Produck Podcast

Lee Jean
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Produck Podcast is a dynamic show that dives deep into the real-world challenges and experiences of product managers, startup founders, and product teams. Through candid conversations with industry professionals, we explore the untold stories, daily struggles, and breakthrough moments that shape the product management landscape. YouTube - www.youtube.com/@produckpodcast LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/produck-podcast/ Lee's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-jean-61288087 Wanna be on the show? Get in contact here: leesensei12@gmail.com

  1. 6d ago

    Can India's Engineers Save Japan's Economy? A Conversation with the Founder of Mosaique, Hiro Ishida

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Hiro Ishida, founder of Mosaique, a Japanese serial entrepreneur who has spent over 30 years living and building businesses across Australia, Canada, Singapore, and India. He's on a mission to solve Japan's shrinking workforce crisis — not just by sending workers over, but by making sure they actually stay.Japan's workforce is aging fast, and most companies trying to fix it by hiring foreign talent are making the same critical mistake: teaching language without teaching culture. Hiro's institute in Bangalore goes far deeper, preparing Indian engineers in Japanese working mindset, punctuality, and unwritten workplace rules before they ever land in Japan. The result speaks for itself — 98 students dispatched, 93 still thriving there.What we cover:- Why "just learn Japanese" isn't enough — and what Hiro teaches that most language schools miss- The story of Hiro's first business: a Macintosh, a small Australian town, and zero money- What makes South Indian engineers such a natural fit for Japanese companies- Why it took Hiro six months to get a single bank stamp in India — and what that reveals about doing business there- The real reasons Japanese people are hesitant to visit or live in India- Hiro's longer-term goal: helping India build a domestic manufacturing sector so his graduates can eventually come home and buildHiro is one of the rare people who has lived in India for nine years while spending a career helping Japanese companies expand globally. His work with Mosaique sits at a genuinely underserved intersection — cultural readiness training at a moment when Japan's need for foreign talent has never been more urgent.Connect with Hiro Ishida on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiro-ishida-3975b934/Check out Mosaique: https://mosaique.link/#produckpodcast #japan #india #japanesebusiness #crosscultural #entrepreneur #workculture #globaltalent #workforce #startuplife #indiajapanapan #serialentrepreneur

    Can India's Engineers Save Japan's Economy? A Conversation with the Founder of Mosaique, Hiro Ishida

  2. Aug 7

    This Founder Is Building AI-Assisted Telekinesis. And It's Not Science Fiction. - Davis Alexander James

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Davis Alexander James, founder and CEO of Blackflow Reality, walks us through what might be the most ambitious technology stack being built today: AI and AR-assisted telekinesis, lucid dream-based video games, read-write capabilities to the human brain, and ultimately a consciousness computer that fuses organic and silicon intelligence into something that blurs the line between human thought and AI.Davis's background is in film directing, which is exactly what makes this conversation unusual. He is not just building hardware. He is designing a new kind of experience, one that starts with moving objects with your mind using a non-invasive EEG headset, and eventually leads somewhere that requires rethinking what identity, consciousness, and intelligence even mean.- Why his non-invasive approach is a direct challenge to Neuralink's model, and what goes wrong when a chip driver dies in your skull- The signal-to-noise problem at the heart of all BCI research, and the new electrode, conductivity substrate, and AI model Blackflow is building to solve it- How their lucid dream induction system wakes up the frontal cortex during REM sleep to let people interact, create, and train muscle memory while they sleep- Whether people dream in Euclidean or non-Euclidean space, and why that question actually matters for building the software- The Gen Z fatalism about data privacy: your data is already gone, so the real question is whether it will be weaponized back on you- Two Buddhist perspectives on consciousness uploading, and why Davis thinks it might just be a different kind of deathBlackflow Reality is building what Davis calls a cyberdeck for your mind: a modular, non-invasive system combining XR, brain-computer interfaces, and lucid dream induction to create a new platform for human-machine interaction. They are currently looking to connect with AI and neurotech labs, creative designers willing to build in an entirely new medium, and venture capital partners.Connect with Davis Alexander James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davisalexanderjames/Check out Black Flow Realty here: www.blackflowreality.comSubscribe and follow the Produck Podcast for more conversations with builders working on the ideas most people aren't ready for yet.#produckpodcast #braincomputerinterface #neurotech #BCI #telekinesis #luciddreaming #XR #AIstartup #consciousnesscomputing #tokyostartup

