Japan's Venture Leaders Kento Akiyama

Hidaryu is the founder of Zenhouse, an U25 founder sharehouse in Tokyo with a focus on mental and physical wellbeing.

Hidaryu himself is a founder under 25 and has dedicated himself to startups ever since he dropped out of university a couple of years ago. There were two aspects which motivated me to talk to him.

Firstly, Hidaryu took the very unconventional path in Japan to quit university and pursue his dreaws in entrepreneurship. After his first business in Tokyo, he  decided to challenge himself by moving to Egypt which is even rarer. So I wanted to understand his mindset and future plans better.

Secondly, I was curious about the young founder scene in Japan. What kind of businesses are they working on? What are they struggling with? As Hidaryu spends his time living and coaching these founders, I had to talk to him to learn more.

So lets dive in an see what he can share about these topics and much more!

Thanks for listening and please enjoy my conversation with Hidaryu!

Show notes
This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

GUEST INFO

Hidaryu’s twitter: https://twitter.com/Ryuheimatincjp

Other Hidaryu links: https://linktr.ee/ryubvb 

OUTLINE

1. About you and Zenhouse

[01:42] Why did you shave your head?

[04:00] What’s Zenhouse and why did you start it?

[05:37] What’s the difference between the two sharehouses you have started?

[07:20] What does a normal day at Zenhouse look like?

[08:55] What kind of feedback did you receive from the Zenhouse residents so far?

[10:04] What is one mental health advice you would give founders?

[12:06] What is the vision for Zenhouse?

[13:44] What motivates you?

2. Japan's U25 Founder Scene

[18:45] What’s the mindset of U25 founders in Japan?

[20:30] What motivates young people to found companies?

[21:21] When do young founders usually start working on their business?

[22:30] Which industry are they interested in starting businesses in?

[24:00] How do they learn about how to start a company?

[26:21] Do japanese people also research startup information in English?

[27:58] Why don’t more people in Japan consume information in English?

[29:20] What do japanese founders need to succeed on the global stage?

[31:10] What’s the difference between founders in Japan and Egypt?

[32:55] How can people learn to build more self confidence?

[34:14] How can you balance having small and big goals?

3. Rapid Fire questions

[36:33] If you were not allowed to work on  anything startup related, what would you work on?

[37:00] Which advice would you give to U25 founders in Japan?

[37:08] What does Japan need to blossom?

Ryo is a Partner at Antler, a globally operating venture investor which helps founders from day zero. Antler has recently opened their office in Japan is launching their first cohort in January 2023.

As a Japanese native with a very international mindset, Ryo has been having a wide ranging exposure to the startup ecosystem. His responsibilities ranged various positions from being a founder, investor, country manager and CEO of various companies such as Tinder, Hailo, East Ventures and most recently becoming a partner at Antler where he leads the Japan rollout.

I am very excited to discuss the value of globally ambitious startups with him in today’s episode. Also, I am curious to find out more about his motivations to continuously challenge himself in the startup ecosystem and what his experience at Antler is like.

Thanks for listening and please enjoy my conversation with Ryo!

Show notes
This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

GUEST INFO

Ryo’s twitter: https://twitter.com/umemac

Antler: antler.co

OUTLINE

1. About you and Antler 

[02:26] What got you into startups?

[05:10] What motivates you to take on entrepreneurial challenges continuously? 

[10:38] What was your biggest challenge in setting up the Antler office in Japan? 

[12:02] How would you advise founders looking to build their team? 

[15:30] Why is now a great time to open the Japan office for Antler?

2. Founding startups with global ambition 

[18:08] Why is it important to think globally as a founder in Japan? 

[21:26] Which aspects of the Antler curriculum encourage global thinking for founders? 

[22:22] Why do founders in Japan struggle to think globally? 

[24:30] Which advice would you personally give to a founder who wants to go global? 

[27:51] Should all founders think globally?

3.Rapid fire questions 

[29:00] What would you be doing if it’s not allowed to be startup related? 

[30:30] What advice would you give aspiring founders in Japan? 

[31:34] What does Japan need to blossom?

Urara is a Co-Founder of Omotete, an early stage startup building a solution to simplify access to menstrual pads.

Starting her own company comes to no surprise as she has a history of starting organisations while in school. For example, she founded an NPO called Your School which provides educational and social support to hospitalized children or Anchor to make school trips more joyful for students. She is also interested in urban engineering for which she recently started a PhD at the University of Tokyo before pausing it to pursue her passion with Omotete.

The reason why I wanted to talk to her is to better understand her entrepreneurial spirit and to get a pulse on the next generation of founders who are taking over the Femtech market in Japan.

Thanks for joining and please enjoy my conversation with Urara!

Show notes
This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

GUEST INFO

Urara’s twitter: https://twitter.com/uraratakaseki

Omotete: https://en.omotete.jp/

OUTLINE

1. About you and Omotete

[02:20] What’s Omotete and how did you found it?

[03:55] Which product will you launch with Omotete?

[04:51] Are there existing solutions to access menstrual pads in public in Japan?

[06:46] Why did you choose this business and not another?

[09:06] What is your most memorable learning from running Omotete?

[09:37] What keeps you in Japan?

