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Japanese startup founders join forces to launch fund, aiming to encourage younger selves

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Tokyo-based digital media outlet Wired.jp reported on Wednesday that eight successful entrepreneurs from Japan have joined forces and launched a new startup-focused investment fund called Tokyo Founders Fund. The founding members represent an impressive lineup of the Japanese startup community: Yusuke Asakura (former CEO of Mixi, visiting scholar at Stanford University) Nobuhiro Ariyasu (Coach United CEO) Kiyo Kobayashi (Chanoma CEO) Yusuke Sato (Freakout COO) Yo Shibata (former Spotlight CEO) Kensuke Furukawa (Nanapi CEO) Ayataro Nakagawa (Peroli CEO) Taichi Murakami (Livesense CEO) Inspired by San Francisco-based Founders Fund started in 2005 by the Paypal founders, Kobayashi decided that Japan also needed a similar startup investment founders fund while building a network with local investors and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is based. According to Kobayshi’s recent post on Facebook, the fund will offer a small amount of investment to pre-seed and seed stage startups around the world. Details of the fund’s activities have not been decided, but the eight-person team will discuss this in a closed Facebook group while looking to give their invested entrepreneurs functions as a knowledge sharing platform around launching businesses and a hub for connecting them with each others. Edited by Kurt Hanson

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Tokyo-based digital media outlet Wired.jp reported on Wednesday that eight successful entrepreneurs from Japan have joined forces and launched a new startup-focused investment fund called Tokyo Founders Fund.

The founding members represent an impressive lineup of the Japanese startup community:

Inspired by San Francisco-based Founders Fund started in 2005 by the Paypal founders, Kobayashi decided that Japan also needed a similar startup investment founders fund while building a network with local investors and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is based. According to Kobayshi’s recent post on Facebook, the fund will offer a small amount of investment to pre-seed and seed stage startups around the world.

Details of the fund’s activities have not been decided, but the eight-person team will discuss this in a closed Facebook group while looking to give their invested entrepreneurs functions as a knowledge sharing platform around launching businesses and a hub for connecting them with each others.

Edited by Kurt Hanson

Nobot founder launches tech talent marketplace Remotus to meet hiring needs of startups

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See the original story in Japanese. This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2014. Japanese serial entrepreneur Kiyo Kobayashi is best knwon for his successful exit by having sold his smartphone ad network startup Nobot to Mediba, the ad solution company of Japan’s second largest telco KDDI. His San Francisco-based new startup Chanoma unveiled the alpha version of remote hiring platform Remotus today. Kobayashi told us what has triggered him to launch the platform: The IT industry in the US is suffering from increasing labor costs of their engineers. To address this issue, our platform matches US companies in need of engineers with human resources outside the country. Especially for startups suffering from a lack of engineers, you can find potential employees who are ready to relocate to your location to work by presenting a wage proposal in the form of competitive bidding. This hiring process is same with US-based talent marketplace Hired which successfully fundraised $15 million in a series A round back in March. Hired takes a commission fee from a company when a hiring deal is done. Although Kobayashi didn’t disclose details, it seems he found a way to provide the service…

kiyo-kobayashi

See the original story in Japanese.

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2014.

Japanese serial entrepreneur Kiyo Kobayashi is best knwon for his successful exit by having sold his smartphone ad network startup Nobot to Mediba, the ad solution company of Japan’s second largest telco KDDI.

His San Francisco-based new startup Chanoma unveiled the alpha version of remote hiring platform Remotus today.

Remotus

Kobayashi told us what has triggered him to launch the platform:

The IT industry in the US is suffering from increasing labor costs of their engineers. To address this issue, our platform matches US companies in need of engineers with human resources outside the country. Especially for startups suffering from a lack of engineers, you can find potential employees who are ready to relocate to your location to work by presenting a wage proposal in the form of competitive bidding.

Remotus-2

This hiring process is same with US-based talent marketplace Hired which successfully fundraised $15 million in a series A round back in March. Hired takes a commission fee from a company when a hiring deal is done. Although Kobayashi didn’t disclose details, it seems he found a way to provide the service for a lower fee than that of Hired. He explained:

After my relocation to San Francisco, I learned that many local startups and entrepreneurs have been suffering in the hiring of software developers, while big companies like Google or Facebook are keeping them by paying high salaries. So I wanted to solve problems of hiring for startups. Some startups using our service present a remote work style option.