    This Founder Is Building AI-Assisted Telekinesis. And It's Not Science Fiction. - Davis Alexander James

  3. Aug 2

    Communication Is the Science of Misunderstanding. Here's How to Master It - Omid Asgari

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Omid Asgari, associate professor of neuromarketing at Tokyo International University and serial entrepreneur, breaks down one of the most underused and misunderstood tools in the startup world: understanding the human brain.Omid and Lee go deep on what neuromarketing actually is, why traditional surveys only give you one camera angle when you need five, and how the same brain science that helps Toyota and Sony build better products can help a first-time founder nail their pitch, close a deal, and communicate in a way that opens doors instead of triggering threat responses. They also get into the AI question nobody is asking loudly enough: what happens to human intelligence when we outsource all our thinking?- Why the conscious mind is Earth and the subconscious is space, and why most companies never leave the ground- The golden triangle of neuromarketing: concepts, tools, and applications — and why knowing only one of the three makes you useless- How Omid learned, the hard way, that telling a Japanese partner "you're making a deadly mistake" triggers their reptilian brain, and how swapping it to "there's a golden opportunity here" changed everything- Points of people vs. points of sale: why the best-designed restaurant in the world fails if the server is rude- Brain writing vs. brainstorming: why silence is better than shouting ideas, and why your brain is a muscle you need to train- The Damasio quote that cuts to the heart of everything: "We are not thinking machines that feel. We are feeling machines that think."- His COVID pivot story: how he turned a trading company into 4 mobile COVID test centers in one week by reading the wave before anyone elseConnect with Omid Asgari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omidasgaridcg/Subscribe and follow the Produck Podcast for more conversations with builders, thinkers, and educators shaping the future of entrepreneurship in Japan.#produckpodcast #neuromarketing #japanstartup #entrepreneurship #marketing #brainscience #tokyostartup #aieducation #founder #consumerpsychology

    Communication Is the Science of Misunderstanding. Here's How to Master It - Omid Asgari

  4. Jul 25

    Why Your Story Doesn't Have to Be Pretty to Be Worth Telling - Towhida Yume

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Towhida Yume, Senior Program Lead at Venture Cafe Tokyo and aspiring founder, shares a story that begins in a rural village in northwestern Bangladesh, moves through a career in advertising, a political revolution, an internet blackout, a marriage that ended, and a sakura walk that changed everything.Towhida came to Japan in August 2024, in the same week Bangladesh was going through its political uprising, its internet blackout, and the fall of a 15-year dictatorship. She left anyway. What followed is a conversation about storytelling, conditioning, authenticity, and what it actually means to claim your own narrative, embarrassing parts and all.- Why storytelling helps both the listener and the teller, and why rehearsing your story is the fastest way to ruin it- Japanese-ness as a sphere: no sides, no angles, just a blended gradient of culture, history, language, and ethics that can't be separated- The difference between being watched and performing for those who are watching you, and why letting go of that distinction changes everything- Why the comfort bubble isn't always comfortable, just familiar, and what acknowledgement (not courage) actually breaks the chain- Her epiphany watching sakura petals fall: beauty doesn't have to stay to matter- Her vision for her company: self-reliant communities that produce their own energy, food, and water without depending on any outside systemConnect with Towhida Yume on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/towhidayume/Subscribe and follow the Produck Podcast for more conversations with people rewriting their own stories.#produckpodcast #storytelling #japanstartup #venturecafe #expatinjapan #personaldevelopment #selfdiscovery #tokyofounder #bangladeshijapan #authenticity

