Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan

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...

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,

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.

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,

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,

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,

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...

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,

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,

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.

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.

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,

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.

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,

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?

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. Intro Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for listening Shakespeare only wrote 37 plays, Orson Wells only made 64 films, Mozart wrote 41 symphonies, but Disrupting Japan? Well, as of today, Disrupting Japan has 200 episodes. So, what to talk about on this special occasion? Well, I’ll be giving an in-depth answer to the one question I get asked most about Japanese software and Japanese software startups. This is a piece I’ve been working on (on and off) for over three years. I know that seems like a long time, but a lot of my solo podcasts come together like that. I know what I want to say, and will let it will bounce around in my head for months or years before I figure out how to turn it into an interesting story that you will find worth listening to. Some ideas are too short to develop into full-length shows, some I end up talking myself out of before a finish, and some -- like this one -- just take me a long time to craft in a way that I’m happy putting it out into the world. I have about 30 of these article in progress, and that’s far more than I’ll ever develop into podcasts. I’ve been thinking of starting a Substack newsletter to publish some of these in a much shorter form. Let me know what you think. Is that a good idea? Anyway, on our 200th episode, I want to thank you for listening, and making this show possible. I realize that “thank you the listener” has become cliche in and podcasting, but I don’t know what other words to use here. I feel incredibly honored to be able to sit down and have these deep conversions with some of the most creative and visionary people in Japan, and to have thousands of people around the world care enough about my thoughts and options to listen, and to get in touch, and to tell people about it. So thank you for listening,  and thank you for coming on this journey with me. Let see where it takes us. And now, on with the show!   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. And no, this is not going to be just another rant about all the things I dislike about Japanese software. I am not going to waste your time or mine cataloging and complaining about the many, many bad practices, user-hostile design decisions, mind-boggling complex workflows, and poor development process that afflict Japanese software. If you want details and debate about exactly how Japanese software falls short, or if you just in the mood for some good old-fashioned venting about being forced to use it, check out Reddit or maybe Hacker News. This topic comes up pretty often there. No, for the sake of this podcast I’m going to assume that we are all in agreement that on average, Japanese software. is just … awful. That way we can spend our time talking about something far more interesting. We are going to walk though the economic events and the political forces that made today’s poor quality of Japanese software almost inventible, And by the end, I think it will give you a completely new way of looking at the Japanese sof...

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.

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…?

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 ...

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,