tim: So, data-driven is good. We all like data, but what kind of decisions are these companies making? What are they improving? Takako: I can definitely share some of the experiences at Google because back when I was there, we used data in everything. Like everything. I was astonished by how Google approached HR and that's what got me...…

Disrupting Japan

1
What today’s headlines don’t tell you about Fusion Energy 37:29

1 year ago37:29

37:29

Fusion energy promises almost unlimited, inexpensive, clean energy. That's a pretty big promise. Today we sit down with Satoshi Konishi, co-founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, and we talk about what it is really going to take to develop commercially viable fusion power and the role that startups have to play in that process. We talk about the emerging public-private research partnerships, who is pulling ahead in the fusion race, and we dig into the long history and near future of fusion energy It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why fusion energy is much older than you think Why fusion energy dropped out of the news and why it’s back How to raise venture capital for moonshot startups The three core components to a fusion power that form Kyoto Fusioneering's business model A strategy for standardizing when technology moves quickly How recent fusion energy headlines have been misleading Why we have a fusion energy startup cluster in Japan The Japanese public attitude towards fusion How the fusion industry will develop over the next five to ten years The biggest misconception about fusion in Japan One way to solve Japan’s deep tech scaling problem Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know Kyoto Fusioneering Connect with them on LinkedIn Check out some videos of the experimental fusion equipment Satoshi's ResearchGate page Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about fusion energy. Now, for the past several decades, fusion has been touted as the best possible solution to the world's energy needs. It's a promise of clean, safe, inexpensive, and virtually limitless energy. So, what's not to love? Of course, making that dream a reality is not exactly a simple matter. Today, we sit down with Satoshi Konishi, founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, and we talk about the state of fusion energy today, the problems that still need to be solved and the role that startups have to play in making fusion energy a commercial reality. And if during our interview, it sounds like I'm sometimes kind of bubbling over in geeky excitement, well, it's because I am. Fusion energy is something that's fascinated me since I was in high school. It's just such an interesting and important set of technologies, and it's some genuinely cool physics as well. Anyway, Satoshi and I dig into both the history of fusion power and the current challenges being faced by both universities and startups alike in bringing it to commercialization. Why the most viral headlines about fusion energy tend to be really misleading, what’s needed for more effective public private partnerships and fusion, and of course, we also dive into how Satoshi sees fusion energy developing over the next 10 years and the real trigger that will determine when and if we will see a world powered by fusion. But, you know, Satoshi tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I am sitting here with Satoshi Konishi of Kyoto Fusioneering, who's working with researchers and startups around the world to make fusion energy a reality. So, thanks so much for sitting down with us. Satoshi: I'm very happy to just talk with you. Thank you very much. Tim: Well, it's my pleasure. And before we get deep into the fusion technology, my understanding is that Kyoto Fusion hearing's focus is on the materials and the precision engineering that are needed for fusion research. Satoshi: Yeah, that is partially true, but what we intend to do ultimately is that to make the anti-fusion plant to make fusion energy. But what makes fusion energy well is not resource, but small amount hydrogen, but big machines very precisely made. So, when need special materials,…

Disrupting Japan

1
One soil startup’s unusual and risky scaling secret 29:16

1 year ago29:16

29:16

Most sustainability startups struggle to find sustainable business models Towing, however, has found their solution, and their customers are seeing 20% to 70% increases crop yields. Today we sit down with Towing co-founder Teppei Okamura and he explains why even such a drastic yield improvement required an innovative production and distribution model to achieve scale. We also talk about the advantages (and the challenges) of working with university research teams, how environment policy and carbon credits affect innovation in sustainable agriculture, and Towing's joint research project with JAXA, Japan's space agency, on developing farming in space. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Towing is revitalizing depleted agricultural soil Achieving and verifying 20 to 70 % yield improvements The pros and cons of research collaboration with Japanese universities The high-tech business model behind dirt How to develop the economic incentives needed to make sustainable agriculture profitable Towing's distributed business model that reduces storage and distribution costs Farming in space and the most important part of getting it to work Why Japan is a good market for Agtech startups How carbon offset pricing influences sustainable agriculture The advantages of starting a startup when the economy is good vs when times are bad. Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Towing Follow Towing on Twitter @TOWING_0227 Friend Teppei on Facebook Government's take on space farming [pdf] Interesting information in Japanese Founder interview at Nagoya University Towing's recent TV appearance Agricultural carbon credits Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Cheaper Than Dirt. Well, anyone who works in modern agriculture will tell you that's not necessarily very cheap these days. Maintaining soil quality is hard and soil revitalization is expensive. Well, today we sit down and talk with Teppei Okamura, co-founder of Towing, a startup that has developed a sustainable and affordable soil additive that is resulting in a 20 to 70% increase in crop yield and is now being sold to farmers throughout Japan. And Towing addresses the common scalability challenge that these kinds of agricultural tech startups inevitably face by using an innovative production and distribution model that should allow them to achieve meaningful and perhaps even global scale. We talk about the challenges of launching a university spin out using licensed IP, why so many genuinely innovative agTech startups never managed to reach sustainable commercial scale, and about Towing's ongoing collaboration with Japan's space agency to develop the technologies and protocols to make agriculture and space a reality. But, you know, Teppei tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Teppei Okamura of Towing, who's using microorganisms and bio charcoal to revitalize agricultural soil. And thanks for sitting down with us today. Teppei: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Tim: I gave just a very, very high level explanation of what Towing does, and I'm sure you can explain it much better than I can. Teppei: What we produce is artificial soil. Basically we make soil from bio-char, which is made from any like organic materials and like waste from rice industry or like chicken industry or any waste. The organic waste can be used and we grow our basic microbes in the bio-char. And we make that into very good soil or good soil additives, especially good for organic farming. Tim: And from what I understand, while it can usually take up to five years to revitalize agricultural soil Towing’s process can do it in in one month. Teppei: Yes.…

Disrupting Japan

1
What you need to know to sell to schools in Japan

1 year ago

—

Everyone agrees that the Japanese education system needs to be modernized, but EdTech startups still face an uphill battle in Japan. Of course, academia and governments are not known for being particularly innovative or forward-thinking, and that's why Kohei Kuboyama left a fast-track career at Japan's Ministry of Finance to launch an EdTech startup. Kohei lays out his blueprint for getting new technology and new products adopted in Japan's schools, explains the challenges of leaving government service to start a startup, and talks about a few optimistic long-term trends he sees in Japan's eduction system. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why it’s so hard to leave the government to start a startup The three waves of "founder acceptance" in Japan Why EdTech startups sell to cram schools instead of regular schools The key to turning teachers into product advocates The biggest challenge in selling to high-schools in Japan. How to create life-long learners in Japan The appropriate role of the Japanese government in supporting startups The biggest risk with government funded startups Getting over the fear of failure in Japan Links from the Founder Everything you wanted to know about okke Friend Kohei on Facebook Connect with him on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Edtech Startups in Japan need to overcome some significant barriers in order to succeed. Oh, it's not that people really want those barriers there. There's a huge desire for change in innovation. In fact, there is an almost universal agreement that the way Japanese children are taught needs to be modernized and reformed. The hard part, however, is getting people to actually agree on what concrete changes need to be made. Well, today we sit down with Kohei Kuboyama, the founder of okke. And Kohei lays out his strategy for getting EdTech startup products approved by and used in Japanese schools. He also tells the story of how okke evolved from a simple YouTube curation site into an integrated testing and tutoring platform. We also talk about Kohei’s surprising decision to leave his fast track career at the Ministry of Finance to start a startup, the key steps to selling to Japanese high schools and cram schools. And we dive deep into the Japanese philosophy of education and instruction, how it differs from that in the West, and exactly how Japanese high schools and even cram schools are starting to change. But, you know, Kohei tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Kohei Kuboyama, the founder of okke and maker of Dr. okke. Who's helping high school students learn. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Kohei: Thanks for having me. Tim: I talked really briefly about what okke does but I'm sure you can explain it much better than I can. Kohei: Yeah. So, our mission is to make a world where every person learns actively and every person can make their lives fulfilled. We are providing two products. One is for high school students and one is for schools. One product is called okke, this is actually an app for high school students and they can use our app for free. So, the basic concept of okke, is to let high school students learn wherever they want to, whenever they want to, and wherever they live. The basic concept is the search engine. So, there are a lot of useful and helpful learning information and contents on Google and YouTube, for example. But there are many kinds of information there. Game and contents of music and so on. We are making the search engine under the platform focusing on learning. Tim: So, how does it work? So, I think like at first you originally started just curating videos. And recommending educational videos,…