While most companies prefer mid- or long-term employment (over six months), the fact is many projects are finished in less than a month. We want to provide a workaround to fill this gap via Remotus.

Talented workers are scattered all around the world, and wage ranges vary greatly. In the US, there’s no remote hiring platform other than Odesk, or you need to depend on someone’s introduction. I think hiring with a relocation package will become more common. We want to establish a platform that allows startups to hire talented people from around the world.

Many Japanese entrepreneurs who have made successful exits have launched other businesses, and obviously Kobayashi will follow them, but in the Silicon Valley. We’ll share more details about his business as they become available.

Disclosure: Kiyo Kobayashi is an advisor for The Bridge.

With over 5M users, could to-do app Any.do be coming to Japan soon?

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This interview is also available in Japanese Any.Do is a to-do list app that got started back in 2010 in Isreal, now with an office also in San Francisco. The company has raised $4.5 million in total through funding from Genesis Partners, Innovation Endeavors and Bloomberg Capital. Its total users surpassed five million in May of 2013, and its rapid growth has attracted much attention. We recently spoke to Any.do’s founder and CEO, Omer Perchik, as Japanese entrepreneur Kiyo Kobayashi continues his interview series in the San Francisco area. Kobayashi: Could you give me a brief introduction about Any.Do? Omer: Any.Do started as a simple task management app intended to increase productivity. The app is designed to let you turn every plan into a task, and then organize tasks so you can work on them creatively. That is the flagship app, Any.Do. […] We recently released new a calendar product called Cal, for both iOS and Android. The downloads are growing very fast. It is intended to help users create well-organized daily schedules. We also wanted to connect it with our to-do list app, and designed it in such a way that users could easily recognize time available for additional…

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This interview is also available in Japanese

Any.Do is a to-do list app that got started back in 2010 in Isreal, now with an office also in San Francisco. The company has raised $4.5 million in total through funding from Genesis Partners, Innovation Endeavors and Bloomberg Capital. Its total users surpassed five million in May of 2013, and its rapid growth has attracted much attention. We recently spoke to Any.do’s founder and CEO, Omer Perchik, as Japanese entrepreneur Kiyo Kobayashi continues his interview series in the San Francisco area.

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Kobayashi: Could you give me a brief introduction about Any.Do?

Omer: Any.Do started as a simple task management app intended to increase productivity. The app is designed to let you turn every plan into a task, and then organize tasks so you can work on them creatively. That is the flagship app, Any.Do. […] We recently released new a calendar product called Cal, for both iOS and Android. The downloads are growing very fast. It is intended to help users create well-organized daily schedules.

We also wanted to connect it with our to-do list app, and designed it in such a way that users could easily recognize time available for additional activities and when they have important tasks. In addition to that, we added another feature named HeadsUp which helps manage appointments for meetings more efficiently and easily.

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Kobayashi: Wow, so many features. Amazing.

Omer: Amazing, right? When you are at a meeting, you can take pictures of the whiteboard and record videos and sounds, and then easily e-mail them. You can also quickly add tasks to Any.Do.

Kobayashi: I found it interesting that an Israeli-born startup could build a globally successful app from San Francisco. What was the key for you guys?

Omer: I think the key is the team. In order to build a strong team, you need to share the mission with engineers, designers and everyone in the team and work together on that. If you can establish culture where all the members share the same mission and enjoy working together, the bond of the team won’t easily fall apart even in the midst of problems.

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Kobayashi: So how do you build great teamwork?

Omer: If you can bring out the best of the person and let him or her be actively involved in the process of creating a product, that person feels there’s a certain area where only he can help. That motivates a person a lot. And if you can create a culture where everyone feels one they are the best at given a task, they can believe what they are doing is really changing the world. That’s why culture is so important, especially when each member has their own strength and special skill to work together on a problem.

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Kobayashi: You came from Israel to Silicon Valley. What do you think about Japan?

Omer: I think Japan is the most advanced in a lot of aspects and at the same time one of the most difficult countries to expand to.

Kobayashi: I hear this a lot

Omer: That’s one reason why I am attracted by Japan. It’s a very interesting country. Japanese people have a totally different perspective than western people. In order to enter the Japanese market, we have to fully understand the mindset of Japanese people and their perspectives on productivity.

