//

This is a rather personal episode. We have no guests this time.

It’s just you and me.

Today, rather than diving deep into a specific aspect of startups in Japan, we are going to take a hard look at both what is and what is not working within the Japanese startup ecosystem as a whole.

And at the end, I’m going to answer the most common question I am asked by overseas audiences. “Where are the Japanese unicorns?”

You might already know about Japan’s two existing unicorns, but I’m going to explain where the next four will be coming from.

I guarantee that it’s from somewhere you would not have expected.

So let’s get right to it.

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs.

I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me.
Once again, I’ve got a special show for you today. There will be no guests, no beer, no playful banter with someone speaking English as a second language. Today, it’s just you and me.
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these one-on-one episodes. Way too long really. I truly enjoy doing them and they tend to be my most popular episodes, but man they take a lot of time to write and put together.
This episode, in particular, I had to rewrite two or three times, to make sure you would really understand what I am trying to explain. Because by the end of this episode you and I will definitely be in new and uncertain territory, and I for one love being in new and uncertain territory.
By the time we’re done, you’ll have a solid idea of where Japan’s next dozen unicorn startups will be coming from.
First, I want to tell you what inspired me to create this episode for you. In fact, it was kind of a strange situation. I mean twice a month we sit down and talk about innovation in Japan. I’m privileged to talk with and to introduce you to some of the most interesting founders and innovators in Japan. I spend a lot of time talking, writing and thinking about how the startup ecosystem is changing.
But. You know, I think I missed something. Something important. And, I think the reason I might have missed it was because I watch things so closely that when ….
Well, lets back up a bit so all of this will make sense.
Actually, it was my friend Allen Miner who first pointed out the change. For those of you who don’t know him, Allen was one of Japan’s first modern VCs and he also brought both Salesforce and Oracle to Japan. 
And by the way, if you have not listened to the Disrupting Japan episode where Allen tells the story of Oracle’s Japan market entry, you really need to go back and listen. Someday business schools will make proper case studies from that story, but until then, it’s a Disrupting Japan exclusive.
It’s a story of fake it till you make it on a multi-billion dollar scale. The plot involves intrigue, secret dealings, and … rock-concerts. What more could you possibly want?   
Go and listen to it right now. I’ll wait.
…
Welcome back. Did you listen to the episode? No, of course, you didn’t. Nobody ever does. It’s a silly conceit. I don’t know why we podcasters keep using it. We should stop.
Anyway, give Allen’s interview a listen when you get the chance. Now back to our story.
For the past eight years, the Japan Society of Northern California has given out annual innovation awards to startups in both Japan and the US. They are a really worthwhile organization that has been around for more than 100 years. I’m on the advisory committee for the awards, and last month in Tokyo I attended the awards ceremony for the Japanese startups.
The winners, by the way, were Mujin, Soracom, and Cloudian.  Ken, the founder of Soracom was on the show last year, and you’ll be hearing from the other two founders on the show soon.
So, Allen was making an informal speech at the awards and he made an observation that made me question if I had missed something big in Japan’s startup ecosystem.

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2Mn15P2

//

This is a rather personal episode. We have no guests this time.

It’s just you and me.

Today, rather than diving deep into a specific aspect of startups in Japan, we are going to take a hard look at both what is and what is not working within the Japanese startup ecosystem as a whole.

And at the end, I’m going to answer the most common question I am asked by overseas audiences. “Where are the Japanese unicorns?”

You might already know about Japan’s two existing unicorns, but I’m going to explain where the next four will be coming from.

I guarantee that it’s from somewhere you would not have expected.

So let’s get right to it.

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs.

