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 [email protected]

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?