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Show 48: The Dark Side of Japanese Crowdfunding – Ryota Matsuzaki

June 21, 2016 By Tim Romero Leave a Comment

ryota-matsuzaki-kibidango
Crowdfunding is at a crossroads. The inherent conflict of interest in the business model is forcing US firms to either limit their growth or become the online equivalent of late-night infomercials.

In Japan, however, crowdfunding has grown more slowly than in the US, and Japanese companies have had the chance to learn from their  successes and failures. As a result crowdfunding may end up looking very different in Japan than it does overseas.

In today’s discussion, Ryota Matsuzaki, the CEO of Kibidango, one of Japan’s newest crowdfunding platforms his approach. It’s not completely unique to Japan, but the strategy is particularly well suited to Japan.

Ryota details what he thinks the future of crowdfunding will look like in Japan and we argue over the likelihood of Japan’s consumer electronic giants taking advantage of the tremendous talent pool available on crowdfunding platforms in order to supplement their product lines via M&A.

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

http://media.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/p/content.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/Disrupting_Japan-048-Ryota_Matsuzaki-Kibidango.mp3

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Show Notes for Startups

  • Why crowdfunding is the new e-commerce
  • Why e-commerce startups can no longer innovate
  • How to nurture crowdfunding creators
  • Why it’s important to trade high-growth for high-quality
  • Managing Japanese consumer’s expectations
  • How large brands might change the face of crowdfunding
  • How crowdfunding might jumpstart M&A in Japan
  • Can crowdfunding save Japan’s consumer electronics industry?

[Continue reading]

Tagged With: founder, Japan, Kibidango, Ryota Matsuzaki, startup

Show 47b: Crowdsourcing My Career

June 15, 2016 By Tim Romero 2 Comments

wideexit-update-small

Last week I published a article on Medium about why I was shutting down my current startup. If you haven’t read it yet, you can find out Why I turned down $500K, Pissed off my investors, and Shut down my startup.

The post went viral and I’ve received several thousand emails in the last few days.  The outpouring of support, questions, advice and random thoughts I received from readers made me realize that rather than my usual chaotic way of deciding what I will be doing next, I should really ask your advice about it.

In this special (and rather short) episode I explain who listens to Disrupting Japan and why it makes sense to ask for advice on what is normally a very personal and secretive topic.

Let me know what you think, and I look forward to hearing from you.

http://media.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/p/content.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/Disrupting_Japan-047b-Crowdsourcing_My_Career.mp3

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Show 47: Pivot Till It Hurts: Making Mobile Video Profitable – Pocket Supernova

June 7, 2016 By Tim Romero Leave a Comment

Pocket Supernova

Pocket Supernova has pivoted through three countries and three completely different products before they hit their stride with their current video editing platform for mobile, and they now seem ready to move a generation of video content creators out from behind their desktops and onto their mobile phones.

We talk about the market forces that lead to the past pivots and why the team is confident they they have a winner on their hands this time. Oscar also outlines what he sees as the critical business model flaw that will cause 99% of all social startups, even the very cleaver ones, to fail.

The local behind their move to Japan is fascinating as well, and Oscar views the use of Japanese developers, rather than San Francisco-based programmers as a key strategic advantage.

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

http://media.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/p/content.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/Disrupting_Japan-047-Oscar_Noriega-Pocket_Supernova.mp3

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Show Notes for Startups

  • The risks of selecting a market top-down
  • Why network effects are a two-edged sword
  • What social startups need to know about novelty-seeking
  • How to piggyback on someone else’s network
  • The democratization of video
  • Bringing new users to video editing
  • Why it’s better to hire developers in Tokyo rather than San Francisco
  • Why Japanese companies have trouble going global

[Continue reading]

Tagged With: founder, Japan, Mobile, Pocket Supernova, startup

Show 46: Japan’s Unfair Advantage in Driverless Cars – Yuki Saji

May 24, 2016 By Tim Romero 2 Comments

Yuki Saji SB-Drive FounderWe are about to start seeing more cars but fewer drivers on the road. Self-driving vehicles are already moving out of the labs and onto the roads world-wide, and Yuki Saji thinks Japan has a unique competitive advantage in the space.

Yuki is CEO of SB Drive, Softbank’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary which was recently spun out. We talk a lot about the future of driverless cars, of course, but also look into what Softbank, one of Japan’s largest and most valuable companies. is doing to ensure that it can continue to innovate and to also make sure the innovators within the company connect with each other and stay part of the corporate group.

It’s a great discussion, and I think you’ll enjoy it

http://media.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/p/content.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/Disrupting_Japan-046-Yuki_Saji-SB_Drive.mp3

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Show Notes for Startups

  • The goals and origins of SB Drive
  • Building a team of entrepreneurs inside Softbank
  • Why self-driving cars will show up in rural areas first
  • How Japanese technology compares to the rest of the world
  • Why AI will become a commodity
  • Japan’s secret advantage in driverless cars
  • Why full autonomy will win out over assistive technologies
  • What’s holding back driverless cars in Japan
  • Advice for companies wanting to spin out startups

[Continue reading]

Tagged With: founder, Japan, SB Drive, startup

Show 45: What’s Wrong With BioTech in Japan – Molcure

May 10, 2016 By Tim Romero Leave a Comment

MolcureJapan could be, and perhaps should be, a BioTech startup powerhouse. The size of the market, the aging population and the depth and quality of the fundamental research being done here should make Japan a global player.

But something is holding her back.

Today we talk to Yutaro Kyono and Yoichiro Hara, two of the co-founders of Molcure about the challenges facing BioTech in Japan and how they have managed to get around them.

The Molcure system greatly reduces the time and resources to develop anti-body based drugs by identifying candidate gene sequences and automating the testing of those candidates. But Molcure’s vision is bigger than that. They envision a system so automated and complete they refer to it as “Sample in. Cure Out”

It’s an amazingly ambitious plan, even in the startup world, and they have some big challenges ahead of them. It’s a great story from an ambitious team, and I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.

http://media.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/p/content.blubrry.com/disrupting_japan/Disrupting_Japan-045-Kyono_and_Hara-Molcure.mp3

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Show Notes for Startups

  • Why antibody based drugs are important
  • Robotics in drug discovery and testing
  • How to become the Google of drugs
  • Why there is no bio-tech boom in Japan
  • When government startup assistance is useful
  • The importance of the startup community in Japan
  • Why Molcure real competition won’t come from bio-tech
  • When we will see Japan’s first round of bio-tech success stories

[Continue reading]

Tagged With: founder, Japan, Molcure, startup

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