Disrupting Japan

1
AI’s new game-changing role in decoding mountains of EKGs

1 year ago

—

The medical industry is one of the most challenging areas for startups to succeed in. "Move fast and break things" just doesn't work in medicine. So you might be surprised to learn that right now there are quite a few innovative medical startups coming out of Japan. Today we talk with Yuichi Tamura, founder of Cardio Intelligence, who has developed Smart Robin, an AI platform that reads EKGs, has been certified as a diagnostic device, and is being used in clinics and hospitals all over Japan. We talk about the challenges of bringing medical AI to market, their plans for global expansion, and the most important thing that venture capital can offer medTech startups. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The importance and challenge of the current EKG-reading workflow Why is is so hard to bring a new medical innovations to market Yuichi's transition from medicine to business. A go-to-market strategy for medical startups How Cardio Intelligence acquired enough EKG training data Why automatic EKG diagnostic innovation stopped in the 1970s The importance of explainable AI for medical devices and diagnostics The role startups need to play in medical innovation in Japan What venture capital firms can really contribute to medTech startups (besides the capital) Links from the Founder Everything you wanted to know about Cardio Intelligence Follow them on Twitter @cardio_int Follow Yuichi on Twitter @TamCardio Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Genuinely new medical technology is one of the most difficult things for a startup to bring to market. Regulations are complex and capital needs are high, and yet Japan has a surprisingly large cluster of innovative medical startups who have new technology both approved for and actually in use in clinical practice. There are a number of reasons for this, and today we sit down with Yuichi Tamura, MD and founder of Cardio Intelligence, a startup using AI to read EKGs and detect atrial fibrillation. It's a technology that not only makes work faster, but it opens up a whole new range of important inexpensive diagnostic tests that were simply impractical before. It's AI technology that is doing genuine good. Yuichi and I dive deeply into that, and we also talk about how AI is going to change the face of telemedicine and rural hospitals. Why EKG innovation stopped in the seventies and exactly when technical founders need to step out of the CEO role. But, you know, Yuichi tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Yuichi Tamura, the founder and CEO of Cardio Intelligence and maker of Smart Robin, who's using AI to detect atrial fibrillations from EKGs. Thanks for sitting down with me today. Yuichi: Sure, my pleasure. Tim: Well, I gave a really brief introduction to what Cardio Intelligence does, and I'm sure you can explain it much better than I can. So, what do you guys do? Yuichi: So, Cardio Intelligence provides the AI medical software, which enables physicians and the technicians to lead the long-term electrocardiogram more easily. Tim: And you're focused on detecting atrial fibrillation. So, what exactly is atrial fibrillation and why is it bad? Yuichi: Atrial fibrillation is a very, very big problem for cardiac health. It brings not only heart failure, but also brain stroke because an atrial fibrillation make a paralyzing the atrium, the upper chamber in the heart, which brings some very, very small thrombin. And finally, it drives into the brain arteries which brings a brain stroke. So, in such a case, the patient suffer from very severe symptom, half of the body paralyzing and sometimes make sudden death. Tim: And from what I understand it,…

Disrupting Japan

1
What it takes to teach Japan Inc how to code 49:16

1 year ago49:16

49:16

Japan wants to learn how to code. Over the past 15 years software development in Japan has changed from low-level clerical work to a mission-critical skill, and the Japanese government and industry as scrambling to find programmers and develop new talent. Yan Fan came to Japan on a mission to teach everyone how to code. After opening Japan's first coding bootcamp, and she and her co-founder Kani grew Code Chrysalis to profitability and about 50 staff, and continue to grow rapidly. Yan and I talk about digital literacy in Japan, and she also explains her blueprint for making sales in Japan without speaking Japanese, identifying a startup's unique value in Japan, and her experience raising money from both angels and CVCs It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. As promised, here is a picture of "Benesse's pumpkin"a work by Yayoi Kusama. It will all make sense after you listen to the episode. Show Notes Why Japanese enterprise is looking at coding bootcamps Why software development was a dirty job and how that's changing Why come to Japan to start a startup Raising money as a non-digital startup in Japan How angel investors add value and what attracts CVCs Attracting your first customers as a foreign startup in Japan Why Japan needs a community-learners mindset where people learn from each other Yan's networking and marketing strategy for foreign founders in Japan Why Japan Inc and METI want Japan to learn to code How to improve mobility in Japan's labor market Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know about Code Chrysalis Check out their enterprise classes Follow them on Twitter @codechrysalis Send them an email at hello@codechrysalis.io Connect with Yan on LinkedIn Follow her on Twitter @yanarchy Read her blog about teaching Toyota staff to code Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. There are a surprising number of entrepreneurs who dream of coming to Japan to start a startup. And recently the Japanese government is working hard to make Japan as attractive as possible to foreign founders by relaxing visa requirements, creating tax breaks, simplifying the incorporation process, and even setting up dedicated teams to attract foreign founders and provide them support in English. You might think that all this would make it easy to build a startup as a foreigner in Japan, but it's not. Of course, part of it is just that growing a startup anywhere is really hard. But the culture and linguistic challenges in Japan are very real, and yet a lot of people are doing it. Today we sit down with Yan Fan, an old friend and co-founder of Code Chrysalis, who's on a mission to teach Japan how to code. Yan came to Japan with the goal of founding and growing a startup, and that's just what she's done. And in our conversation, she lays out her blueprint, how she built a network when she didn't speak the language, how she identified her startups unique value add in Japan, and her experience raising money here from both Angels and from CVCs. Its advice that every aspiring foreign founder or active foreign founder for that matter in Japan really should know about. We also talk about how the image of software engineers, especially foreign software engineers, is changing some of the ways METI and the Japanese government are trying to teach Japan how to code, and why they now consider that skill to be so important for the future of Japan. And also why there is now a picture of Benesse's Pumpkin on the Disrupting Japan website. But, you know, Yan tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Yan Fan, the co-founder of Code Chrysalis, who's teaching Japan how to code. So thanks for sitting down with me. Yan: Thanks for having me today,…

Disrupting Japan

1
The innovative age of Shadow IT is coming to an end 30:04

1 year ago30:04

30:04

Shadow IT has been responsible for more enterprise SaaS deployments and workflow innovation than any growth strategy of the last 15 years. And that 's all about to end. Today we sit down with Yasu Matsumoto, who stepped down as CEO of Raksul after leading the startup from founding to post-IPO success, to start Josys, a new startup helping enterprises put an end to shadow IT once and for all. Yasu explains why that the end of shadow IT is actually a good thing for everyone, why he decided to step down from his high-profile CEO role, and the future of SaaS sales and marketing. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The problem with shadow IT and why it's coming to an end The Raksul startup to IPO story The Josys spinout and fundraising as a spinout Why there are so few serial founders in Japan The public's reaction to Yasu's decision to resign as CEO of Raksul Why CIOs are fighting back against shadow IT Josys's global expansion plans and being global from day 1 Two two reasons Japanese startups need to enter the US market quickly The important difference between enterprise SaaS and SMB SaaS services The one thing that would lead to a dynamic, mobile workforce in Japan Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know about Josys Connect with Yasu on LinkedIn Jobs at Josys Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Salesforce was the first major SaaS Company. They redefined how software was used in and sold to enterprise companies all over the world. And in the two and a half decades since their founding, new SaaS software has pushed into every corner of the enterprise. But recently, the enterprise has started pushing back, and the bedrock go-to-market strategy that so many enterprise SaaS startups depend on might be about to disappear. Today we sit down with Yasu Matsumoto, founder of Raksul, and now founder and CEO of Josys, which provides SaaS management tools to the enterprise. We not only talk about SaaS marketing strategies, but we dive into the important differences between the enterprise and SMB SaaS markets, how to raise VC finance for corporate spinouts, and why we might be about to start seeing a lot more serial founders in Japan. But, you know, Yasu tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Yasu Matsumoto, the founder and CEO of Josys, who's providing companies with comprehensive IT device and SaaS management. So, thanks for sitting down with me today. Yasu: Thanks, Tim. Tim: So, I gave a really high level overview of what Josys is, but I think you can explain it much better than I can. Yasu: Josys is our IT operation platform. You can integrate all of the SaaS, what your company use and all of devices your employee use. Integrate all hardware and software into Josys by APIs and you can figure out what kind of a software your company use, what kind of a hardware your company use. And also you can provide account like Slack or Google or Notions Microsoft account for the new employees with a single click. And once they are employee resign the company, you can delete these accounts and device with just a single click. Tim: So, it's centralized SaaS license management, centralized account provisioning. Yasu: Exactly. Tim: And so you mentioned its API integration, so it's not that individuals are inputting this information. Yasu: Yes. Our product is based on the API economy. So, the company use tons of apps after the COVID, but these apps are not controlled by central IT operations. So, each of the department install the new apps by their decision making or sometimes individual, but they're from the point of a corporate IT or cybersecurity view. That is very dangerous. Tim: It is, but it's interesting because that is one of th...…

Disrupting Japan

1
So you want to disrupt finance? This is what it’s going to take 32:51

2 years ago32:51

32:51

For decades (centuries, really) lending in Japan has relied on personal guarantors and introductions rather than objective credit scoring. This startup is changing that. Before starting Credit Engine, which provides credit scoring, automated approvals, and other services to mega-banks and other financial institutions, Sei Uchiyama founded an online lending startup to ensure he understand this market from the bottom up. Credit Engine currently automates everything from loan approvals to the collection of delinquent and non-performing loans, and its already starting to change finance in Japan. Sei and I talk about the future of finance in Japan and the surprising way competition between FinTech startups and the banks is likely to play out. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How much of the loan process can a startup be involved in How the mega-banks are experimenting with this technology The post-tsunami rescue micro-finance fund Why pivot from direct lending to financial services Why lending fintechs startups have trouble raising funds in Japan How real-time credit scoring will change consumer behavior in Japan Is Japan really "over-banked" and what that means for innovation Japanese mega-banks' reactions to financial innovation How automated debt collection improved results by more than 1000% Are the biggest FinTech opportunities in developing or developed markets? Mega-banks' secret weapon in competing with startups How easing labor protections would help Japanese employees Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know about Credit Engine About LENDY the loan company they operate Connect with Sei on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan has always had a, well, let's call it a “conservative” attitude, towards consumer borrowing. Credit card balances are generally paid in full at the end of the month. Most household purchases are saved for rather than financed and outside of a mortgage, debt is generally seen as a bad thing. In fact, rather than using consumer credit scores, most Japanese lending still relies on introductions and personal guarantees. But Sei Uchiyama, the founder of Credit Engine, is changing that. Over the past few years, Sei, has both started a new lending company and partnered with some of Japan's largest banks to streamline and automate loan approvals and issuance. And he and the team have even developed an automated system for collecting non-performing loans that outperforms traditional methods. Now Sei and I talk about how faster and simpler access to credit in Japan might change things for both good and for bad, what it's going to take to truly disrupt financial markets and whether that will turn out to be a good thing and the differences between Fintech's startup strategy in developed and developing markets. But, you know, Sei tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we are sitting here with Sei Uchiyama, the founder and CEO of Credit Engine who's providing turnkey lending solutions to financial institutions. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Sei: Thank you very much for the opportunity talking here. Tim: So, I explained really briefly what Credit Engine does, but I'm sure you can explain it much better than I can. So, what is Credit Engine? Sei: So, Credit Engine is the online lending platform providing the loan origination system and also the collection system for financial institutions, including banks and non-banking financial institutions. Tim: I understand it's a full service system. You provide scoring automated approvals all the way through processing and collections, right? So, that's quite a lot. So, tell me about what types of loans are you originating? Sei: So,…