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*Kobayashi: Are you willing to try the Japanese market if there is a chance for you to do so? *

Omer: I would like to visit Japan as soon as possible. I am very attracted to Japan, the people and the language. Japanese people have a unique point of view, and I found that very interesting. One of the main reasons I want to visit Japan is that I believe I can get a lot of new ideas from your culture and unique perspectives.

Kobayashi: I hope you can find some good opportunities. Thanks for your time today.

About the interviewer

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KiyoKobayashi Kiyo launched his own business exporting food in 2004 while he was a university student, and succeeded in building new sales channels. In 2005, he founded In The Cup, a coffee e-commerce site. In 2009 he founded Nobot, and that company was subsequently acquired by KDDI in 2011. In December 2013, he founded Chanoma in the US. He is also a advisor for several VCs and startups, including The Bridge.

In conversation with Whill, the Japanese personal mobility startup on a roll in Silicon Valley

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Based on the original article, written in Japanese Whill is a Japanese startup developing next-generation personal mobility vehicles. Currently they’re based in Silicon Valley having been selected by 500 Startups to participate in its incubation program. Kiyo Kobayashi recently spoke with CEO Satoshi Sugie for us to learn more about their product and its launch. Kobayashi: Can you give me a brief introduction about Whill. Sugie: We are developing next-gen personal mobility. Our mission is to make mobility fun and smart for everyone. Kobayashi: You are based here in San Francisco now. What is the advantage of having the office here? Sugie: We have more users here. The market here is nearly eight times bigger than the Japanese market. We thought we would eventually have to expand in the US even if we had started in Japan. But then we thought it would be better to start in the US from the beginning, as we were getting more inquiries from American users. So this was a natural decision. And there are many more early adopters and gadget enthusiasts here. It could be a good idea to export our products from the US to Japan. Kobayashi: What is the most challenging…

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Based on the original article, written in Japanese

Whill is a Japanese startup developing next-generation personal mobility vehicles. Currently they’re based in Silicon Valley having been selected by 500 Startups to participate in its incubation program. Kiyo Kobayashi recently spoke with CEO Satoshi Sugie for us to learn more about their product and its launch.

Kobayashi: Can you give me a brief introduction about Whill.

Sugie: We are developing next-gen personal mobility. Our mission is to make mobility fun and smart for everyone.

Kobayashi: You are based here in San Francisco now. What is the advantage of having the office here?

Sugie: We have more users here. The market here is nearly eight times bigger than the Japanese market. We thought we would eventually have to expand in the US even if we had started in Japan. But then we thought it would be better to start in the US from the beginning, as we were getting more inquiries from American users. So this was a natural decision. And there are many more early adopters and gadget enthusiasts here. It could be a good idea to export our products from the US to Japan.

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Kobayashi: What is the most challenging part of running your business here?

Sugie: Um… English.

Kobayashi: I am struggling with that as well.

Sugie: This is something very basic, but it was hard to launch an office here. I had no idea and it would be such a huge challenge for me. But fortunately, we could join 500 Startups, and we were referred to lawyers and banks.

Kobayashi: My understanding is that 500 Startups has many B2B startups, but not many hardware markers. As a hardware maker, did you benefit a lot by joining 500 Startups?

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Sugie: Maybe not so much. (laughs) But 500 Startups has an amazing network. As Japanese guys who came all the way to North America, people usually wonder, who are those guys? But 500 Startups turned us into something, giving us huge credability. We pitched to investors on DemoDay, and because they knew we are in 500 Startups, the chance they would meet with us increases a lot. […] Investors take it as an indicator that a startup’s business is beyond a certain level.

Kobayashi: I heard patent issues are quite tough.

Sugie: We put our first priority on patent-related matters. Our CTO Muneaki Fukuoka has experience handling patent issues at Olympus in the past. So along with him and the international patent office, I work on these matters. We pay a lot of attention to the safety level of the product too. There is an international standard, which we have passed, in order to make our products reliable, safe, and durable.

Japanese engineering still has a high reputation for durability and high quality, and people have such a positive image of Japanese products. We created promotion video, and one American even told us to put the caption ‘Japanese engineering’ in it. I cannot think of any better advantage than that.

