Disrupting Japan

• What it’s really like to be a female VC in Japan

  Progress is not only slower in Japan, it is often different. Looking at the numbers, it's clear that venture capital is even more male-dominated in Japan than it is in the West. Our guest today explains not only how that's changing, but how she's changing it. Sophie Meralli is a Partner at Shizen Capital and co-founder of Tokyo Women in VC. We sit down and dive deep into the keys to developing a creative, global mindset among Japanese founders and VCs, the role immigrants have to play in developing Japan's startup culture, and what really works in changing, not only minds, but actions related to the role of women in startups and venture capital. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The kind of startups Sophie and Shizen are looking for Why Japanese AI startups need to be especially careful The percentage of Japanese VCs are women, and how it's changed over the past 5 years Why more and more VC funds are being started by women in Japan What Women in VC does, and how you can get involved The main things holding back women in VC in Japan today The critical next steps for women in VC Is it easier for foreign women to defy gender stereotypes? Are Japanese women founders making faster progress than women VCs? What a “global mindset” really means for startups How to develop cultures of creativity and innovation Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Tokyo Women in VC Tokyo Women in VC Job Board Tokyo Women in VC Research: The 7 Stats Shizen Capital Friend with Sophie on Facebook Follow her on Twitter @Soph_VC Info on rate of Japanese Passport holders Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. Finance and venture capital in particular has always been male dominated, and in Japan, well, it's even more so, but things are changing here and not quite in the way you might expect. Today we sit down with Sophie Meralli, a partner at Shizen Capital, and co-founder of Tokyo Women in VC. And we have a frank discussion about what it's really like for female founders and venture capitalists here in Japan. And some of it is surprising. In some areas it seems that Japan is ahead of the west and in others, well, not so much. The conversation is at times both frustrating and hopeful. Sophie explains the one thing holding female VCs back more than any other, how things are changing for female founders and for male founders as well, and why so many new Japanese venture funds are being founded by women. But you know, Sophie tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview.   Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Sophie Meralli, a brand new partner at Shizen Capital. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Sophie: Thank you so much, Tim. It's a pleasure to be here. Tim: You're not new to VC, but you're new to Shizen. So, tell me a little bit about your new role, what kind of things you're looking for. Sophie: Yeah, sure. For me, it's kind of interesting because I was in early stage in Boston and then when I came back to Japan, I was with Eight Roads Ventures for about five and a half years looking more into growth stage startups in FinTech, Enterprise SaaS. And those are really the area that I think are super interesting to me in Japan where I see a lot of potential. And so at Shizen, given this is much more like early stage, there are tons of ideas for which there are already unicorns abroad, but in Japan, those haven't surfaced yet. And I'm really excited to either incubate new businesses or just be able to be a partner for very early stage startups in those sectors. Tim: Now, you mentioned your experience back at InSpark in Boston? Sophie: Yes. Tim: If I recall back then you were looking at AI startups and sort of the previous generation of AI startups.

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• Startup success hinges on enterprise innovation

  American startups dominate the current innovation cycle not as a result of startup innovation, but of enterprise innovation. Today we sit down with Dai Watanabe and dive into the dynamics of industry disruption and startup innovation. For the last 25 years Dai has held leadership roles at the center of Japan's major innovation trends. From the glory days of Japan's mobile internet, to the utter disruption unleashed by the iPhone, to today's doubling down on startup innovation. We talk about what's in store for the future of Japanese startups, and why opportunities in innovation are never quite what they seem at first. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes When it's time for a CVC to transition into a VC How Japan lost its lead in the mobile internet How DeNA went global in China and then in the US Why the first generation mobile advantage did not transfer to the second generation The different approach to retaining talent in Tokyo and San Francisco What Japanese founders need to bring back from San Francisco Which Japanese startups should move to Silicon Valley The reason there are still so few Japanese entrepreneurs How to get talented employees to leave and start startups, and why we'll see more of it The biggest thing holding back startup growth in Japan How Japanese employment law keeps startup valuations low Japanese enterprise and startups are developing more collaboratively that in the US Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Delight Ventures Meet the team Learn how they invest [Japanese] Connect with Dai on LinkedIn Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Mukashi mukashi, Once Upon a Time, but not so long ago, Japan was far and away the world leader in mobile internet innovation. But such times were not to last. The world changed, Japan changed, and today Japan is trying to catch up. And, you know, they just might do it. Today we sit down with my friend Dai Watanabe, co-founder and managing partner of Delight Ventures. And as you'll see from our conversation, Dai's career put him at the center of the entire arc from Japan's mobile internet explosion and crash, the current focus on startup growth and why Japan is now seriously rethinking the Silicon Valley model of startup innovation. Dai and I dig deep into his work with METI and other agencies to help form innovation policy, how Japan's lifetime employment system is suppressing M&A activity, and keeping valuations low. And why Japanese mamas don't let their babies grow up to be founders. But, you know, Dai tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview.   Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Dai Watanabe, the co-founder and managing partner at Delight Ventures. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Dai: Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. Tim: Dai, I'm so glad I finally have been able to get you on the show. We've been talking about these things for years now. So DeNA, it's mostly mobile, social gaming, networking, entertainment, sports, consumer facing content, that kind of thing. But Delight's portfolio seems to be much, much broader than that. So, what's your thesis? What kind of companies are you investing in? Dai: So, the Delight Ventures is a VC fund that started as a spin out of DeNA, my ex-employer. But we are not CVC, so we don't do any strategy investment. We invest as independent VC. We set up some investment thesis at the beginning, which isn't necessarily aligned with DeNA's core strengths. Tim: Is DeNA still your sole LP? Dai: No, DeNA is one of the LPs. So, we are on fund two right now. The majority of the LP money is coming from Japanese financial institutions, some corporates banks. Tim: So DeNA,