Disrupting Japan

1
Legal AI will shatter your perspective on legal advice 39:11

2 years ago39:11

39:11

The legal system is complex, hard to understand, expensive to navigate, and ripe for disruption. In the future, we will still need lawyers to help us understand the law, but it look like we are going to need far fewer of them than we have today. Nozo Tsunoda is an attorney who walked away from a promising legal career to start LegalOn, an AI startup focused on making the practice of law more efficient, transparent, and easy to navigate. We talk about why corporate legal departments are the early adopters, but why AI technology is forcing its way even into the most traditional law firms, and how it might someday be used by consumers as well. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why it's hard to sell AI technology to law firms How AI is starting to change the way law firms compete Why Nozo left the law to start a legal startup The contract review workflow and why it's perfect for AI disruption How many lawyers will AI replace in the next five years? Differences in how US and Japanese staff view working from home A $100M investment in US market entry Differences between Japanese and American legal systems Can today's AI understand contracts better than a junior associate? The big changes AI will force on the legal industry The need for more immigration in Japan Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know LegalOn Their US website Learn about LegalOn's Products Japan Products LegalForce LegalForce Cabinet US Products Read about LegalOn's US market expansion Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Of all the industries that are going to be impacted by artificial intelligence, the legal profession is going to be one of the most profoundly transformed. And today we sit down and talk with Nozo Tsunoda, a licensed attorney and the founder of LegalOn a rapidly growing startup using AI to review and manage contracts. And while their initial clients have been mostly corporate legal departments, Nozo explains how AI is beginning to force changes to the behavior of even traditional legal firms. Now if you're in the US you might not have heard of LegalOn yet, but you'll be hearing a lot about them soon. Nozo and the team recently raised over a hundred million in large part to fuel their recent US market entry. Nozo and I talk about the challenges of selling increased efficiency to lawyers who bill by the hour LegalOn’s US expansion plans, and how AI is going to change the entire legal industry. But, you know, Nozo tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Nozo Tsunoda of LegalOn, who's using artificial intelligence to simplify and improve contract review and management. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Nozo: Thank you. Tim: Well, listen, I gave a really brief description of what LegalOn does, but I'm sure you can explain it much better than I did. So, what does LegalOn do? Nozo: LegalOn technology is legal tech companies. I found it seven years ago, and now we have three solutions. And globally we have four solutions and globally we have 3,700 customers. Tim: Well, but to get to the basics for some listeners who might not understand anything about the legal process, so what is the service that LegalOn provides? Nozo: For contract area we have three product for pre-ex execution process of contract drafting or review. And second product is for contract management. Tim: So, contracts is a very, very broad subject. So, LegalOn focus is mostly on things like NDAs and purchase agreements and things like that. Nozo: Yes, of course we can support NDA, purchase agreement or service agreement, but we can review 50 types of contracts for the market. Tim: Tell me a bit about your customers. So,…

Disrupting Japan

1
How one innovative startup is selling true bionic legs 35:11

2 years ago35:11

35:11

Startups solve real problems. During the boom times, the media focuses on the multi-billion-dollar valuations and the mega-IPOs. But even in those times, founders are innovating in the background and using technology to just make the world a better place. Today we talk with Sun Xiaojun, who started BionicM in 2015 as a way to replace the limb that he lost when he was a child. And since then, he has built the startup into much more. We talk about the challenges he had to overcome to bring innovative medical technology to market, why Japanese universities still struggle to productize their impressive deep-tech, and why the world has been thinking about prosthetic limbs all wrong for thousands of years. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why powered prosthetics are a game-changer The challenges of being your own first beta-tester How coming to Japan changed Sunny's life How prosthetics are fitted and sold Go to market strategy and discovering the true customer Total addressable market size User feedback, human variation, and future changes How people are using the bionic leg as a fashion statement How Japanese professors make product development difficult Why it is often so hard for Japanese startups to sell to Japanese consumers Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know BionicM Follow Sunny on Twitter @Bio_Leg Friend him on Facebook Connect with him on LinkedIn A great article about BionicM Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about bionic legs, the real deal, a battery powered below the knee powered prosthetic leg that is already being used by amputees all over the world, and it looks pretty good too. We're going to sit down with Xiaojun Sun or Sunny, as he likes to be called. The founder, and CEO of BionicM who lost his leg when he was nine and spent the next 15 years determined to do something about that, and he did. BionicM is a Japanese startup creating artificial limbs that are not just functional or practical or good enough, but are different and innovative and well, to be honest, kind of cool. We're going to talk a lot about Sunny's journey and the BionicM prosthetic leg, but we also talk about why it's easier to launch this kind of product in America, despite the stricter certification requirements. The challenges in figuring out who the actual customers for artificial limbs really are and why Japanese universities have so much trouble getting their deep tech startups out of the labs and into the market. But, you know, Sunny tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Sunny Xoajun, the founder and CEO of BionicM who makes a robotic prosthetic leg, and thanks for sitting down with us. Sunny: Ah, thank you. I'm very glad to be here. Tim: So, I've given a brief description of what you do, but I'm sure you can explain what BionicM does much better than I can. So, what does BionicM do? Sunny: Yeah, we are a startup company, spin of the Tokyo University. We are building a powered prosthetic leg to have the handicap improve their mobility. Tim: Why is the powered prosthetic leg important? What's the important part of having the active? Sunny: Currently, most of the prosthetic is unpowered. We're developing something different from the current products which has a power to have user walk more easily. Perhaps do something which they couldn't do with current products. Tim: It's battery powered electric motors. What does this leg do for users that passive prosthetic legs cannot do? Sunny: For example, it's very difficult for some elderly amputee to stand up because when they stand up with the passive prosthetic, there is low power to help them, so they have to rely on their sound leg.…

Disrupting Japan

1
What happened when one Japanese startup talked about women’s sexual health 43:42

2 years ago43:42

43:42

Some things are supposed to be only whispered about in Japan. But startups are about breaking taboos and pushing boundaries, and making the world a bit better when they do it. Today's we sit down with Amina Sugimoto of Fermata, and we talk about how quickly and radically the FemTech movement is changing Japan's conversations, attitudes, and even public policy around women's health. It turns out things are both much worse and much better than you probably imagine. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why VCs have been hesitant to invest in FemTech How FemTech is defined in Japan, and what makes a "FemTech product" FemTech as a B2B business in Japan Japanese enterprise's, hesitant moves into FemTech Discussing sexual pleasure with Isetan's conservative management and customers How the FemTech label is opening up a new conversation about women's health in Japan FemTech as a national movement Why it is hard to get FemTech devices approved in Japan The future of FemTech in Japan What we need in addition to FemTech to really make a difference #WereNotSalmon Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know about Fermata Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. I love it when a conversation takes me by surprise. I usually already know the guests I'm interviewing and I do my research ahead of time. So, I generally know what to expect from these conversations. But every once in a while things head off in a completely different direction and the facts on the ground take me by surprise. Today is one of those conversations. Today we sit down with an Amina Sugimoto, the founder of Japanese FemTech powerhouse Fermata, and we talk about how Japanese attitudes towards women's health are changing and how the FemTech movement is a driving force behind that change. Fermata speaks directly and candidly about topics that Japanese society has always preferred to whisper about. She's worked with industry, government, and consumers to change laws and attitudes and is seeing real progress. Amina and I talk about how to get laws changed in Japan, what happens when women start frank conversations about their health and sexual needs. And what she learned by selling vibrators to Isetan department stores super conservative shoppers. But you know, Amina tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Amina Sugimoto of Fermata, one of the leaders of consumer FemTech in Japan. Amina: Thank you. Tim: And thanks for sitting down with me. Amina: Of course, of course. It's my pleasure. Tim: I gave a really brief explanation of what Fermata is and I’m sure you can do a much better job than I can. So, what is Fermata? Amina: So, we initially started as a research group within the Venture Capital. Tim: Mistletoe, right? Amina: Yeah. Ran by [inaudible 00:02:16]. There is this one company that came across two things that I found out. One is not many venture capitalists were interested in this emerging new technology, our women's health. And then two, there are not many companies that instead of actually focusing on how to actually create industry brand a product, Tim: So, at Mistletoe were you trying to get them to invest in these FemTech companies? And Amina: So initially, yes. I still remember today that we were sitting around in the table and there's one company from the US that's actually called Modern Fertility. Now, what they did is they brought in existing technology of measuring AMA's hormone, which basically we can measure how much eggs we've got left. This technology is available at clinics in the name of marriage checks in Japan. So, basically before you get married, you get the test. And if you can't get pregnant anymore, oftentimes that marriage just no longer.…