    Why Your Story Doesn't Have to Be Pretty to Be Worth Telling - Towhida Yume

  5. Jul 10

    Ex-Googler Cormac Guerin on the Dangerous New Era of AI Hacking

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Cormac Guerin, founder and CEO of CompDeep, to talk about the AI cybersecurity threat most companies are not prepared for - and why putting AI agents at every single endpoint might be the only architecture that actually works.Cormac's path here is anything but straight. He started as a kernel hacker at Sun Microsystems, spent a decade at Google Japan, quit to build what may have been Japan's first NFT marketplace, pivoted through smart contract security auditing after the hacks started hitting Web3, and landed in the AI cybersecurity space at exactly the right moment. CompDeep puts AI agents at every endpoint in an organization's network with intent-gated controls that stop the agent from doing anything beyond its assigned role - so it can observe, analyze, or execute, but only what you've authorized, and nothing more.They cover the CrowdStrike global outage and why centralized cybersecurity is a single point of failure that corporations keep ignoring, why having your company's security data sitting on someone else's cloud is a data sovereignty problem most CTOs overlook, how CompDeep's distributed mesh network keeps your security running even if Amazon goes down, and how AI is enabling hacking at a scale and speed that was impossible just two years ago. They also go deeper: AI surveillance and civil liberties, whether UBI can survive human greed, what The Matrix got right about our trajectory, and why Cormac thinks the social contract needs to be rewritten before AI finishes rewriting it for us.Cormac Guerin is the founder and CEO of CompDeep, an AI-native cybersecurity company building a distributed, agentic security layer for enterprise. With a background spanning Sun Microsystems, a decade at Google Japan, blockchain security, and kernel-level systems work, he is one of the most technically grounded founders working at the intersection of AI and security today.Connect with Cormac Guerin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cormacguerin/Learn more about Cormac's product here: enbarr.ai#produckpodcast #cybersecurity #aicybersecurity #startupjapan #aiagents #leejean #compdeep #datasovereignty #aithreats #techfounder #japanstartup #infosec

    Ex-Googler Cormac Guerin on the Dangerous New Era of AI Hacking

  6. Jul 3

    Why Moving to Japan is 5x More Expensive Than You Think - Andrew Sharifikia

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Andrew Sharifiki, the co-founder of Terano AI, to discuss the stark realities, political shifts, and bureaucratic hurdles of relocating to and building a life in Japan. Andrew shares his deeply personal journey from Iran to Tokyo after COVID-19 upended his academic plans in Germany, shedding light on the isolating cultural norms, systemic housing discrimination, and sudden visa tightening that foreign entrepreneurs face today. The conversation explores how global right-wing political shifts are affecting Japan's immigration policies and why Andrew believes the country’s demographic crisis will ultimately force its borders back open.- The N5 Visa Hurdle: Why Japan now requires you to pass the N5 JLPT exam before you can enter the country to study the language. - The "Pokemons" of VC Portfolios: Andrew explains why he is glad Tarano AI didn't get pre-seed VC funding from programs like Antler, choosing to remain true hustlers rather than trophy investments. - The Dreadful Housing Process: A deep dive into the hidden fees of Japanese real estate, from "key money" scams to being rejected by guarantor companies for not having a traditional corporate job. - Robotics in the Rice Fields: How Japanese startups are utilizing modular robotics and visual inspection AI to automate abandoned agricultural lands as the domestic workforce collapses. - Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): Why Andrew is self-studying the mathematical defenses required to secure global cloud data before quantum computers scale to breach all modern encryption walls in minutes. - The Culture of "Meiwaku": How the societal obsession with not bothering others limits everyday serendipity and leaves trains completely silent.Andrew Sharifiki is a Tokyo-based tech entrepreneur, co-founder of Terano AI, and a B2B sales strategist for local AI service providers. After moving to Japan via a sponsored work visa during the peak of the pandemic, he has dedicated his work to smoothing the landing process for foreign nationals attempting to navigate Tokyo's complex legal and residential landscapes.Connect with Andrew Sharifiki on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/alireza-sharifikia/Subscribe to the Produck Podcast for more raw, unfiltered conversations with global tech founders making waves in Japan and beyond!#produckpodcast #japan #tokyo #startupjapan #taranoai #foreignersinjapan #ai #robotics #quantumcryptography #antler #immigration #movingtojapan

