Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan Tim Romero: Serial startup founder in Japan and indomitable innovator
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Startups are changing Japan, and Japan is innovating in unique ways. Disrupting Japan explores what it's like to be an innovator in a culture that prizes conformity and introduces you to startups that will be household brands in a few years.
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What today’s headlines don’t tell you about Fusion Energy
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. -
One soil startup’s unusual and risky scaling secret
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. -
What you need to know to sell to schools in Japan
Almost everyone agrees that the Japanese education system needs to be modernized, but EdTech startups 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 and 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 positive long-term trends he sees in Japan's eduction system.
It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. -
AI’s new game-changing role in decoding mountains of EKGs
MedTech is one of the most challenging areas for startups to compete in,
"Move fast and break things" just doesn't work in medicine. So you might be surprised to learn that there are quite a few innovative medical startups coming out of Japan right now.
Today we talk with Yuichi Tamura, founder of Cardio Intelligence, who has developed Smart Robin, and AI platform that can read 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. -
What it takes to teach Japan Inc how to code
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. -
The innovative age of Shadow IT is coming to an end
Shadow IT has been responsible for more enterprise SaaS deployments and workflow innovation that any growth strategy we've seen in 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 them 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.