Disrupting Japan

1
How Japanese graffiti Is sneaking onto the blockchain 34:51

2 years ago34:51

34:51

Graffiti is impermanent. Normally, thats a good thing, but as the global art world has begun to recognize graffiti and street art as a legitimate art form, the short-term and public nature of street art has presented challenges around sales and ownership. The team at Totomo has found a solution. They have been working with street artists around the world and galleries across Tokyo to create a platform to prove digital ownership of street art. We talk about the challenges of bringing digital tools and provenance into the spray-can world of street art, why this international team decided to launch in Japan first, and how to take advantage of the new startup support programs offered by the Shibuya government. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The challenges involved in monetizing street art Is street art "legitimate", and how world opinion is changing Why Japan views street art differently Why Totomo is not using the standard NFT marketing strategy The importance of real-world gallery events Why most Totomo NFTs are not bought using crypto Do NFTs really pay artists on resale? Bailing an artist out of jail How attitudes to street art are changing in Japan The real reason Totomo launched in Japan first How a foreign-run startups can raise money from the Japanese government Links from the Founders Totemo Street Art NFT Gallery Street Art Collector podcast Follow Totemo on Twitter @totemoart See some great street art Check it out on Instagram Street art on YouTube Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about NFTs and no, no, it's not what you think. Regular listeners know that I'm an NFT skeptic, but being an honest skeptic means keeping an open mind. And in that spirit, I'd like to introduce you to the team at Totemo because they're doing some genuinely interesting things with graffiti, street art and the block chain. They're helping artists get paid and as far as I'm concerned, that's always a worthy activity. So, today we sit down for a four-way conversation with the Totemo team of Marty Roberts, Elena Calderon Alvarez and Minami Kobayashi. We talk about why Totemo decided to target their business much more tightly on the art community than on the crypto community. and also why this international team who represents international artists, decided to launch their startup in Japan. We talk about how graffiti and street art are becoming accepted as mainstream art around the world and the amazing level of support that the Shibuya government is providing startups these days and whether bailing your clients out of jail is a good use of investor capital. But you know, the Totemo team tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with the founders of Totemo. Marty, thanks for joining us. Marty: Thanks so much Tim for having us. Tim: It’s good to have you back. And Elena. Elena: Hi. Thank you for having us. Tim: It's good to have you on and Minami. Minami: Hi.. Thank you for having us. Tim: It's great to have you on. I don't usually have three people on the show, but making an exception this time because what you guys are doing is really interesting. You're bringing street art and graffiti art to the blockchain, but I think you can probably explain it a little better than I just did. So, what exactly does Totemo do? Marty: Yeah, yeah, I think you summed it up quite well already, but the point that we're trying to work on is that right now graffiti and street art, while it's loved by many around the world, it's impermanent and eventually it will be destroyed by the elements, by the government, by other graffiti writers. So, if there was a way to make this permanent and also collectable and tradable,…

Disrupting Japan

1
What it really takes to get your product approved by NASA 31:58

2 years ago31:58

31:58

Not many startups land their tech on the moon. Dymon has designed an autonomous lunar rover that will land near the lunar south pole later this year as part of NASA's Artemis program. Today, we sit down and talk with founder Shin Nakajima who explains what it takes for a startup to become part of a NASA mission, the role YouTube had to play, what startups can contribute to space exploration, and how NASA and JAXA are changing to be more startup-friendly. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Yaoki became part of NASA's Artemis program How Yaoki got its name Why Dymon focused on lunar rather than terrestrial problems How to (not) make money building autonomous lunar rovers How the Artemis program is driving innovation Why we expect a lot of water at the lunar South Pole How a YouTube video got the attention of NASA What's involved in getting technology approved by NASA Possible Earth-bound use cases and long-term business model How to raise money for a literal moonshot The future of lunar exploration and settlement The role startups have to play in space exportation Why Japanese aerospace startups want to work with NASA rather than JAXA Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Yaoki Follow Yaoki on Twitter @yaoki_space_g or in Japanese The official Yaoki Facebook page Follow Shin on Twitter @Shin_Nakajima Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about moonshots, and I don't mean moonshots in the sense of wildly ambitious dreams, although come to think of it, yeah, yeah. We're also going to talk a lot about wildly ambitious dreams. But today's focus is on actually going to the moon. Shin Nakajima's startup Dymon has built a lunar rover called Yaoki that later this year we'll be traveling to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis project. Now, the name Yaoki comes from the Japanese expression nanakorobi-yaoki, which means falling down seven times and getting up eight. It means persisting in the face of repeated failures. It means never giving up. And both that word and that outlook on life feature prominently in today's conversation. We have an interesting debate on the role startups have to play in space exploration. And I don't mean just the SpaceX scale startups. SpaceX is doing awesome things, but most aspiring founders don't have access to the level of capital needed to play at that scale. We're talking about how small teams of innovators can make a difference and how NASA and maybe even JAXA are changing in order to give them the chance to make that difference. Shin and I talk about the design of the Yaoki Rover itself, how we raised money for a project that almost no one believed in, and what it really takes to get your technology approved for a NASA mission. But, you know, Shin tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Shin Nakajima of Dymon, so thanks for sitting down with us. Shin: Thank you. Me too. Tim: You make this amazing lunar rover Yaoki, which is just amazingly cool. Tell us a little about the rover. Shin: This is what I am developing for 10 years, and now it's finished, and now it is contract with NASA Moon Rover project, which is called an Artemis. We are joining for commercial [inaudible 00:02:45]. Tim: Right. And for our listeners who can't see this, this looks nothing like you would imagine a lunar rover would look like. It's like, can I hold it? Shin: Yes, you can. Tim: Okay. That's so cool. I don't even know how to describe it. It looks like a little barbell with treads on it. Shin: Yes. Tim: I mean, this is really tiny, right? Shin: So very, very tiny. And it's just on the hand.…

Disrupting Japan

1
The lies, myths, and secrets of Japanese UI design 58:14

2 years ago58:14

58:14

There is a lot of hate directed at Japanese UI design. To Western eyes, it's just too busy, too dense, too confusing, too outdated, and just plain wrong. And sometimes that's true, but usually there are very good, and highly profitable, reasons Japanese websites and Japanese software looks the way it does. Today I sit down and talk (and argue a bit) with Brandon Hill about how Japanese design got this way, and the new direction it's currently heading. It's an amazing conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why people think Japanese UI design is broken The real reason Japanese sites never seem to get updated Why young Japanese sometimes prefer old-fashioned design How high-information density builds trust in Japan The social trigger that caused Japan to (almost) abandon minimalist design Why Japanese core design metaphors differ from those in the West Answering the top Western criticisms of Japanese design How Japanese labor law affects web and app design Why Western logo design is changing (and not for the better) The impact of smartphones on online and brick-and-mortar design What it's like for foreign designers at Japanese companies Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about btrax The amazing btrax blog A recommended in-depth article on American and Japanese UI/UX design Follow Brandon on Twitter @BrandonKHill Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about Japanese UI/UX design. For the last 20 years, there's been this steady stream of Western designers explaining how Japanese web design is “broken”. Now, those critics often make some good points, but they usually completely misunderstand the underlying reasons that Japanese design is the way it is. Today we're going to address these criticisms once and for all as we sit down over a beer with my old friend Brandon Hill. Now Brandon runs btrax, a design and market entry consultancy based in San Francisco. And for the past 10 years, Brandon's been working with Japanese firms to get their design and UI ready for the American markets and with American firms to get their design and UI ready for the Japanese markets. In terms of practical hands-on experience, Brandon probably knows more than anyone in the world about the reasons Japanese and Western UX design are so different. And that's what we're going to dig deep into today. This episode's a little long, but I assure you it's worth it. There was simply nothing more I could have edited out. We explore the common criticisms of Japanese design, we talk about the psychology of e-commerce, and we dive deep into Japan's commercial culture. But you know, Brandon tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, cheers! So, I'm sitting here with Brandon Hill, the CEO and founder of btrax. So, welcome back. Brandon: Thank you so much. It's my pleasure to be back here. Tim: Now I've given everyone a really detailed description of you and your expertise during the intro. But just to make sure, why don't you tell us a little bit about what btrax does. Brandon: I started this company btrax long time ago. It's a long time that I don't even remember when that was, but started as a web design agency in San Francisco, and then we started specializing in US and Japanese localization and cross-border, cross-cultural marketing and branding. We now do a lot of work for Japanese corporations to create a new businesses as well as promoting them, branding them, and expanding them into the global market. Likewise, we work with many US companies coming to the Japanese market, taking care of their marketing and branding and localization. So, that's what we do, Tim: And that is why I'm so glad to have you here,…

