Disrupting Japan

For the last 150 years, Japan has made a science of borrowing the best ideas from the West and transforming them into her own.

The startup world is no exception. Japanese startup culture is heavily shaped by foreign influence, but not in the traditional top down way where leadership chooses which changes are introduced.  Japan's startup ecosystem is being shaped by bottom-up experimentation by both Japanese and foreign founders on the ground here in Japan.

Today we talk with Sandeep Casi, an entrepreneur and Partner at Antler. We talk about the challenges foreign founders still face in Japan and how they are changing Japanese entrepreneurship for the better.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Progress is not only slower in Japan, it is often different.

Looking at the numbers, it's clear that venture capital is even more male-dominated in Japan than it is in the West. Our guest today explains not only how that's changing, but how she's changing it.

Sophie Meralli is a Partner at Shizen Capital and co-founder of Tokyo Women in VC. We sit down and dive deep into the keys to developing a creative, global mindset among Japanese founders and VCs, the role immigrants have to play in developing Japan's startup culture, and what really works in changing, not only minds, but actions related to the role of women in startups and venture capital.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

American startups dominate this innovation cycle not as a result of startup innovation, but of enterprise innovation.

Today we sit down with Dai Watanabe and dive into the dynamics of industry disruption and startup innovation. For the last 25 years Dai has held leadership roles at the center of Japan's major innovation trends. From the glory days of Japan's mobile internet, to the utter disruption unleashed by the iPhone, to today's doubling down on startup innovation.

We talk about what's in store for the future of Japanese startups, and why opportunities in innovation are never quite what they seem at first.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Fifteen years ago, University-run venture funds were all illegal here in Japan, but today a higher percentage of major Japanese universities have VC funds than in the US or Europe.

Today we sit down with Kei Furukawa, a partner at the University of Tokyo IPC, a $300M venture fund, and we talk about the unique role these funds play in Japan, how they drive innovation in rural areas, and why he has to talk professors out of becoming startup CEOs.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Today we are going to sit down with an old friend.

It was over seven years ago when I first had Tim Rowe on the podcast and we mapped out what we saw as the future of startup innovation in Japan. In today's short episode, we talk about what we got right. what surprised us, and what we think is next for Japanese startup innovation. 

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Today we are going to break down some startup stereotypes. 

I sit down with Kunio Hara, co-founder and CEO of Beatrust and break apart the stereotypes of the uncreative Japanese enterprise and the young startup founder, and Kunio explains how Beatrust is already teaching old dogs new tricks.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

While American AI startups are dominating the headlines, one Japanese company has begun rolling out "AI employees" to famously cautious  Japanese enterprise customers. 

Today we talk with Shota Nakagawa the CEO of Caster and discuss their model of human-AI collaboration, why Japan is positioned to lead real-world AI deployment, and the big steps needed for Japan to catch up with the West. 

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan’s most innovative founders and VCs.

I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me.

There is so much happening in Japan right now.

Startups and innovation are beginning to reshape Japan with the same dynamism we saw during the post-war boom or the Meji-era re-opening.

And I’ve been in the middle of this for a long time. I’m now a partner a JERA Ventures, but over the over 30 years that I’ve lived in Japan, I’ve started four startups here, worked at TEPCO Ventures, ran Google for Startups Japan, and, of course, I’ve been running the Disrupting Japan podcast for more than 10 years.

Every episode, I sit down with friends, VCs, founders, and leaders who are shaping Japan’s startup ecosystem to give you an inside look at what’s really happening here in Japan.

So, please subscribe and join me on this journey.

I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for listening to Disrupting Japan.

Japanese business loves paper.

From fax machines, to business cards, to massive project binders. Paper processes are slow to die in Japan, especially in industrial facilities.  

Today we talk with Jumpei Yoshida of Kaminashi who explains why that's finally changing and how foreign workers are driving the transformation. 

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Most outside of the energy industry are (pleasantly) surprised to learn how aggressively startups and CVCs are pushing decarbonization forward. 

Decarbonization is a fascinating and incredibly important issue, so please join me on this short but special episode. 

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.