I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me.
Once again, I’ve got a special show for you today. There will be no guests, no beer, no playful banter with someone speaking English as a second language. Today, it’s just you and me.
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these one-on-one episodes. Way too long really. I truly enjoy doing them and they tend to be my most popular episodes, but man they take a lot of time to write and put together.
This episode, in particular, I had to rewrite two or three times, to make sure you would really understand what I am trying to explain. Because by the end of this episode you and I will definitely be in new and uncertain territory, and I for one love being in new and uncertain territory.
By the time we’re done, you’ll have a solid idea of where Japan’s next dozen unicorn startups will be coming from.
First, I want to tell you what inspired me to create this episode for you. In fact, it was kind of a strange situation. I mean twice a month we sit down and talk about innovation in Japan. I’m privileged to talk with and to introduce you to some of the most interesting founders and innovators in Japan. I spend a lot of time talking, writing and thinking about how the startup ecosystem is changing.
But. You know, I think I missed something. Something important. And, I think the reason I might have missed it was because I watch things so closely that when ….
Well, lets back up a bit so all of this will make sense.
Actually, it was my friend Allen Miner who first pointed out the change. For those of you who don’t know him, Allen was one of Japan’s first modern VCs and he also brought both Salesforce and Oracle to Japan. 
And by the way, if you have not listened to the Disrupting Japan episode where Allen tells the story of Oracle’s Japan market entry, you really need to go back and listen. Someday business schools will make proper case studies from that story, but until then, it’s a Disrupting Japan exclusive.
It’s a story of fake it till you make it on a multi-billion dollar scale. The plot involves intrigue, secret dealings, and … rock-concerts. What more could you possibly want?   
Go and listen to it right now. I’ll wait.
…
Welcome back. Did you listen to the episode? No, of course, you didn’t. Nobody ever does. It’s a silly conceit. I don’t know why we podcasters keep using it. We should stop.
Anyway, give Allen’s interview a listen when you get the chance. Now back to our story.
For the past eight years, the Japan Society of Northern California has given out annual innovation awards to startups in both Japan and the US. They are a really worthwhile organization that has been around for more than 100 years. I’m on the advisory committee for the awards, and last month in Tokyo I attended the awards ceremony for the Japanese startups.
The winners, by the way, were Mujin, Soracom, and Cloudian.  Ken, the founder of Soracom was on the show last year, and you’ll be hearing from the other two founders on the show soon.
So, Allen was making an informal speech at the awards and he made an observation that made me question if I had missed something big in Japan’s startup ecosystem.

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2Mn15P2

//

If you’ve ever done business in Japan, someone probably walked you through the intricacies of Japanese business card culture.

Chika Terada, the founder of SanSan, created one of Japan’s most successful startups around the business card protocol. And even though SanSan has been expanding quickly and is on track for an IPO, Chika thinks that Japanese business card culture will soon disappear.

Chika and I talk about the challenges of rapidly scaling a company, and how the IPO market in Japan will change in the next few years.

We also talk about what Chika learned as his company expanded into other markets and how even B2B business is really a complex mix of business and culture.

It’s an interesting conversation, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Show Notes

Why business cards are not data, but an event marker
Why SanSan wants to replace business cards
How to save the corporate culture when you are committed to things that don’t scale
How stock options should be (and are) used at Japanese startups
Why marketing is so hard to disrupt in Japan
How Japan’s business card culture extends overseas
How big company attitudes towards startups re changing in Japan
How to teach innovation in Japan

Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about SanSan

Check out Eight for business networking
SanSan in English

Friend Chika on Facebook

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

You know, anyone who has done business in Japan has had to learn the intricacies of Japanese business card culture and the protocol involved in exchanging them.

Well, Chika Terada has built SanSan, one of Japan’s most successful startups around business cards. The name SanSan started as a play on words, kind of like the band Mister Mister but the company itself has grown into a powerhouse of B2B CRM and corporate relationship management in Japan where LinkedIn has failed.

Now, Chika and I talk a lot about the challenges involved in scaling a company up so quickly and what he’s learned by expanding into international markets, some with business card cultures very similar to Japan and some with very different protocols, and we talk about why we might finally be seeing a shift in the unhealthy fixation that so many Japanese investors and founders have on the IPO.

And you know, despite the fact that SanSan has built its entire business on business cards and the protocols surrounding them, Chika explains why he thinks that they may eventually go away and what will replace them.

But you know, Chika tells that story much better than I can. So let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

Tim: So we’re sitting here with Chika Terada, the CEO and founder of SanSan who is really changing how Japan looks at business cards. So thanks for sitting down with me.

Chika: Thank you, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk with you again.

Tim: Again, yes, it’s great to have you back on the show because you were actually the very first guest I had on this show over three and half years ago.

Chika: I’m very pleased to hear. I mean, by looking at your success after the first interview, that’s remarkable.

Tim: And likewise, you as well. SanSan has been just growing at a fantastic rate since that interview and jt’s one of the real startup success stories in Japan. People from overseas often see SanSan as kind of like a business card scanning app and I know it’s a lot more than that. It’s more like a networking tool but maybe you can just start out by explaining what SanSan is and what Eight is.