Disrupting Japan

1
One way to unlock Japan’s broken e-commerce 20:55

2 years ago20:55

20:55

Sometimes it seems like Japan is almost invisible in global e-commerce. Despite a dynamic domestic e-commerce market and a long tradition of global exports, Japan just doesn't seem that interested in selling to the outside world. But things are changing, and Kazuyoshi Nakazato of Zig Zag is working to make sure they change even faster. We talk about why Japan is unrepresented in global e-commerce, why that's changing, some things you should never try to sell online. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why even small e-commerce is global The bowling ball export experiment What are Japan's biggest export markets for e-commerce How acquire overseas e-commerce customers How to select overseas markets to target How fast are Japanese e-commerce exports growing? How to grow and thrive as a small e-commerce site How to get Japanese founders to think more globally Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Zig Zag and their World Shopping international or domestic in Japanese Check out a good video intro to World Shopping Shop in Japan from the rest of the world Follow Kazuyoshi on Twitter @nakazaty Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan is missing out on the global e-commerce boom. Well, there is plenty of e-commerce going on in Japan, but it's almost all domestic and Japan is really missing out on the growing global market. However, Kazu Nakazato, founder of Zig Zag is changing that. Japan's e-commerce exports are still relatively small, but growing at 140% a year. And Kazu is looking to increase that even more. But as you'll hear, that's not easy. Kazu and the team at Zigzag are up against strong entrenched interests, language barriers, and one particularly frustrating aspect of Japanese business culture that we'll talk about in a few minutes. Kazu and I also discuss what COVID taught us about the resilience of global e-commerce. Some things you should never try to sell online. And Kazu also shares some really great advice about how to survive and grow as an independent e-commerce site. But you know, Kashi tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Kazu Nakazato of Zig Zag. Kazu: Yeah, Zig Zag. Tim: Who's helping Japanese e-commerce sites sell globally. So, thanks for sitting down with us. So, I explain really simply what you do, but I think you can explain Zig Zag much better than I can. So, what does Zig Zag do? Kazu: We offer a service called global base. Our eCommerce site can quickly transform into share site. It's very simple. All it takes is a single line JavaScript tag. It's provide marketing input forms, marketing our customer support and payments support. Tim: That's a lot for one line of JavaScript to do. So, it covers the translation, payments, logistics? Kazu: Yes. Shipping. Tim: Okay. Wow. And do you handle like returns? Kazu: Returns, yes. And there are 200 countries. Tim: So, tell me about your customers. Who's using Zig Zag? What kind of e-commerce sites? Kazu: Fashion, cosmetics, Anime and entertainment type. For example, Japanese apparel is Beams and Tower records about 2,500 website. Tim: So, that's quite a range. So, is it mostly the bigger sites like Tower Records and Beams or small independent sites also using it? Kazu: Yeah, for example in Fukuoka, very, very small apparel shop. And in Chiba, bowling maker site. Tim: Like bowling ball maker? Kazu: Yeah, bowling ball. Very, very heavy. Tim: I was going to say that’s really expensive to ship. Kazu: Yeah. FedEx or DHL, air or by ship. Tim: Exporting bowling balls. Are like Japanese bowling balls, like really high quality or something?…

Disrupting Japan

1
The forgotten mistake that killed Japan’s software industry 33:42

2 years ago33:42

33:42

This is our 200th episode, so I wanted to do something special. Everyone loves to complain about the poor quality of Japanese software, but today I’m going to explain exactly what went wrong. You'll get the whole story, and I'll also pinpoint the specific moment Japan lost its way. By the end, I think you'll have a new perspective on Japanese software and understand why everything might be about to change. You see, the story of Japanese software is not really the story of software. It's the story of Japanese innovation itself. The Elephant in the Room Japanese software has problems. By international standards, it’s just embarrassingly bad. We all know this, but what’s interesting is that there are perfectly rational, if somewhat frustrating, reasons that things turned out this way. Today I’m going to lay it all that out for you in a way that will help you understand how we got here, and show you why I am optimistic about the future. You see, the story of Japanese software, is not really about software. It's the story of Japanese innovation itself. The ongoing struggle between disruption and control. It’s a story that involves, war, secret cartels, scrappy rebels, betrayal, rebirth, and perhaps redemption. How This Mess Started So let’s start at the beginning. The beginning is further back than you might expect. To really understand how we got here, we need to go back, not just to the end of WWII, but to the years after the Meiji restoration, the late 1800s, back when the Japanese economy was dominated by the zaibatsu. Now, “zaibatsu” is usually translated as “large corporate group” or “family controlled corporate group.” While that is accurate, it grossly understates the massive economic and political power these groups wielded around the turn of the 20th century. Japan’s zaibatsu were not corporate conglomerates as we think of them today. You see, although the Meiji government adopted a market-based economy and implemented a lot of capitalist reforms, it was the zaibatsu, with the full support of the government, that kept the economy running. And the zaibatsu system was almost feudal in nature. The national government could, and did, pass legislation regarding contract law, labor reforms, and property rights, but in practice these were more like suggestions. In reality, as long as the zaibatsu kept the factories running, the rail lines expanding, and the shipyards operating at capacity, the men in Tokyo didn’t trouble themselves too much with the details. In practice, the zaibatsu families had almost complete dominion over the resources, land, and people under their control. They were the law. At the turn of the pervious century, there were four major zaibatsu (Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Yasuda). And each zaibatsu had its own bank, its own mining and chemical companies, its own heavy manufacturing company, etc. But it wasn’t just industry, each of these zaibatsu groups had strong political and military alignments. For example, Mitsui had strong influence over the army, while Mitsubishi had a great deal of sway over the imperial navy. At the start of WWII, the four zaibatsu families controlled over 50% of Japan’s economy. This fact, when combined with their political influence, quite understandably, made Japan’s military government very uncomfortable, and during the war, the military wrested away a bit of the zaibatsu’s power and nationalized some of their assets. After Japan’s defeat, the American occupation forces considered the zaibatsu a serious economic and political risk to Japan becoming a liberal, democratic fully developed nation. They targeted 16 firms for complete dissolution and another 24 for major reorganizations. Rising from Ashes Now, that was supposed to be the end of the zaibatsu. I say “supposed to” because those of you who know Japanese history understand that it never really happened. Of course, many things changed.…

Disrupting Japan

1
The Ultimate Guide to Raising Money in Japan [Updated] 53:26

2 years ago53:26

53:26

There has never been a better time to be raising money in Japan than right now. Founders ask me about fundraising more than any other topic, so this guide is long overdue. There are links that cover the basics in the Show Notes, and I will be keeping this page updated as new information becomes available and members of the community create new resources. Calling something "The Ultimate Guide" to anything is a pretty big claim, and I'll do my best to make sure this page lives up to it. Please enjoy. Show Notes Results of the "Why Meet a Founder?" survey Directories of Japanese VC firms Japan Venture Capital Membership Crunchbase's list of Japanese VCs The Bridge: not a directory, but a good source of Japanese funding announcements Kei Furukawa's master list of Japanese VCs Tyson Batino's list of foreign-founder-friendly VCs in Japan. How to pitch like a Pro Dave McClure's original guide to pitching VCs - Very much substance over style The same information in a more readable format Dave's deck redesigned by people who do care about style What you need to put in your pitch deck - an infographic Design advice for pitch decks - more geared towards pitch contents Advice from Japanese VCs James Riney talks about the VC business model and gives pitching advice Disrupting Japan's live show on fundraising in Japan Hiro Maeda on fundraising in Japan Ikuo Hirasishi provides an overview of Japan's VC landscape More from James Riney back when he was with 500 startups Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today, I am going to answer the question that everyone seems to be asking. Or at least the question that everyone seems to be asking me. I am going to explain how to raise money as a new startup founder in Japan. You know, it’s funny how things work out. I originally planned to write this episode a few months ago as a short-take on a focused topic while I fished up my episode about the history of software engineering in Japan, but the topic kind of got away from me. My first draft and notes for the show came in at over 24,000 words, which by the time I fleshed it all out would have ended up as a four -hour podcast, and even I can’t stand to listen to me for four hours. So I’ve had to make some cuts, some painful ones. This episode should be under an hour, but it requires that I speak in generalities and make a few over-broad statements. There are a few really important topics that I will just mention briefly before moving on. So, if while you are listening to this episode, particularly my VC listeners, and you find yourself thinking that I would explain a particular point in more detail and with more nuance, or wishing that I would dive deeper into specific strategies and scenarios … Yeah. Me too. But we’ll save that for another podcast or maybe a conversation over a beer. Now, there are a few very important questions you need to ask before you even decide to seek VC money. Things like “How do you plan on using those funds?” and “Are you sure you understand the growth-driven management style you are signing up for here?” But, from my experience, relatively few founders really want to dive into those topics. No, what founders in Japan really want to know is how to raise money. So that’s what we are going to talk about. I’m going to give you a clear and actionable plan so that: You can decide which VCs you should approach You can set up meetings with partners at reputable Japanese VC firms You will know how to pitch in the most effective way possible You will have some strategies to help you actually close the round, and get the money in the bank. And you’ll be able to do it all in a reasonable amount of time without going absolutely crazy. Now, I’ll warn you.…