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• Senpai culture is killing innovation in Japan

  Fifteen years ago, University-run venture funds were all but illegal here in Japan, but today a higher percentage of major Japanese universities have VC funds than in the US or Europe. Today we sit down with Kei Furukawa, a partner at the University of Tokyo IPC, a $300M venture fund, and we talk about the unique role these funds play in Japan, how they drive innovation in rural areas, and why he has to talk professors out of becoming startup CEOs. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes UTokyo IPC'a mission and investment strategy How the Japanese government is trying to accelerate university innovation Why the government plans to stop funding university VC funds The unique role of University funds in Japan How IPC is helping startups work with large enterprises Why Japanese CVCs are more founder-friendly than American VCs Why Japanese CVC investment increased during covid How to talk a professor out of being a startup CEO Can startup interaction reform Japan’s universities? The challenge in developing innovators outside of the major cities Which startup sectors are most promising in Japan How senpai culture is holding Japan back Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about UTokyo IPC IPCs 1st Round program Follow Kei on X @keisukefurukawa Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. University Venture Funds play a much larger role in the startup ecosystem and in startup finance in Japan than they do in the US or Europe. Japanese university funds also operate differently, and  fill a different niche than most of their Western counterparts. Their oversized impact is all the more amazing when you consider that 15 years ago, it was basically illegal for Japanese universities to invest directly in startups, but now they've become a driving force. Well, today we sit down with Kei Furukawa, a partner at the University of Tokyo IPC. A $300 million University fund, and we dive into how Japanese university VCs invest today and how that's going to be changing in the near future. Oh, and for our overseas listeners in this conversation at different times, Kei and I talk about the University of Tokyo and Todai and UTokyo. It's all the same place. It just goes by many names. So Kei and I talk about how you can get investment from IPC, even if you're not a University of Tokyo student or faculty. The single biggest challenge to getting university professors on board with what's required to commercialize their research and how the different investment strategies in Japan are leading to a different kind of startup enterprise collaboration than we see in the rest of the world. But, you know, Kei tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Kei Furukawa, a partner at the UTokyo Innovation Platform or IPC. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Kei: Thank you for having me on. Tim: In the introduction, I gave a brief description of what IPC is and what you're doing, but could you explain a little bit more? So like, what's your thesis? What are you investing in? Kei: So, we are a university of Tokyo Innovation platform company. In short, we are called in Japanese Todai IPC. I think there's three major points in our activities. Number one, we are a hundred percent subsidy of the University of Tokyo, which until a few years ago, it was a pretty rare case because national universities were not allowed to have, let's say, investment companies or let's say companies itself under the organization. But we were created for a more government policy point, we are a hundred percent subsidy, which is pretty, I think, unique model around the world that there's a venture capital right u...

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• How to build a successful startup community

