'venture capital' Category
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AI Startups: You’ll want to read this
July 14, 2017As this recent opinion piece in the New York Times from Lee Kai-Fu suggests, perhaps the greatest threat of Artificial Intelligence is the devolution into a world AI have- and have-not countries. China, Japan, and the U.S. have taken note, and are dedicating research efforts to the domain. If any European nation possesses the same […]
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Incumbent banks: startups are coming for you
July 7, 2017In my previous post I wrote about the sparsity of financial services and products from incumbent banks for small businesses that act globally. This chasm has grown as the increasing proliferation of globally-minded startups face a retail banking sector that is stagnating for reasons of inflexible business models, obsolete systems, and corporate inertia. Fortunately for […]
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Global startups hamstrung by local banks
June 30, 2017In countries with developed financial systems, small and medium sized businesses have long been at a disadvantage for banking services relative to large firms and even relative to consumers. In this piece and the one that follows I’ll review some of the basic business banking services on offer which I’ve experienced firsthand as both an […]
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FB Messenger Instant Games Infographic
June 23, 2017As I’ve said before, I believe that Facebook Messenger’s Instant Games platform has the potential to disrupt the App Store distribution model of mobile games, at least pertaining to casual games. Playing a snackable, casual game inside a messenger chat feed is far more seamless, in my opinion, then going to the App Store, hunting […]
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5 hacks for jobseekers to catch a VC’s attention
June 16, 2017Apparently my recent post, “So you want a job in Venture Capital?” proved popular (bumped me up a hosting bandwidth pricing tier, but hey it’s for a good cause). Some people suggested that since I downplayed the value of drafting a sample investment memo, I should offer some constructive and concrete actions that ambitious jobseekers […]
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Portfolio job openings
June 9, 2017Many of our portfolio companies are seeking talented, adaptable individuals with a hunger to join a startup adventure. (For my views on why I believe everyone should consider working in a startup, read: Free your career). Here are a few open positions among our current investments: CoolGames Ad sales manager (Japan) Experienced Game Developer (Holland) […]
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Stability vs. Security [安定]
June 2, 2017[image credit: Chris Riddell] A conversation last night with my friend Shin Iwata from Atomico inspired me to reflect on the choices facing young people nowadays as they embark on their professional careers. Shin penned a poignant post discussing the difference between stability and security in the professional context in Japan, concepts denoted by the […]
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Ag/Sum conference on Agtech
May 26, 2017The Ag/Sum conference took place in Tokyo this week, assembling some of the most articulate thought leaders and compelling innovations in agricultural technology (agtech or agritech, depending on whom you ask) worldwide. The caliber of the speakers, especially the foreign ones, was truly outstanding. It was an honor to play a small role in this […]
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Mobile messengers and the post-app world
May 17, 2017It’s no secret that I’ve been a believer in the inevitability of a swing back toward centralized architectures in mobile. Although I probably mis-timed my call of the HTML5 inflection point, I remain convinced that it is approaching, and I believe Facebook is leading the way. Facebook has now almost completed its initial worldwide rollout […]
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Post-election wish list to help France’s startups
May 8, 2017. Now that the French Presidential election is complete, it feels like we can all get on with our lives in thinking about Europe’s startup ecosystem. In proportion to the triumvirate of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, here are three regulatory reforms I’d like to see to support startups. Admittedly, the ability for France’s new Président, Emmanuel […]
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大きなビジョンの一部であることを心に感じながら、仕事に打ち込めているか?
April 26, 2017Image credit: peshkova / 123RF 先日、私が賞賛していて、時々連絡をとるテック CEO が、実に心に響く発言をした。彼は素晴らしい起業家で、私が知る中でも最も素晴らしい起業家の一人で、その業界では優れた先見の明の持ち主だ。成長の速いテクノロジー企業の多くの CEO と同様、彼はしばしば旅に出かけてはビジネスの話を決め、世界中に会社のことを知らしめている。 彼の行動で特筆すべきは、予定を伸ばして長く旅を続けることで、きつい職務へ戻る気力を取り戻すために、リフレッシュしているのだろうと言う社員もいた。 私は、この話に全く驚くことはない。彼の会社の従業員たちが、日々仕事の説明が無い状態で働けないような、自発的に仕事しない人ではないわけではない。それとは対照的に、あるスタートアップの従業員たちは——一般的なスタートアップの例にもれず——優秀で野心に満ち溢れていた。彼らは、創業者がもたらす方法のみによって、この根本的にイノベーティブな会社に、自分たちをどう適応させるかを知らされないままでいることに禁断症状を覚えた。 ある種の特性を持った候補者だけが、スタートアップで働くことに魅力を感じることは事実だ。安定性、予測可能性、満足のいく額の給料は彼らの目に魅力としては映らない。むしろ、実績を上げることこそがチャンスとして捉えられる。 人は、大きなものの一部だと感じていたい これは人間の本性だ。（心理学者アブラハム・マズローが提唱した）欲求5段階説の最上層にあるもの（＝自己実現の欲求）である。この感覚なくしては、我々は魂を失う。空が失われた場所で何も考えない会社キャリアのゾンビとなり、やがて、自らを守るために戦うシステムに依存してしまうことになる。 職場でのモチベーションがいつも最適な状態ではなかったり、キャリアがぐらついていると感じたりする場合は、根本的な問題について考えてほしい。職場環境を見渡してほしい。自己裁量は与えられているだろうか? 奮起させてくれるリーダーのために仕事しているだろうか? 熱意あふれる同僚に囲まれているだろうか? 毎日のように、成功や失敗を繰り返せる機会があるだろうか? 自分が、大きなビジョンの重要な要素であると感じられているだろうか? スタートアップで仕事をする上で、大きなものの一部だと感じることは、最も心を満たしてくれる理由になり得るだろう。
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Panel discussion on hardware investing
April 20, 2017The other day Yohei Sawayama (500 Startups) and I gave a panel discussion on hardware investing at the DMM.Make hardware incubator in Tokyo. Some people requested a recap of our points, so here are some of the key takeaways. I’ll post the video when I get it. Thoughts for hardware entrepreneurs IoT is not the […]