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The Tokyo-based VC shares his story, talks about traits he looks for in an entrepreneur, discusses Japan’ startup ecosystem and more…

Analyse Asia is a weekly podcast hosted by Bernard Leong and features guests from across Asia’s vibrant tech community. e27 will republish the series covering a range of companies, topics and news analysis. To follow Bernard, and Analyse Asia, check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

Below are interesting show notes with time-stamps:

James Riney (@james_riney, LinkedIn, personal website)

• How he started his career as an analyst in an investment bank before moving into the startup world and venture capital [1:00]
• In his journey, as the Founder and CEO of ResuPress, which is behind storys.jp, what are the interesting lessons he has learned as an entrepreneur? [3:10]
  

  Learning: Swallow your pride

• The story of why Riney is in Japan [4:25]
• Subsequently, he joined DeNA Capital as a principal and as a venture capitalist; what the corporate VC space taught him (Reference: Corporate VC is King in Japan) [4:52]
• Corporate VCs in gaming diversifying into technology while cash cow from product still streaming [6:12]

Also Read: [Podcast] HOOQ’s Michael Smith on Asia’s online video streaming market

• 500 Startups Japan
  • What made him move from DeNA Capital to 500 Startups? [6:50]
  • Does he have an investment thesis? [8:00]
  • What are the verticals he likes to invest in? [8:55]
  • Will Oculus Rift work in Japan? [9:40]
  • What are the traits he looks for in startup founders? [11:35]

A hustler with authenticity

• Are there any interesting companies in his investment portfolio? Few examples?
  • Lookup (India) [12:36]
  • Coins.PH (Philippines) [13:16]
  • Penrose Studios and Vrse [14:50]

Also Read: [Podcast] Should major tech startups go IPO?

• Japan’s startup ecosystem
  • How does he see the Japanese startup ecosystem? [16:14]
  • Most Japanese startups typically go public in the Nikkei Stock Exchange after their series B round; do he think this will change in the future? [17:43]
  • Japan’s perfectionism culture is good for hardware startups and not software startups [18:58]
  • What are the promising areas in which Japan can lead in the technology startups space? [23:30]

The post [Podcast] 500 Startups’ James Riney wants a hustler with authenticity appeared first on e27.

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