  (sketch by Kaori Rei)Today we are going to sit down with an old friend. It was over seven years ago when I first had Tim Rowe on the podcast, and we mapped out what we saw as the future of startup innovation in Japan. In today's short episode, we talk about what we got right. what surprised us, and what we think is next for Japanese startup innovation. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Leave a comment   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'd like to share a special short in between episode with you. Last month I had a fireside chat with Tim Rowe, the founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center at the Global Venture Cafe's anniversary celebration in Tokyo. And I thought I would share it with you just as it happened.  I first had Tim on the show about eight years ago, just before CIC opened their Big Tokyo collaboration space. This time Tim and I talk about the changes to the Japanese startup ecosystem since then, what we are likely to see in the future, and we also discuss what might be a new model for startup ecosystems. As startups have become more and more accepted and more and more common. The old community playbook may not be as effective as it once was. But Tim tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Romero: All right, Tim, it is great to be sitting down with you again. And as a bit of background for the audience. You and I back in 2017, we were sitting down over coffee in Tokyo and you were telling me about your plans to open Venture Cafe and CIC and I remember asking you like, how the hell are you going to fill 6,000 square meters of co-working space in Tokyo? And here we are. Venture Cafe is one of the driving forces in the startup ecosystem. CIC is over capacity. I have never been so delighted to have my doubts proven wrong, so congratulations on that. Rowe: Thank you, Tim. Glad to be here. Romero: Before we dig in, you've got ties to Japan. You've been working with Japan for a long time, so can you tell us a little bit about what was your involvement in Japan in the 90s and forward? Rowe: Okay, so a bit of background. I'm from Cambridge, Massachusetts. My father was a professor at Harvard. My mother was a professor at MIT, so I'm one of those kids. And I was fortunate to be exposed a bit to the world. My grandmother had spent about a decade in Asia in the 1920s. And she used to teach me kanji when I was little. And so I didn't know much about Asia, but I thought this was really interesting. And I learned later that my great-grandfather arrived in Yokohama in 1919. He was then acting Surgeon General for the United States. And he was on a world trip to kind of build connections and relationships. So, we go back a little ways in Asia. My father, when I was in high school, did something that I think all the parents in the room should do. He said, look you should learn a little bit about the rest of the world. And he said, if you learn Japanese, I'll give you an opportunity to work in my company's Tokyo office for the summer. And I said, okay, deal. And I started studying Japanese. I didn't know the language at all, but it seemed like a cool opportunity. By the way, a generation later, I made the same offer to my oldest child. Actually, I made the offer to all my children, but my oldest child took me up and he came and worked in Tokyo also when he was 16. Kihara-san, I understand that you did something similar. You were in school in Chicago and in Amsterdam when you were young. And clearly your English reflects that experience. I think all of us should have this opportunity to go out of our usual comfort zone and work in another country and learn about other cultures. But that's my background. So, I did a year at Dosha University later as an exchange student from Amherst College.

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• Software alone can’t make us work together

  Today we are going to break down some startup stereotypes. I sit down with Kunio Hara, co-founder and CEO of Beatrust and break apart the stereotypes of the uncreative Japanese enterprise and the young startup founder, and Kunio explains how Beatrust is already teaching old dogs new tricks. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Japanese enterprises are different from their US large counterparts Things to know when starting a company in your late 50s Why older founders lead to more successful outcomes Challenges in breaking the age-hierarchy in Japan Can software actually make people collaborate? What it takes to get Japanese firms to innovate and collaborate freely Does Japan's management style have to change or can innovation happen within it? Why American companies will also soon have to change their work styles What new founders need to keep their eyes on when starting a startup Links from our Guest Everything you ever wanted to know about Beatrust Follow Beatrust on X @jp_beatrust Beatrust on Note Get in touch with Beatrust Connect with Kunio on LinkedIn Friend him on Facebook Leave a comment 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 didn't really realize what this episode was about until I finished the editing. Oh, don't worry. I'll be introducing you to an innovative founder in just a minute, and we'll dive deep into their business and their market. But this episode is really about stereotypes, how much truth they really have and why they stay with us, and what we can do to change both the perceptions and the realities that underlie them. Today we sit down with Kunio Hara, co-founder and CEO of Beatrust, a startup that's focused on getting Japanese enterprises to break from their hierarchical structures and let their employees collaborate. Listeners who have spent time in Japan know that this is not an easy task, but as we explore this subject, it becomes clear that both the reality and the solutions are not as straightforward as the stereotype suggest. We also explore the stereotype of the young Rebel startup founder, and man that is a pervasive one. In 2007, a 22-year-old, Mark Zuckerberg famously declared that quote, young people are just smarter. Paul Graham explained in 2013 that investors tend to be skeptical of any founder who is over 32 years old. However, if you take the time to look at the real world results, the data actually show that older founders are much more likely to have a large value exit than younger founders. Kunio started Beatrust in his late fifties, and we talk about the positives and the negatives associated with that. But, you know, Kunio tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Kunio Hara, the co-founder and CEO of Beatrust, who is modernizing corporate collaboration and culture in Japan. So, thanks for sitting down with me. Kunio: Yeah, thank you, Tim. Long time no see. Tim: Yeah, it has been a while since you're at Google. So Beatrust is focused on helping employees collaborate. This is important. Everyone agrees it's important. But it's hard. So what is Beatrust doing differently in this space? Kunio: We call our service talent collaboration tools because we try to define the new space and compare with other HR tech, especially talent management. What we do is mainly to help large organizations drive and facilitate more autonomous collaboration like cross functions. Tim: Okay. Yeah, that's challenging and in a bit, I want to dive deep into exactly how you do that. But before that, tell me about your customers. So, who's using Beatrust? Kunio: Obviously, large enterprise customers. They want to transform the culture to more innovative oriented,

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