'Uncategorized' Category
-
Père-Lachaise’s newest resident
September 28, 2024Le cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris houses many famously loved personalities (Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, …). Today one more beloved soul joined this pantheon: my dear friend Pamela, aka Pamela-Bella, comedienne, philosopher, life of every party, and my triathlon partner for several years. You left us far too early, Bella. Wherever […]
-
Magic Season
September 22, 2024Today encapsulated one of those perfect days in Tokyo, beginning with a meditative morning swim and breakfast meeting, followed by a masala chai at Tokyo’s best and most authentic chai bar with two of our heroic portfolio company founders. These founders, each in their respective pursuits, are building companies which unearth some of Japan’s most […]
-
今年もよろしくお願いします
January 1, 2024Happy new year and meilleurs voeux to all friends and readers of this blog ! May 2024 be full of auspicious harmony and audacious gambits for each and every one of you.
-
Financial exclusion
November 8, 2023Yesterday’s New York Times humanizes the plight of victims of banking algorithm punishment in the world’s largest economy. [read: Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts] I, and probably many readers of this blog, have experienced our own frustrating incidents of unexpectedly frozen or closed bank accounts. In my own personal experience, the damage […]
-
The demographic reshaping
July 16, 2023The New York Times published an interactive graphic today on the world’s vast demographic shift, illustrating how the macro challenges affecting Japan now will soon affect Western Europe, followed by South Korea, Eastern Europe, the UK, and then China.
-
Rude VC Summer reading list 2023
July 15, 2023For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s summertime ! As per tradition, here are the Rude VC summer reading recommendations. For reading lists from prior years, see 2022, 2021, 2020, 2020p, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012. I wish you all a healthy, enjoyable, and fulfilling summer !
-
Does Japan deserve a fresh look in the post-globalization era?
June 11, 2023With Kenji Govaers’ permission, I’m thrilled to re-publish here his insightful analysis on Japan’s prospects in the post-globalization era. Kenji is a senior partner in Bain’s Tokyo office. This piece was originally posted on the Bain Macro Strategy Platform. Enjoy… In recent months, interest in Japan as a potential investment locale has increased. The renewed […]
-
Oracle out of Omaha
April 14, 2023Some friends and I engaged in some good-natured, pseudo-intellectual speculation over breakfast this morning about Warren Buffett’s uncharacteristic departure from Omaha to visit Tokyo this week. For Friday fun, I’ve dropped a hash (SHA-256) on my personal prediction: 4dd82065ebda5f6938eabe494f4c546324d4b2ffc05a27ac0cba18fd5dab971c
-
Shelter-in-place reading list 2020
May 10, 2020So much to say, so many topics to write about after a brief hiatus. I’ll begin with the most interesting for readers. In homage to the annual Rude VC summer reading list, I’m advancing the book recommendations for those who are sheltering in place. Let’s start with the rat stories. Rats have been on my […]
-
Shifting you to BCC to spare your inbox…
November 10, 2019There is a certain practice of email etiquette which has emerged as more or less accepted convention, at least among agile organizations in the West, to which I myself took a liking years ago. I’m referring to the practice of gently moving people off an email thread out of respect for their time. The most […]
-
Who wants to be a …
October 2, 2019I suppose it was only a matter of time before something like this came out, though probably would have made a greater splash two years ago.
-
A new era of auspicious harmony
April 9, 2019On May 1st, Japan’s Heisei era will officially come to an end. Following months of deliberation from an honorific council of elders, the name of the new era was unveiled last week: Reiwa 令和. The two kanji characters for Reiwa are derived from the Man’yōshū, an eighth-century (Nara period) anthology of waka poetry. According to […]