Disrupting Japan

1
How the police use proven AI to predict future crime 29:38

2 years ago29:38

29:38

Police departments around the world are using this startup's AI to predict future crime. Mami Kajita, founder of Singular Perturbations, explains the success of their models, the public reaction to the technology, and how the physics models of glass transition lead to a crime prediction AI. We debate the future impact of crime prediction technology, and we also talk about how researchers and entrepreneurs can better connect and collaborate. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Telling police what future crime is likely to occur Who else, besides the police, can use these tools How the physics of glass transition lead to crime prediction How to sell software to the police (and other government agencies) Real world trials led to a 68% decrease in crime What data go into Crime Nabi's models The public reaction to future crime prediction Unintended consequences and and the future of crime prediction How founders can find mentors and advisors How researchers and entrepreneurs can better connect and collaborate Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Singular Perturbations Check out Mami's published research Connect with Mami on LinkedIn Friend her on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about predicting future crime, and not in terms of 1950s science fiction, but in terms of real software being used right now by police departments all over the world. We talk with Mami Kajita of Singular Perturbations about their Crime Nabi AI, and how this technology is starting to change policing. In real world use Crime Nabi has already resulted in crime reductions of over 50% in areas where it's been tested around the world. In our conversation, Mami and I dig into these numbers and we talk about the somewhat surprising inputs that go into training the Crime Nabi AI. And of course, we also talk about the very real potential dangers for misuse and what Singular Perturbations is doing to make sure this technology is a force for good. Along the way, we talk about how founders can find good mentors and advisors, the proper balance between research and sales, and some really good advice about how to sell to national governments as a startup. But, you know, Mami tells that story much better than I can, so let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, cheers. Mami: Okay, cheers. Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Mami Kajita, the founder and CEO of Singular Perturbations, the AI for Crime Prediction. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Mami: Yeah, thank you so much. I'm very honored to be here, and thank you so much for this opportunity. Tim: I'm glad to have you here. In the intro, I explained a little bit about what Singular Perturbations does. But I think you can explain it much better than me. So, what does Singular Perturbations do? Mami: We predict future crimes in using AI technology and we provide operation management services for police departments and local governments. And the name of our product is Crime Nabi. Tim: So, you are telling police departments where future crime is likely to occur? Mami: Yes. Using this technology we can provide the area where the risk is higher than the other area. Tim: Okay. And how do they use this information? What do they do with it? Mami: We provide operational management services in the police department, and there is a team who patrols outside and in Japan, and many police departments doesn't use crime prediction technology before patrols. They have not so much established plan. Tim: So, the police departments are using this predictive technology to decide where to send patrols? Mami: Yes, yes. Tim: Okay. What kind of predictions does it make? Does it predict the type of crime or just the level or…?…

Disrupting Japan

1
Why medical AI is taking off in SE Asia 28:17

2 years ago28:17

28:17

Today's episode is about trust; trust in technology and trust in each other. Very few startups experience what LPixel went through and far fewer survive it. Today we welcome Yuki Shimahara, founder of LPixel, back to the show. The last few years have been a roller-coster for LPixel, and despite the chaos LPixel managed to created Japan's first certified medical AI device and roll it out into hospitals around the country. And despite his success in Japan, Yuki also explains why smart medical AI startups are all looking to Southeast Asia. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How LPixel was certified as Japan's first AI medical device The transition from diagnostic support to full medical diagnosis Why it's not technology holding back medical AI The nature of trust in Japanese business Japanese health insurance is now paying for AI diagnosis What happens when an employee steals all your funds? The advantages (and disadvantages) of full transparency How investors reacted and their new demands Why more doctors are founding startups Why research is easier at startups than at universities Why developing countries will see more advances in medical AI than the developed world Going global does not mean going to the US (yet) How the Japanese government should (and should not) foster Japanese innovation Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about LPixel LPixel's medical diagnostic support system Eirl Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan is often described as a high trust society, but it's hard to explain exactly what that means and why it matters. Well, today we sit down to talk about trust and about medical AI with Yuki Shimahara, CEO of LPixel. Now, a lot has changed since Yuki was on the show four years ago. And by all metrics, LPixel is a stronger and more successful startup today. But one unfortunate event really put that level of trust to the test. Well, Yuki will give you the details, but the level of trust that existed between investors and clients and employees resulted in saving a startup that no one could reasonably expect to be saved. And we also talk about why medical AI is going to be adopted so much faster in Southeast Asia, why more and more doctors are starting startups in Japan and why Yuki thinks it's more productive to do deep research at a startup than at a university. But you know, Yuki tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: I'm sitting here with Yuki Shimahara, the CEO of LPixel. So, welcome back to the show. Yuki: Yeah, thank you for having me. Tim: LPixel a cloud-based AI image analysis for life sciences and medical research. And well, you can probably explain it much better than I can. Yuki: I'm very honored to be back here. LPixel is a startup company from Research Lab of Tokyo University, which is a pioneer bio image informatics. We combine life science and imagine analysis including AI, but also we do are the two main business. So, we developed the AI for medical misdiagnosis and then developing AI for accelerating the pharma research. Tim: And wow. Last time we talked, I think you were still a PhD candidate at that point. Yuki: Probably. Tim: Yeah. Because I do remember we were running around into different rooms at the University of Tokyo campus at Hongo trying to find a room that didn't like echo. So, much has changed since then. You're a lot bigger and more successful than before. So, how many people do you have working at LPixel now? Yuki: Now, 60 or 70. Tim: Tell me about your customers. So, last time most of your customers were research institutions, people working on medical research and it seems like you've expanded a lot since then. Yuki: I think the last time is just developing the AI but ...…

Disrupting Japan

1
The secret of humble food from expensive tech 29:49

2 years ago29:49

29:49

The way we get our food is changing. Many are discussing how to make modern farming more sustainable, but this startup working to end it entirely. Ikuo Hiraishi is a serial entrepreneur and the Japan head of Infarm Japan, an urban-farming startup growing food at supermarkets. In fact, as Ikuo explains, a lot more of your food is grown indoors than you probably imagine. The future of food will look nothing like its past. t's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes What is Urban framing, and why do it? Why Japanese consumer's first resisted urban farming The true value proposition for the supermarkets. The biggest costs in indoor farming are not what you think. Why, after 40-years. urban farming is finally taking off in Japan The two challenges to scaling indoor agriculture Three reasons Japan might be the perfect market for urban farming and one reason it may not be Why it's better to grow cheep veggies with expensive tech Is it better to be a founder or a VC? Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Infarm METI visiting the Infarm Growing Center in Berlin Follow Ikuo on Twitter @ikuoch Friend him on Facebook Check out Ikuo's article about the Japan startup & VC landscape More about Ikuo Ikuo's consulting company Dreamvision and blog He's also a Professor at Entrepreneurship Department, Musashino University ... and an AsiaBerlin ambassador Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Food is complicated. That's why successful food related startups are so rare and so important when we do find them. Today, we sit down with an old friend after almost eight years. Ikuo Hiraishi is running Infarm Japan, an urban farming startup that is actually growing vegetables in supermarkets. Now, indoor farming or hydroponics has been fairly common since the 1980s, but the combination of rising global cost of food and the plummeting cost of technology and some innovative machine learning has resulted in urban farming not only becoming commercially viable today, but providing a very interesting value proposition for the supermarkets. And a pretty interesting value proposition for you and me as well. We talk about the future of food, why you need expensive technology to grow inexpensive vegetables, and whether it's better to be a founder or VC in today's world. But, you know, Ikuo tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Ikuo: Cheers. Very nice to see you. Tim: I'm sitting here with Ikuo Hiraishi, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and new urban farmer. Ikuo: Thank you. Tim: So, thanks for sitting down with us. Ikuo: It's honor to be back here, to have a chat with you. Tim: It's been a while. It's been around eight years. Ikuo: Yes. I was kind of like test interviewee of Disrupting Japan. That was eight years ago. Tim: I think you were episode number four. Ikuo: Yes. A very early episode. Tim: Very early. And we're closing in on episode 200 now. Ikuo: Oh, cool. Congrats. Tim: But yeah, we're here to talk about urban farming. So, just so I can make sure I understand it correctly. So, the types of farming we have, like rural farming, which is just vegetables out in the field, like just farming. Ikuo: Yes. Soiled based farming. Tim: And then we have indoor farming, which is like plants and warehouses and things that are usually in the suburbs or in the outskirts of cities. And then we have what you and Infarm are doing, which is urban farming, where the veggies are grown like in the supermarkets themselves. So, what's the big advantage of urban farming overall, the other types of farming? Ikuo: So, of course there are lots of advantages, but so we can minimize the food mileage meaning delivery distance. So,…

Disrupting Japan

1
The surprising things AI wants to know about your health 36:19

3 years ago36:19

36:19

We need to get the health care revolution right. Artificial Intelligence promises to reduce bottlenecks, improve quality of care, and allow our over-stretched healthcare systems to scale to meet the needs of the aging global population. But it's not going to be easy. Today we talk with Kota Kubo, founder of Ubie about the opportunities and challenges involved in the coming wave of healthcare innovation. And since Ubie just raised $27 million to fund their global expansion, you'll be hearing a lot more about them in the future. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The right way to use and AI symptom checker Is founding a 50/50 startup with an old friend a good idea? How you can manage 150 employees without managers Why the team designed Ubie's UI in Hibiya Park The "karaoke interface" for medical data Why you should ignore your customers and listen to your users about design Why it's so hard to sell to doctors (and how to do it right) How to better support orphaned diseases Ubie's strategy for going global. Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Ubie Check your symptoms with Ubie's AI Symptom Checker AN overview of Teal Management Follow Kota on Twitter @quvo_ubie Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Even if AI can't give us the right answer, sometimes it can help us to ask the right questions. It turns out, that's a lot more important than you might think. Today, we sit down with Kota Kubo, the co-founder of Ubie, an AI based symptom checker and hospital check-in tool that is being used at over a thousand hospitals and clinics across Japan. And as you'll see in this case, the questions, the AI raises are more important than those it answers. And since Ubie just raised 27 million to fund their global expansion, you'll be hearing a lot more about them soon. We also talk about how Ubie manages 150 staff with no managers, why it's so hard to sell to doctors and how to do it right. How to bring attention to orphan diseases and why you really need to ignore your customer’s ideas about UI and listen to your users. But, you know, Kota tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: Cheers. Kota: Cheers. Tim: So, we're sitting here with Kota Kubo of Ubie, who is disrupting digital health here in Japan. So, thanks so much for sitting down with me. Health tech is so important in Japan. And so you've got two different products you offer. Kota: Yes. Tim: So, let's do just a real quick introduction to what those products are and then we'll dive deep. Kota: Yes, we have the two side of product. First, is for the patient product. It's our AI symptom checker Ubie and the users input their symptoms like headache or stomach ache or something. So AI asked some of the sort of questions. And after that AI suggest a disease name so their users can get to know their symptom, condition and disease. And after that, we also suggested the clinics or hospitals. Tim: Okay. You know, one thing I'm curious about that, because I've used it. It's really interesting, but so like some sites like WebMD, for example, they have a really famous problem where someone will go on with like, I don't know, a runny nose and they'll start searching and asking questions. And 10 minutes later they're convinced they have like rabies or some brain eating parasite or some horrible disease. How do you stop that kind of unhealthy interaction at Ubie? Kota: Yeah, it's very difficult. I think so our end the point of the suggestions guide people to the appropriate clinics and hospitals and we suggest a specialist created to their symptom. So, I think their users feel they're safe. Tim: So, and again, you're really focusing on providing information,…