Chika: Right, it is true that our company deals about business cards but this means our company is all about the business encounters. People meet people in business every day and in Japan and in other Asian countries,

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2t3OEjg

//

If you’ve ever done business in Japan, someone probably walked you through the intricacies of Japanese business card culture.

Chika Terada, the founder of SanSan, created one of Japan’s most successful startups around the business card protocol. And even though SanSan has been expanding quickly and is on track for an IPO, Chika thinks that Japanese business card culture will soon disappear.

Chika and I talk about the challenges of rapidly scaling a company, and how the IPO market in Japan will change in the next few years.

We also talk about what Chika learned as his company expanded into other markets and how even B2B business is really a complex mix of business and culture.

It’s an interesting conversation, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Show Notes

Why business cards are not data, but an event marker
Why SanSan wants to replace business cards
How to save the corporate culture when you are committed to things that don’t scale
How stock options should be (and are) used at Japanese startups
Why marketing is so hard to disrupt in Japan
How Japan’s business card culture extends overseas
How big company attitudes towards startups re changing in Japan
How to teach innovation in Japan

Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about SanSan

Check out Eight for business networking
SanSan in English

Friend Chika on Facebook

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

You know, anyone who has done business in Japan has had to learn the intricacies of Japanese business card culture and the protocol involved in exchanging them.

Well, Chika Terada has built SanSan, one of Japan’s most successful startups around business cards. The name SanSan started as a play on words, kind of like the band Mister Mister but the company itself has grown into a powerhouse of B2B CRM and corporate relationship management in Japan where LinkedIn has failed.

Now, Chika and I talk a lot about the challenges involved in scaling a company up so quickly and what he’s learned by expanding into international markets, some with business card cultures very similar to Japan and some with very different protocols, and we talk about why we might finally be seeing a shift in the unhealthy fixation that so many Japanese investors and founders have on the IPO.

And you know, despite the fact that SanSan has built its entire business on business cards and the protocols surrounding them, Chika explains why he thinks that they may eventually go away and what will replace them.

But you know, Chika tells that story much better than I can. So let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

Tim: So we’re sitting here with Chika Terada, the CEO and founder of SanSan who is really changing how Japan looks at business cards. So thanks for sitting down with me.

Chika: Thank you, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk with you again.

Tim: Again, yes, it’s great to have you back on the show because you were actually the very first guest I had on this show over three and half years ago.

Chika: I’m very pleased to hear. I mean, by looking at your success after the first interview, that’s remarkable.

Tim: And likewise, you as well. SanSan has been just growing at a fantastic rate since that interview and jt’s one of the real startup success stories in Japan. People from overseas often see SanSan as kind of like a business card scanning app and I know it’s a lot more than that. It’s more like a networking tool but maybe you can just start out by explaining what SanSan is and what Eight is.

Chika: Right, it is true that our company deals about business cards but this means our company is all about the business encounters. People meet people in business every day and in Japan and in other Asian countries,

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2t3OEjg

//

Startups are changing how business is done in Japan, but medicine remains stubbornly resistant to innovation.

In some ways, that’s good. We are literally experimenting with peoples lives, so caution is definitely warranted. We don’t want to rush things. However, Japan’s national health insurance acts as a single buyer, and sometimes the only way to innovate is to go around them.

That’s exactly what Kenichi Ishii, the founder of Next Innovation has done. Their long-term strategy involves creating widespread and comprehensive telemedicine in Japan, but right now they have developed a basic approach that has reduced the cost of some medical treatments by more than 70%

And business is booming.

Ken and Next Innovation are both proudly from Osaka, and we also talk a lot about the state of the Osaka startup ecosystem.

It’s a great conversation, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Show Notes

Why medical startups need to innovate around Japan’s national health insurance
How to cross-sell in the medical market
Why Osaka offers a competitive advantage to some kinds of startups
What is holding back telemedicine in Japan
The culture of secrecy in Japanese medicine
The most likely source for innovation in Japanese medicine

Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about Next Innovation
Friend Ken on Facebook
Check out the Sumashin app
The Osaka Innovation Hub is the center of Osaka’s startup scene

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

The medical industry is one of the hardest to disrupt and in some ways, that’s a good thing. I mean, we’re literally experimenting with people’s lives here so there’s a good argument to be made for being conservative and taking things slowly, but you know, looking at the national health insurance system in Japan and the health systems of all developed nations, it becomes pretty obvious that not only can improvements be made but that improvements must be made.

