Have you ever met someone for the first time and just known that this person will be successful no matter what they do? In my experience, it is rare, but it does happen.

A few years ago, when I was interviewing college students to help me "work the booth" at a customer show in Osaka, I met just such a person. His name is Arjun Sharma. While now still in his early twenties, he is now the co-founder and COO of Tokyo-based startup Riv Inc. Arjun graciously agreed to be the first guest in the Real Gaijin AMA ("Ask Me Anything") podcast series, which profiles foreign residents of Japan, or other "real gaijin," who are making their mark in a country long known for its homogeneity but now home to more than 3 million foreigners.

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Arjun is a member of Japan's rapidly growing population of expatriates who have learned to navigate Japan's business culture and are truly challenging the status quo to build successful new start-ups. Many of these leaders are young millennials or members of Generation Z.

Key Takeaways

* Arjun's Baby, Riv Inc: Still in the development stage, this startup is transforming a vision for the future into a practical service to provide a complete, real-time traceability solution for components and other inputs for the food and beverage industry in Japan and around the world.

* Advice for foreigners considering living and working in Japan

* Learn Japanese: While you don't need to be fluent, a solid grasp of rudimentary Japanese is usually critical to a successful transition to life as a foreigner in Japan. It is also not a “once-and-done” type of thing. Studying the Japanese language and culture requires a commitment to becoming a lifelong learner. The rewards are, however, well worth it.

* Create your own community and take advantage of networking opportunities: There are plenty of opportunities to meet other people and get involved in a larger community in Japan and online. As a budding entrepreneur, Arjun seeks out relationships with other people who are passionate about their startup (e.g. Alchemist Accelerator in Japan, SusHI-Tech, etc.).

* Relocate to Japan: Find a job and commit to working in Japan for at least 5 years to fully immerse yourself in Japanese business culture. Especially if you speak English, Arjun says there is always something you can do in Japan, especially in Tokyo, and not just teaching English (although that is often a good start). First, though, you need to find a way to navigate the visa situation and get over here.

Timeline

Substack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section, like YouTube's "chapters" So, please just refer to the times listed below (table in main Substack post) to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.

Key Contacts

* Arjun Sharma via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjun-sharma-4aa9591b7/

* Riv, Inc: https://riv-inc.jp/en

* Alchemist Accelerator: https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/ and https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/japan

* SusHI-tech: https://www.sushi-tech-tokyo.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/top/en/

* Recommended Chill Spot: https://www.umihotaru.com/en/

#RivInc #FoodSupplyChain #FAndB #FoodAndBeverage #startup #GenZEntrepreneur #YoungEntrepreneur #ArjunSharma #foreigner #AlchemistAccelerator #AlchemistJapan #シャルマアルジュン #アルジュンシャルマ #食品サプライチェーン #食産業 #スタートアップ #若手起業家 #Z世代の起業家 #外国人 #外人

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