Disrupting Japan

1
The $290 billion e-commerce trend you’ve never heard of 30:36

3 years ago30:36

30:36

World-changing trends can start anywhere in the world today. Because the social media platforms evolved differently in Northeast Asia, e-commerce developed differently as well. And because of recent shifts in regulation and social attitudes, Western social media is going to start to look a lot more like it does in Aisa, and e-commerce trends will follow. Today Masa Shimizu, founder of Zeals, explains the origins and structure of chat-commerce and how it might lead to a friendlier, more enjoyable, and more profitable internet. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes An introduction to chat commerce How to teach a support chatbot to sell What the death or retargeting means for chat commerce Why some university startups get support, mentoring, and funding but and others do not $39 M fundraise in equity and debt, and why that's becoming a popular model Why Asian social media evolved differently Why Facebook and Instagram are about to become more chat-like How Japanese VC discourage startups from going global Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Zeals Zeals on LinkedIn Coverage of Zeal's $39 M fundraise Follow Masa on Twitter @masa_zeals Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today, we are going to talk about a 290 billion eCommerce trend that is sweeping through Northeast Asia, but hasn't taken off in the US or Europe. Well, at least not yet. You and I are going to sit down with Masa Shimizu, founder and CEO of Zeals. And we're going to talk about Chat Commerce. Now Masa will explain this structural reasons that this has been so popular in Japan, China, and Korea, and why it's about to take off in the West. And it's not just Masa and me saying so, Zeals just raised 39 million to fund their US expansion. So, this is a trend you need to know about. We also talk a lot about the Japanese concept of Omotenashi, which is usually translated as hospitality and yeah, kind of, I mean, that's probably the closest word we have for it in English, but there's more to it than that. It's kind of obsession and a giving of yourself honestly and wholeheartedly to make your guests comfortable and satisfied. It's kind of a satisfaction and happiness that you get from making your guests happy. So, Masa and I talk about Omotenashi, about a structural change coming to global social network platforms. How we can get more Japanese startups to go global and why the third party cookie ban means the death of retargeting and the birth of the Chat Commerce boom. But Masa tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: I'm sitting here with Masa Shimizu the founder and CEO of Zeals, who is a driving force behind Chat Commerce. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Masa: Thank you for reaching out. Tim: To start out with, what is Chat Commerce? Masa: Chat Commerce is next eCommerce innovations. So, on eCommerce website many people feel concerned to purchase online, especially expensive items or complex items. We can support through communication experience and we believe this is Omotenashi experience. Omotenashi is Japanese word which means hospitality. It's very exciting and helpful experience I think. Tim: So, when you're talking about Chat Commerce is this interaction over social media? Is this interaction over like chat at corporate websites? What's the main channel where this conversation is taking place? Masa: Mainly is SNS. In Japan case, line platform is most important because many people use this platform. And as a country, other channel is very important. The example, WhatsApp, Facebook Messengers, WeChat and Instagram and so on. Tim: Okay. That makes -- and its funny people coming into the Japanese market o...…

Disrupting Japan

1
The dangerous defect in most SaaS startups 42:24

3 years ago42:24

42:24

You never hear the names of some of the world's best SaaS startups. Why waste money building awareness among consumers when you can quickly and steadily grow your B2B business across Japan then across Asia? Today Yu Taniguchi founder of TableCheck returns to the show and answers that question. TableCheck is rapidly expanding their table-management system business by throwing out a lot of the traditional SaaS playbook, and Yu lays out a model for sustainable, scalable SaaS startups. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How the TMS market has changed in the last five years Why the first mover advantage is not really an advantage Maintaining differentiation in an increasingly competitive market The huge flaw in the current generation of SaaS "best practices" Demand-side vs supply-side startups Why you should only take the VC investment that you actually (desperately) need Why Japanese (and otter) startups need to be thinking about global markets from day 1 Concrete (and sad) examples of what's wrong with Japan's education system Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about TableCheck TableCheck Twitter @tablecheck LinkedIn Page TableCheck on Facebook Follow Yu on Instagram Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Some of the most important and successful B2B startups fly under the radar. And that makes sense when you think about it. When success depends on dominating a specific business niche, who really cares if most consumers have never heard of you? In fact, as we'll see, that can actually put your whole startup at risk. Today, Yu Taniguchi, old friend and founder of TableCheck joins us again on Disrupting Japan. Now, TableCheck makes a table management solution for restaurants, and Yu and the team have taken a very different approach than most of the competition in this space. The last time Yu came on the show, we talked about his business model and how to expand globally with very little capital. There's a link to the episode in the show notes, and I strongly recommend you listen to it because it was really a good one and we'll be covering a hundred percent new ground today. Today, as we catch up with Yu, we find his strategy has worked with some refinements, and TableCheck is expanding rapidly across APAC. This is a great real world case study of how Japanese startups can go global. Yu and I also talk about how the current generation of SaaS business models is broken, how to protect your startup from market downturns, and some really good advice about the two kinds of fundraising plans you need to have to survive. But you know, Yu tells that story much better than I can, so let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Yu Taniguchi of TableCheck, who is making integrated reservations, CRM billing and more for restaurants. Yu, it is so good to have you back again. Thanks for sitting down with us. Yu: Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm very honored and excited to be here. Tim: It's been four and a half years since you were last on the show and so much has changed since then. You were growing fast then, you've continued to, so tell me about your customers today. Who's using TableCheck and how many are there now? Yu: We have roughly 7,000 restaurants using our solution both in Japan and overseas. Back then when we did the interview, I think it was around 2,000 restaurants. Roughly we've more than tripled since then and taking in consideration that out of the four years, two years have been during the COVID. Tim: Let's talk about what's changed in the market. Four and a half years ago, you were saying that your biggest competition was paper and pencil. Most of your customers were using these manual processes,…

Disrupting Japan

1
Will Japan’s Manga industry ever really change? 32:01

3 years ago32:01

32:01

Manga is one of Japan's best known exports, but it's surprisingly hard to make money here. Today we dig into exactly why this is. We sit down with Sho Ishiwatari, founder of Mantra, who explains how is company is trying to expand the global market by streamlining the translation and global marketing processes. We also talk about why manga is so much harder than books for AI to understand and a few ways Japanese universities are trying to develop and inspire the next generation of Japanese founders. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The surprisingly complex manga translation process The real problem with fan-translated manga How to think about getting a 10x( or 100x!) improvement How the University of Tokyo supports startups and what other schools can learn from them Why translating manga is so different from translating novels The downside using contextual hinting wit AI/ML How to expand the global manga market What every Japanese university should be doing to encourage startups Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Mantra Connect with Sho on LinkedIn Friend him on Facebook Follow him on Twitter @mantra_ja (Japanese) Sho's published academic research on machine translation of manga Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for listening. Manga and Anime have been two of Japan's most visible and influential exports. Japanese manga has earned its own section in US bookstores. And in the movie industry today, many of the world's most successful directors and cinematographers cite Japanese manga and anime artists as some of their biggest inspirations and influences. But surprisingly, despite manga's global popularity and influence, the global market is pretty small. There's not a lot of money in manga. A And today, we're going to dig into that. We're going to sit down and talk with Sho Ishiwatari, CEO of Mantra. And we're going to find out if a startup can disrupt or even survive in the manga industry. Mantra has created an AI that can translate manga. But, as is the case with so many startup stories, the journey is far more interesting than the destination. You see, before the AI could translate manga, Sho when the team had to teach it to understand manga. Not just read the words but understand the context and the layers of implied meaning. Sho and I talk about the nature of human understanding, how Japanese universities can better inspire the next generation of startup founders, and AI's role in helping people understand each other. But you know, Sho tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Sho Ishiwatari of Mantra, who's bringing Japanese manga to the world. So thanks for sitting down with us, Sho. Sho: Yeah, thank you for having me, Tim. Tim: In the introduction, I give a really high-level description of what you guys do. But can you explain what Mantra is? Sho: Yeah, sure. So what we are doing is to deliver comics, deliver manga, across language barriers. So we are building two products. The first one is a manga translation tool that is based on our machine translation technology. And another product we're making is Langagku, which is a language learning tool based on manga. Tim: That's two really different lines of business. Sho: Yeah. Tim: Let's dive into both separately later on. But the core tool, do you just translate Japanese into English or do you support other languages as well? Sho: We currently support for language peers, Japanese to English, and English to Japanese, and Japanese to Chinese, and Chinese to Japanese. Tim: Well, that's interesting. So far, most of your business has been Japanese to other languages. But do you also have companies bringing in English or Chinese language manga to Japan?…