Kobayashi: Very interesting.

Sugie: It would be nice to produce locally for local consumption. And the best combination is made-in-USA and Japanese engineering. That’s what I heard.

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Kobayashi: According to your AngelList page, about 20 angels have funded your company, is that right?

Sugie: The ratio is 50% Japanese, 40% American, and 10% Taiwanese. We decided to accept those who have a strong network here or have strength in manufacturing.

Kobayashi: Investors are from 500 Startups network?

Sugie: I heard they looked for hardware startups from the portfolios of 500 Startups, Y-Combinator, and such.

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Kobayashi: Were there any services which were particularly helpful when launching your business?

Sugie: AngelList helped a lot. Not only in terms of fundraising, but also for hiring as well. We have five or six applications for internships every week.

Kobayashi: What skill sets do you see the most in those applicants?

Sugie: Those who want to launch a startup. And Stanford students.

Kobayashi: I remember you said you want to work with someone who has a specific vision rather than someone who is interested in money.

Sugie: Vision and skills are important. We ask for resumes and cover letters from the applicants. On cover letters, applicants write about the reason why they want to work for us.

Some people copy and paste things for their cover letter. Some letters don’t even have the Whill name on it. We screen them, and set Skype interviews for selected people.

For example, one of our team members, Chris, told us at the beginning that he had been thinking for a long time why wheelchair design was not so appealing. His father used a wheelchair and had many difficultires. I learned from him that wheelchairs can even have an influence over the users’ families.

Yet, we don’t hire right away. We let them work with us, like helping us at exhibitions and such. We spend a few months before making the final hiring decision.

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Kobayashi: I see.

Sugie: Another member, Julia, is the fourth Whill customer. She experienced an accident and started using a wheelchair, and gives us comments from the perspective of a real user.

These members have passion and actively share their ideas. We look for the type of members who can share the same mission and help establish good culture in our small team.

Kobayashi: Who are your target users?

Sugie: Our initial target users are those who are somehow self-conscious. Stylish people. We assume, our initial users are those who have a lot of interests in society or politics and who are working with people without a handicap. Or perhaps they are relatively well-off people who are thinking of buying a nice wheelchair for their kids or parents.

We want to get these early adopters and hopefully spread their influence to other users by making the product more public. When it can be more recognized by the masses in this way, we can move on to the next step and could reduce the production cost and the price.

Kobayashi: Very interesting.

Sugie: Well, we’ll keep working on through trial and error. Honestly, we had no idea how things would work out. We’ve interviewed about 300 potential users. Eventually, we had a long talk with five people who showed big interest in buying the 1.5 million yen ($15,000) product and signed the contract.

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Kobayashi: Hearing too much feedback sometimes makes it difficult to find features to focus on.

Sugie: I went to a lot of meetups, even ones that were not quite related to our business. I go to work and to meetings with Whill. You don’t know when and where you will find opportunities, it could be even on the street. I do everything I can think of.

Kobayashi: I think it is important to try every single idea. We work with that motto too.

Sugie: That’s something a lot of people advise, but you really have to put everything on the line.

Kobayashi: I agree. “Lean startup“ sounds cool, but it really requires a lot of work.

Sugie: That’s why each member needs to be passionate about the mission. I’ve seen a lot of teams who fall apart, even within 500 Startups. Skills and background experience are very important, but first and foremost, you cannot join a startup without having strong passion.

Kobayashi: How do you find out if a person has that passion?

Sugie: I let all our members meet the applicant. And unless we all think that person has something, we don’t hire him or her. It is especially difficult to understand the person when they are not Japanese.

If there are 100 applicants, 100 of them will say “My past experiences are the best fit for Whill’s business” or “I am the best fit for Whill!“ (laugh) So I got a lot of advice regarding hiring from among people spread across various fields.

Kobayashi: I think that is a very important aspect. Thank you for your time today!

About the interviewer

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KiyoKobayashi

Kiyo launched his own business exporting food in 2004 while he was a university student, and succeeded in building new sales channels. In 2005, he founded In The Cup, a coffee e-commerce site. In 2009 he founded Nobot, and that company was subsequently acquired by KDDI in 2011. In December 2013, he founded Chanoma in the US. He is also a advisor for several VCs and startups, including The Bridge.