Disrupting Japan

Too many things that are labeled as "cultural differences" have much simpler explanations. There are perfectly rational (and even mathematical) reasons why we have not seen a lot of entrepreneurship in Japan over the last 50 years, why we are starting to see a lot more of if now, and why we are likely to see an explosion of Japanese startups in the coming decade.

In this episode, we look what happens in Japan when the gatekeepers who stand between the creative people and the broader public are removed.

Too many things that are labeled as "cultural differences" have much simpler explanations. There are perfectly rational (and even mathematical) reasons why we have not seen a lot of entrepreneurship in Japan over the last 50 years, why we are starting to see a lot more of if now, and why we are likely to see an explosion of Japanese startups in the coming decade.

In this episode, we look what happens in Japan when the gatekeepers who stand between the creative people and the broader public are removed.

Corporate accounting is not usually the first thing the comes to mind when you think of disruptive technology, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. Daisuke Sasaki of Freee, however, is changing the way accounting is done in Japan from the bottom up.

Bringing change to a conservative industry, however, is not easy. The fact is that in the accounting industry almost all users and stakeholders would rather muddle though with a painful system they know than try something new. Daisuke’s solution, of course, was to expand the market by growing the user-base. To go after new customers who have never used any of the existing accounting software products, and would be horrified by them if they tried.

Daisuke also took the radical (for Japan) step of relying almost entirely on inbound sales, focusing on marketing and social media to generate demand and often simply refusing requests for sales calls. That strategy is paying off. Freee’s user base is booming and the incumbents are now scrambling to catch up.

We also talk a lot about how Japanese industries are particularly susceptible to stagnation and technological dead ends, and what might be a huge change coming in the way Japanese companies run their HR department.

It’s a great interview and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Corporate accounting is not usually the first thing the comes to mind when you think of disruptive technology, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. Daisuke Sasaki of Freee, however, is changing the way accounting is done in Japan from the bottom up.

Bringing change to a conservative industry, however, is not easy. The fact is ...

The Internet of Things is becoming so commonplace that it is almost almost invisible. About a year ago, Moff launched an extremely clever IoT toy called the Moff-band that allows kids to add sound effects to their every-day play. They toy had been successful, but for Moff to take the next step they need to create a platform around the toy.

Akinori Takahagi explains how he bootstrapped up Moff while receiving a steady stream of rejection from so-called experts in the field and how a successful Kickstarter project and enthusiastic children changed the industry’s opinion. Aki is based in Japan, but he explains the importance of launching overseas.

There is a lot of good advice in here about how to build a hardware startup, how to get international attention and how to make the big jump to nationwide (and international) retail distribution.

There is a lot to unpack in this interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

The Internet of Things is becoming so commonplace that it is almost almost invisible. About a year ago, Moff launched an extremely clever IoT toy called the Moff-band that allows kids to add sound effects to their every-day play. They toy had been successful, but for Moff to take the next step they need to create a platform around the toy.

Disrupting Japan is one year old, and ready to party. To celebrate , we gathered some of the leaders of Tokyo's startup community together in front of a live audience, had a few drinks, and talked about the future of startups in Japan.

Our panel included perspectives from software, IOT, and venture capital, which led to some interesting discussions.

Disrupting Japan is one year old, and ready to party. To celebrate , we gathered some of the leaders of Tokyo's startup community together in front of a live audience, had a few drinks, and talked about the future of startups in Japan.

Our panel included perspectives from software, IOT, and venture capital, which led to some interesting discussions.

Marketing automation is new in Japan, and it’s taking a lot of Japanese companies off guard. For decades, sales in Japan have been done by armies of salarymen in navy-blue suits visiting clients and marketing, well until recently, most Japanese companies didn’t make much of a distinction between marketing and advertising.

This week, we get a chance to sit down and talk with Sunao Munakata, the founder of Innova. Sunao and his company are at the very heart of the rapid transition from simple advertising to content marketing and marketing automation.  We explore the trends driving this change and where its leading.

Sunao also give a lot of practical advice about what questions you need to ask in order to tell a good content marketing company from a bad one, and he also explains some of the basics of running a successful content marketing strategy in Japan.

There is a lot of information distilled into only 30 minutes, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Marketing automation is new in Japan, and it’s taking a lot of Japanese companies off guard. For decades, sales in Japan have been done by armies of salarymen in navy-blue suits visiting clients and marketing, well until recently, most Japanese companies didn’t make much of a distinction between marketing and advertising.

This week, we get a chance to ...