Disrupting Japan

1
How Snack Smuggling led to millions in VC funding 49:20

3 years ago49:20

49:20

Subscription boxes can be a tough business. Most of these startups shine brightly as they burn through investor capital and flame out well before becoming profitable. But there are exceptions. So today we sit down with Danny Taing, the founder of Bokksu, to learn what he and the team did differently, how they obtained substantial VC funding, and where they are going from here. We also talk about Japan's unique snack culture and the surprising insight is has to offer about Japanese culture in general. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why the world needed one more subscription box startup What Japanese snacks (and food in general) are different Strategic storytelling: aka "When you are talking about snacks, you are not really talking about snacks." Meet the world's happiest QA team Why Bokkusu could succeed when so many subscription-box startups ad failed Growing from zero to 1,000 and then 1,000 to 10,000 What really goes into the box Which Japanese snacks are most loved overseas The strategic expansion to Bokksu Market and Bokksu Grocery How a food startup can raise real money in a world of software-focused VCs Why "Japanese culture" startups almost always fail Links from the Founder Everything you evert wanted to know about Bokksu Check out some amazing snack pictures Follow Danny on Twitter @dannytaing Bokksu's amazing Maker Videos (seriously, these are great) Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for listening. Now, I'm going to warn you in advance. This episode is going to make you hungry. Danny Taing founded Bokksu to sell unique Japanese snacks to the world. And we spent a lot of time talking about sweet and savory snacks and all of the unique cakes and the baked goods so be ready for it. Now, both subscription boxes and e-commerce from regional foods are both very hard business models for startups. They're popular but almost all of them fail and fail fast. Danny explains that when he started, almost everyone was highly skeptical. And by the way, that includes your humble narrator as well. I knew Danny when he was just starting. Well today, Danny explains what he did differently. How he evolved from skirting the law as a snack smuggler to growing a trusted consumer base to receiving $22 million in investment to building $100 million dollar company. This episode is a masterclass on how you need to change not only your strategy, but also change who you are at every step of your journey. But you know, Danny tells that story a lot better than I can so let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Danny Taing Bokksu, who is delivering tasty Japanese snacks to the entire world. So thanks for sitting down with us, Danny. Danny: Thanks for having me, Tim. It's a pleasure to be here. Tim: That was a really simple introduction of Bokksu. I'm sure you can explain it much better than I can. So what exactly is it that Bokksu does? Danny: Yeah. So our mission is to kind of bridge cultures through authentic Japanese food and snacks and products. We do this by, as you just mentioned, delivering these delicious Japanese snacks worldwide in our monthly curated snack subscription box. We have a whole lot of products from there but I'm happy to get into that later. Tim: Yeah, and I do want to dive into it. You guys have come a long way. It expanded a lot since you started, and you've delivered over a million boxes of snacks, which is awesome. So what exactly is a subscription box? Danny: Many people already know about subscription boxes out there. But what makes box really special is that we directly partner with the centuries old family snack bigger businesses throughout Japan, everything from Hokkaido red bean buns to Kyoto matcha cakes and Okinawa chinsukos.…

Disrupting Japan

1
The secret edge of Japan’s best SaaS startups 32:21

3 years ago32:21

32:21

There is a very good reason B2B SaaS is huge in Japan right now. Today we sit down with Chiemi Kamakura, co-founder and CEO of Agatha, and she explains why. Agatha is a Japanese SaaS company that has been global from Day 1, but is leveraging some unique strengths developed in Japan. We talk about how Japanese SIs have responded to SaaS, why Japan is likely to see a lot more female founders soon, and the fact that Japanese managers and regulators actually hate paper just as much as the rest of us, but there is one thing that keeps them from going digital. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The real reason Japanese hospitals can't get away from paper Why it's hard to innovate from inside a company Can Japanese SIs survive in the SaaS era Agatha's commitment to being global from Day 1 How global and Japan SaaS markets are different (and how they're not) How SaaS can thrive in highly regulated industries. The importance of a personal network in high-trust products How to develop more female founders in Japan Some good advice on going global with a SaaS product Links from the Founder Everything you evert wanted to know about Agatha Connect with Chiemi on LinkedIn Friend her on Facebook A good Forbes article about Agatha Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for listening. Today, I'd like to introduce you to Chiemi and to Agatha. Actually, Agatha is the startup created by Chiemi Kamakura and her co-founders to solve a global problem in the record-keeping required for clinical trials that are run by pharmaceutical companies. Chiemi tells a great story, and one that illustrates why SaaS is slowly taking over the business world. We talk about the challenges of launching a SaaS startup in a highly regulated industry, the advantages of thinking global from day one, and selling to Japanese customers who always seem to want customization. And Chiemi also explains that contrary to the stereotype, most Japanese workers and regulators don't really like having to rely on mountains of paper. For the most part, they hate it just as much as the rest of us. And today, we'll explain the two things that are actually keeping them from going digital. But you know, Chiemi tells this story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Chiemi Kamakura of Agatha, who makes clinical and regulatory document management for small early stage clinics and life sciences companies. And Chiemi, thank you so much for sitting down with us today. Chiemi: Of course, thank you for inviting me to this opportunity, that's a great honor for me. Tim: The honor is all ours. So I gave just like a really brief explanation of what Agatha does, but can you flesh that out a little bit? Can you explain in more detail, what is it Agatha does? Chiemi: We are offering Document Management Cloud Service for clinical trial for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Tim: So is it just for the research stage, just for the trials themselves, or is it more for operational support as well? Tim: Yeah. So main target is clinical trial business, but not only that, it's from research and also marketing and manufacturing. So we are covering all stages. What we do, especially in clinical trial, for clinical trial is operated between pharmaceutical company and hospitals. There are many, many communications on trial, those communication still paper is used. Tim: Okay. Well, let's get into some specifics. So maybe tell me about your customers. If you're improving the communication between the hospitals and the laboratories doing the trials, walk me through an example. How does that work? Chiemi: Yeah. In hospitals, that people who are managing clinical trials, so that's our user, and in pharmaceutical company side,…

Disrupting Japan

1
How do you know if your startup idea is bad?

3 years ago

—

Coming up with ideas is easy. Spotting the bad one early is a rare skill. Today we talk with Yo Shibata serial entrepreneur an investor about how you know if you really have a great startup idea. We chat about what it was like being acquired by Rakuten, and what can be done to improve M&A in Japan. Yo also talks publicly for the first time about is new startup and why the current B2B SaaS trend in Japan might have peaked and might be about to completely reverse itself. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The advantage of launching early on a new platform The reason for Japanese consumers' love for points systems What it's like to be acquired by Rakuten The birth of the Tokyo Founders Fund The weakness almost all Japanese VC Funds have How to know when you ave a good startup idea Te importance of "Founder-Market Fit" Is this new "anti-SaaS" platform the way forward Why most Japanese enterprises are bad at M&A The most important difference between Japanese and US startup culture Why the ecosystem is more important than the startups themselves Links from the Founder Check out Tailor Yo's big bet against the SaaS trend. ... and they are hiring Follow Yo on Twitter @yoyoshibata Be sure to give a listen to Yo's podcast START/FM Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. So, how do you know if your startup idea is any good? After all, coming up with ideas is easy, knowing how to evaluate them before spending a lot of time and money, well, that's that' a real skill, and we're going to get to that. Today we sit down with Yo Shibata, serial entrepreneur, investor, and well-known figure in Japan startup ecosystem. We talk about where Japanese startups are heading and the big bet Yo is making on his next startup. A big bet based on the idea that the current B2B SaaS boom in Japan has got it all wrong. Now, Yo's theory flies in the face of all common knowledge about the Japanese market, but as long-time fans of disrupting Japan know, I am a hopeless contrarian. Anyone who can make a compelling case about why conventional wisdom is wrong always has my full attention. I just love those stories and ideas, and I love bringing them to you. So Yo and I dive deep into why Japan's current SaaS trend might be about to reverse itself, and what might take its place. We talk about what it's like to be acquired by Rakuten, how corporate Japan is getting better at M&A, and of course, how to know if you actually have a good startup idea. But you know, Yo tells that story much better than I can so let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Yo Shibata, serial entrepreneur and investor. So thanks for sitting down with us, I really appreciate it. Yo: Thank you for having me. Pretty excited. Tim: I'm excited to have you here. And I mean, Yo, you've done so much here. You've started a number of companies, you've started your own fund, you even have your own podcast. It's a great opportunity to really dig in. Yo: Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Tim: Just for background, let's talk about your startups. There's been a lot of them. Yo: Right. Tim: Your first one you started in college, right? Yo: Yes, that was when I was 19 or 20 years old. I started a small company with my friend. It was SEO consulting firm. That was back in 2005 or something like that. Tim: Was that something you planned on like scaling into a big company or was that just beer money for you and your friend? Yo: Back in 2005, in Japan, there was no venture capital, especially like seed stage, very rarely saw angel investors. They usually took majority stakes with like, $50,000 or something like that. Tim: Yeah. And back then, angel investors, they were all doctors or lawyers, they weren't startup people at all.…

Disrupting Japan

1
Can Japan’s “Anti-Uber” disrupt global airport transport? 27:59

3 years ago27:59