Japan is in dire conditions. Society has, just as it did in Europe, corrupted the way of living of people into a "comfortable" reality. Except Japanese are way better at it than Europeans. So they "trapped" themselves in this comfy reality, which really is a slow-mo zone. Because the population is declining and the new generation is struggling to grasp the situation (and what must be done) they are in for a world of pain. They will be a weak nation very soon, and I bet a certain old friend in the east will consider "helping" them...
Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
21–30 of 59 posts
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#22In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
>I've certainly dealt with the pushback that comes with suggesting new ideas in Japan. I've heard "efficiency" derided as a foreigner idea, specifically "you Americans always want to change things to make them more efficient" in regards to no longer grading 1000s of multiple choice entrance exams by hand.
Wait, what? Isn't this the county famous for Kaizen and the Toyota method?
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#23In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
I always thought Nintendo's corporate history was pretty legit? Start with cards, move to games/entertainment, move to video games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo
Sure, but the point is that you don't hear Silicon Valley companies boasting about the length of their history.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#24In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
Oddly enough, among the four tech start-up founders I met in Japan, ALL of them were Korean-Japanese. They all shared a similar story:
* Their fathers and grandfathers were forced to become entrepreneurs because they were scorned (in various ways) by traditional Japanese businesses due to their heritage.
* These parents found success in sometimes seedy areas of the Japanese economy, such as casinos, love hotels, etc. In other words, businesses that "proper" Japanese did not want to be caught running.
* The parents converted these successes into more respectable businesses, like restaurants, etc.
* All of this entrepreneurial knowledge and spirit (and eventually capital) got passed down to the kids, over the generations.
Likewise, many of the other entrepreneurs I met were foreigners, from places like Ghana, Bangladesh, etc. It's just anecdotal, but interesting food for thought nonetheless.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#25There might not be as many startups in Japan, but I can attest there are 100% Japanese startups that hustle hard as anyone in the valley, aren't afraid to fail in front of friends/family/cofounders and are generally all-'round badasses. They are there.
http://whill.jp/ <-- awesome
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always thought Nintendo's corporate history was pretty legit? Start with cards, move to games/entertainment, move to video games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo
Sure, but the point is that you don't hear Silicon Valley companies boasting about the length of their history.
If I was part of a company that bounced back and adapted over so many years, I'd be proud of it.
Also, I'm pretty sure you do hear companies boasting their age. IBM (though not a startup or anything) does this. A lot of <20 year old companies like to mention if they are more than 5 years old to show that they are stable and have experience.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#27In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
I always thought Nintendo's corporate history was pretty legit? Start with cards, move to games/entertainment, move to video games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo
The history of these old companies is usually legit - see Wikipedia's List of oldest companies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies
Sadly Kongo Gumi, the Nr. 1, was swallowed by another company.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#28Replace Japan with Europe, same shit.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#29In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
Oddly enough, among the four tech start-up founders I met in Japan, ALL of them were Korean-Japanese. They all shared a similar story: * Their fathers and grandfathers were forced to become entrepreneurs because they were scorned (in various ways) by traditional Japanese businesses due to their heritage. * These parents found success in sometimes seedy areas of the Japanese economy, such as casinos, love hotels, etc.…
Time and time again, immigrants often have that great entrepreneurial spirit (here in Japan and abroad). I'm certainly being overly sensitive, but I just think it's interesting that this article pointed out that the 2nd or 3rd wealthiest Japanese citizen is Korean in light of the anti-Korean citizens sentiment bubbling in Japan this past year.
Re: Can Japan reboot its startup culture?
#30In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of prof…
>I've certainly dealt with the pushback that comes with suggesting new ideas in Japan. I've heard "efficiency" derided as a foreigner idea, specifically "you Americans always want to change things to make them more efficient" in regards to no longer grading 1000s of multiple choice entrance exams by hand. Wait, what? Isn't this the county famous for Kaizen and the Toyota method?
All of the new hiring took place around that time just so there would be more people to grade.
A lot of inward facing companies in Japan foster an atmosphere of "you aren't working unless it really feels like you're working." But no one cares if you sleep at your desk, so it's not all bad.