• Disrupting Japan: Startups and Venture Capital in Japan

  • By: Tim Romero
  • Podcast
Disrupting Japan: Startups and Venture Capital in Japan cover art

Disrupting Japan: Startups and Venture Capital in Japan

By: Tim Romero
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  • Summary

  • Startups and venture capital work differently in Japan and are developing in very different ways. Disrupting Japan introduces you to some of the most important innovator in Japan and explains what it’s really like to be an innovator in a society that prizes conformity.
    Tim Romero
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Episodes
  • Big News from Disrupting Japan!

    Big News from Disrupting Japan!
    May 13 2024
    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.
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    3 mins
  • How to sell innovation in cut-throat, low-margin industries

    How to sell innovation in cut-throat, low-margin industries
    Apr 29 2024
    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...
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    45 mins
  • Startups need to think global, but you need to beware of being global

    Startups need to think global, but you need to beware of being global
    Apr 1 2024
    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...
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    43 mins
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