Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan
Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan
Tim Romero: Serial startup founder in Japan and indomitable innovator
Why Japan Needs to Change Its Communication Strategy
28 minutes Posted Sep 29, 2014 at 10:00 am.
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Show notes
It was a unique combination of Naoki's adventure driving through the US, his ongoing frustration in working for a large Japanese firm, and his love of an anime character from his childhood that inspired him to start his own venture and to try to change the way we communicate with each other via translation. Conyac is a collaborative translation platform with an innovative approach to ensuring product quality and customer satisfaction.

At the end of the interview he manages to turn the mic back on me and we talk about the challenges of achieving some semblance of a work-life balance while running a startup in Japan.

==Show Notes
Naoki explains how Conyac is finding a niche in the hyper-competitive space of crowdsourced translation, their innovative approach to ensuring quality, and how they plan to expand internationally from their current beachhead. We talk about...

- Pivoting his company from a B2C to a B2B focus
- The Japanese view failure, risk and startups
- Raising venture money in Japan. Are we seeing the start of a bubble?
- How to get large Japanese firms to work with startups
- The value of Japanese incubation programs
- Regulations that make things hard for Japanese startups
- Trying to achieve a work-life balance in Japan