[12:07] What drives you to take on new challenges?

[13:42] What makes you Japanese and what does not?

2. The Femtech market in Japan

[15:40] What does Femtech mean?

[17:01] How would you describe the current state of the Femtech market in Japan

[19:17] What makes Japan’s Femtech market different from others?

[23:34] Which Femtech products do you find interesting in Japan?

[27:48] How do you evaluate which products to trust and which ones to not trust?

[29:45] Do most product innovations come from big companies?

[31:05] What should the Femtech market start, stop and continue doing to improve?

3. Rapid Fire questions

[35:46] What would you be doing if it’s not allowed to be startup related? 

[36:08] What advice would you give aspiring student founders in Japan? 

[36:42] What does Japan need to blossom?

Masato is a Partner at Partners Fund, a venture capital firm focused on investing in early stage startups mostly in Japan.

In his past he has been taking on business roles at large companies such Takeda and SoftBank and lately he’s more focused on earlier stage startups with Plug and Play and partners fund.

Based on his experience working at the intersection of big corporates and startups I am very excited to talk to him on the topic of open innovation in Japan which has been a buzzword in the Japanese business world for a while.

I am also curious to find out more about his path into the startup ecosystem and why he choose to become a full time Venture Capital investor.

SHOWNOTES

This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

GUEST INFO

Masato’s twitter: https://twitter.com/Masa_DoubleDyno

Partners Fund: fullcommit-partners.com

OUTLINE

1. About you and Partners Fund

[01:19] How did you find your way into the startup ecosystem?

[05:52]Was it a coincidence that you got involved in startups?

[06:17] Why do you prefer working with startups over corporates?

[07:12] Why did you decide to go the Venture capital route?

[08:02] How did the image of a Venture Capitalist differ from the actual  experience?

[10:15] What is one thing you wish you would have known before becoming a full time investor?

[10:59] What speaks against becoming a venture capitalist at an early age?

[11:30] Could you imagine starting a new startup afterwards?

[11:55] How many years do you plan on being a VC?

[12:32] How actively do you seek international investment targets?

[13:47] What do most founders in Japan struggle with?

[15:57] Is it demotivating for Japanese founders to deal with long business sales cycles in Japan?

[17:16] How applicable are global startup growth benchmarks for the Japanese market?

2. Open Innovation in Japan

[18:00] How do you define open innovation?

[19:20] Why do Japanese companies seem to care so much about open innovation?

[21:39] What is an example of a successful open innovation project?

[24:00] How are the financial incentives structured in an open innovation partnership?

[27:04] What does the future of open innovation look like?

3. Rapid fire questions

[28:11] What’s your favorite place in Japan?

[28:36] What makes you happy?

[28:46] What does Japan need to blossom?

Eric is the founder of Japan Dev, a leading job board for foreigner friendly tech jobs in Japan.

In this episode, we will explore Eric’s journey from starting off in Japan as an English teacher to working full time on Japan Dev with his wife. Based on his experience working in the tech industry, I am also curious to understand his perspective on the future of Japan’s Tech industry.



This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

GUEST INFO

Eric’s twitter: https://twitter.com/_etdev

Japan-Dev: https://japan-dev.com/

OUTLINE

1) About you and Japan-Dev

[01:31] What brought you to Japan?

[03:15] How did you transition from being an English teacher to becoming a software developer in Japan?

[04:59] Would you consider moving back to the countryside in Japan?

[06:15] How did Japan-Dev grow from side-project to full-time job?

[09:27] What happened with Japan-Dev between 2017 and 2019?

[11:28] What made you pick up Japan-Dev after leaving it on the side for a while?

[13:39] What motivated you to be an entrepreneur?

[15:45] Who is currently working on Japan-Dev?

[16:08] How do you allocate your time across different business functions?

[17:56] What is the growth potential of Japan-Dev?

[20:38] Can you tell us more about your new project Rocketships.io?

[24:48] What’s the difference between Japan-Dev and Rocketships.io?

2) About Japan’s startup ecosystem

[26:44] How easy was it to set up your business in Japan?

[30:20] Which founding advice would you have shared with your younger self?

[31:54] In how far do you interact with Tokyo’s startup community?

[33:34] What’s missing in Japan’s startup ecosystem?

3) The future of Japan’s tech industry

[35:20] Why are you excited about Japan’s tech industry?

[39:00] Is Silicon Valley the ideal future state of Japan’s tech industry?

[44:28] How can Japan learn to embrace the value of software?

[49:40] Rapid fire questions

Suzu is a rising talent in Japan’s Venture space with her role as managing partner at the Venture Capital firm Goto Ventures and her work at Guidy.

Today, I want to focus on her story of how she found her way into the Venture Capital space being in her early twenties and what the current state of startup exits is like in Japan. I also wanted to learn about how she got into the startup ecosystem and hope that it can serve as an inspiration for other soon-to-be university graduates in Japan.

Thanks for listening in and please enjoy my conversation with Suzu!

This podcast is presented by Japan's Venture Academy: https://linktr.ee/jvacademy

It was brought to you by Kento: https://twitter.com/kentaki_fried

For feedback, please reach out to jvl.podcast@gmail.com

Links:

World Bank Startup ecosystem report: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36462