'japan' Tag
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Digital Minister of fax
August 14, 2022Although I’ve heard some mixed feedback domestically, Kono Taro-san’s refreshingly self-aware tweets as newly-appointed Digital Minister are pure 🔥 for the international community who has some experience in Japan.
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(Absent) Inflation in Japan
July 24, 2022I’ve been writing over the past couple months about what effect the global macroeconomic backdrop turmoil might have on Japan’s VC and private equity sectors in Japan. Interest rates — and by extension the cost of capital — remain low in Japan. Given that Japan is one of the few major developed economies that is […]
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日本におけるプライベートエクイティは最悪の事態?
July 18, 2022先月、私は VC（ベンチャーキャピタル）業界の人間でありPE（プライベートエクイティ）業界の人間ではないので、プライベートエクイティについて論評する場合、読者は私の言葉を冷静に受け止めてくれるはずである。私は、日本の現場で、ある現象を観察しており、それを共有することが重要だと考えている。
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Private equity in Japan: a perfect storm ?
July 4, 2022I’m a VC guy not a PE guy, so when I start opining about private equity, readers should grant my words a tepid reception. Yet I am observing a phenomenon here on the ground in Japan that I thought might be relevant to share. Let’s start with recapping the current macroeconomic backdrop, a context upon […]
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How startups can prepare for market turbulence
May 17, 2022Dear startup founders in Japan, Many of you are keeping your heads down, focused on building transformative projects. Good for you, and good for not being too distracted by the macroeconomic environment. However, it is important to be remotely aware of what’s happening in the global markets right now, as this will likely trickle down […]
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スタートアップはどのように市場の乱高下に備えるべきか
May 17, 2022日本のスタートアップ創業者の皆様 皆さんの多くは黙々と変革的なプロジェクトを推進することに集中しているであろう。プロジェクトに集中することは良いことであり、マクロ経済の動向に惑わされないことが重要である。 しかしながら、グローバル市場で今何が起こっているのか、少しは意識しておくことも重要である。なぜなら、このことはおそらく皆さんの次の資金調達ラウンドに影響を与えるからである。
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Deny, Dither, Discuss, Deliberate… but then Dy-no-mite !
September 17, 2021A friend of mine shared this graph with me the other day. A number of striking implications jump out, such as the cultural insights into an America which now ranks bottom among the G7 countries for vaccine adoption. However, I will steer clear of that particular political minefield. For me the really interesting story is […]
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For some, working from home is akin to flying business class
September 23, 2020Has the covid-19 pandemic ushered in a permanent shift in our professional work habits, or will everything return to the former status quo in a year or two ? This question sits at the root of many of my reflections as I consider where the next areas might lie for VC investment opportunities in enterprise […]
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A synopsis of Japan’s covid-19 stimus measures
May 24, 2020Those paying attention to the Covid-19 impact across geographies will know that Japan has escaped relatively unscathed in terms of adverse health ramifications. There are a variety of fascinating hypotheses for this, but the fortuitous “x-factor” still remains elusive. Economically, however, the toll is reverberating up and down the value chain. A number of domestic […]
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Circling back to that formerly trendy C-word
March 14, 2020The first topic of conversation on every business conference call these days seems to be the C-word (covid-19 or coronavirus, of course). Covid-19 has dislodged another C-word that was common talk just a couple short years ago, i.e. Crypto. With the recent steep declines in global stock markets (and as an aside I’m still not […]
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STOs in Japan
October 9, 2019Once again Japan finds itself in the (somewhat rare) position of world leadership on a topic of innovation. Last week, Japan’s major security firms announced the creation of a consortium focused on STOs (security token offerings). As far as I know this is the world’s only major economy in which such an industry-led initiative exists. […]
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An ode to Estonia
August 31, 2019This month I returned for what is becoming an annual summer trip to the Baltic countries. I spent the bulk of my visit this time in Tallinn, Estonia — boy I love that place — visiting a few prospective investments. I also ran a few administrative errands for my personal Estonian company, which frankly was […]