    Why Moving to Japan is 5x More Expensive Than You Think - Andrew Sharifikia

  7. Jun 26

    Anyone Can Make a Video Game Now. This Startup Is Proving It - Marc Cellucci

    In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Marc Cellucci, founder and CEO of Tempesta, for a 25-year tour through the gaming industry - from producing titles during Sega's Dreamcast era to building an AI platform in Japan where anyone can create a full, playable game world from a single sentence in under two minutes. Marc's career started at Sega in 1999, ran through learning Japanese from scratch and passing the hardest proficiency certification they offer, getting hired at Koei Tecmo, returning to Sega Japan as an arcade producer, and eventually starting an app company the exact week Steve Jobs announced the iPhone - which he later sold. Then he looked around and asked: what can AI do for gaming that has never been done before? That question became Spindle. They cover why Japan's arcades went from cutting-edge gaming machines to crane games and why it makes total business sense, what actually goes into making a AAA title (a lot of spreadsheets and not much that's glamorous), how Spindle generates a full interactive world from a one-line idea, and why Marc thinks most AI gaming is slop and what it takes to do it differently. Marc also walks through his path through the Antler cohort in Japan, funding from Shizen Capital, and the Supercell AI Innovation Lab - which included a trip to Lapland and a reindeer sled. His theory on Japan: let Silicon Valley build the cassette player. Japan builds the Walkman. Connect with Marc Cellucci on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-cellucci/ Check out Tempesta / Spindle: [Website URL] Marc's Blog: https://www.cellucci.world/ #produckpodcast #aigaming #startupjapan #gamedev #entrepreneurship #leejean #tempesta #spindle #gaming #japanstartup #founders #aitools #ugc #gamecreator

    Anyone Can Make a Video Game Now. This Startup Is Proving It - Marc Cellucci

  8. Jun 20

    Confidence Isn't Born. It's Built From Being Broken - Ayaka (Aya) Murai

    When Aya was a teenager, she was bullied for being too tall and not fitting Japanese beauty standards. Instead of collapsing, she drew up a vision of her "ideal self" and reverse-engineered every step to become her. What followed was one of the most relentless reinventions you'll hear this year.In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Ayaka (Aya) Murai, co-founder and country manager of Idea Boxes Japan, to unpack a journey that includes self-taught English, a beauty pageant stage, a startup betrayal that left her unable to eat for three days, and a worship song on Instagram that changed everything. Aya is still early in her story, but what she has already lived through is worth every minute of your time.What we get into:- How Aya created a detailed "ideal self" vision as a teenager and built a plan to become her- The hostel trick she used to teach herself English with zero scores and zero safety net- Becoming a beauty pageant finalist as someone who was told she never fit the Japanese beauty mold- The startup betrayal that left her broke, alone in Japan, and stuck in bed for three days barely eating- How a worship song on Instagram found her at her lowest and led her to Christianity- Why she attended 100 to 150 startup events in a single year to rebuild her entire world from scratch- Why confidence is something you earn through hardship, not something you are born withAyaka (Aya) Murai is the co-founder and country manager of Idea Boxes Japan. Idea Boxes is a startup studio headquartered in New York, with offices in Armenia and London, that helps founders build companies from 0 to 1 with no upfront cost, providing tech in exchange for future revenue share or equity. Aya is also developing a 3-week workshop program to help aspiring entrepreneurs in Japan turn passion into practical action.Connect with Aya Murai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayakagrace/Check out Ideaboxes: ideaboxes.app#produckpodcast #entrepreneurship #startupjapan #womenfounders #selfimprovement #mindset #confidence #founderstory #japanstartup #leejean #ideaboxes #faith #selfbelief #buildyourself

    Confidence Isn't Born. It's Built From Being Broken - Ayaka (Aya) Murai
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About

Produck Podcast is a dynamic show that dives deep into the real-world challenges and experiences of product managers, startup founders, and product teams. Through candid conversations with industry professionals, we explore the untold stories, daily struggles, and breakthrough moments that shape the product management landscape. YouTube - www.youtube.com/@produckpodcast LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/produck-podcast/ Lee's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-jean-61288087 Wanna be on the show? Get in contact here: leesensei12@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    Lee Jean
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Lee Jean
  • Show Website
    Produck Podcast