Well, today, we talk with Kenichi Ishii, the founder of Next Innovation. Their long-term strategy involves increasing the use and acceptance of telemedicine in Japan in general but right now, they’ve developed a basic approach to telemedicine that enables them to sell prescription drugs over the I, and business is booming. Oh, and Next Innovation is a proudly Osaka-based startup. Ken and I talk a lot about the challenges Osaka has faced in developing a startup ecosystem and why it seems that those problems might be over, and you’ll be hearing from more and more Osaka startups on the show.

During the interview, Ken and I talk about value-based medicine and price-based medicine. It’s not really intuitive so it’s probably best if I explain it to you now. When Ken talks about cost-based patients, he means those who see medical treatment as a means to an end and they want it done simply, cheaply, and quickly. The value-based patients are those that want to be involved either because of an interest in the treatment or for other social reasons that we’ll talk about.

Ken will explain why this difference is important, how Japan’s tight control over the medical industry forced him and his team to be very resourceful in launching this product, the crisis Japanese hospitals are facing now and why we can’t stay on our current path; we need to innovate our way out of this situation.

But you know, can tells that story much better than I can, so let’s get right to the interview 

[Interview]

Tim: So I’m sitting here with Kenichi of Next Innovation, a true telemedicine startup in Japan. So thanks for sitting down with me.

Kenichi: Thank you, nice to meet you.

Tim: Telemedicine covers a really broad area, so can you just briefly explain what Next Innovation does?

Kenichi: Our products, we call it smashing, it means smart and of course,

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2LCapip

//

Preferred Networks is making changes in Japan.

Over the past few years, this AI startup has raised more than $130M in venture funding and grown to more than 130 people.

If you live outside of Japan, you might not have heard of this team, but they are working with Toyota to create the next generation of driverless cars. They are working with Japan’s most advanced industrial robot manufacturers to improve efficiency. They are also working with many financial institutions on fraud detection.

Oh yes, and they also built Japan’s most powerful commercial supercomputer.

Today we sit down and talk with Daisuke Okanohara, the technical co-founder of Preferred Networks. Daisuke and I talk about the story behind Preferred Networks, he also shares his challenges and current strategies for maintaining the company’s experimental and engineering culture as it grows larger and more structured.

Daisuke also talks about his time at Google, how Japanese AI stacks up to China and the US, and why he’s convinced that their biggest competition is going to come from somewhere you would never expect.

It’s a great discussion, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Show Notes

What edge-heavy computing is and why it’s important
How a Google Internship changed Daisuke’s outlook on AI
The future of driverless cars at Toyota
Why the team decided to build Japan’s most powerful supercomputer
Why you can’t sell disruptive products to large companies
How to keep a curious spirit even as your company grows
Where the real competition in AI will come from

Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about Preferred Networks

Check out their Homepage
Follow them on Twitter @PreferredNet

Check out Chainer Preferred Networks free open source AI library

The core Chainer project
PaintsChainer
Cupy Chainer

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

Preferred Networks is without question the brightest star in the constellation of Japanese AI startups. It attracted about 130 million in venture funding and have grown to more than 130 people over the past few years.

Of course, if you don’t follow AI, you might not have heard about them at all but they are the technology behind Toyota’s driverless cars, some of FANUC’s industrial robots, many cutting-edge applications in other verticals, and as a side project, they also built Japan’s most powerful commercial supercomputer.

It’s an interesting team to say the least and today, we sit down and talk with Daisuke Okanohara, Preferred Networks’ technical cofounder.

We talk about how Preferred Networks got started and got to scale and he also shares his challenges and strategies of trying to maintain the company’s experimental and engineering culture as it grows larger and monthly revenue pressures increase. Daisuke also talks about his time at Google, how Japanese AI stacks up to China and the US, and why he’s convinced that their biggest competition is going to come from somewhere you would never expect it.

But you know, Daisuke tells that story much better than I can, so let’s gets right to the interview.

[Interview]

Tim: So I’m sitting here with Daisuke Okanohara, the cofounder and Executive Vice President of Preferred Networks, Japan’s leading and probably most innovative AI startup.

So thanks for sitting down with me today.

Daisuke: Thank you very much.

Tim: So Preferred Networks talks a lot about the importance of edge -heavy computing. So can you explain exactly what edge-heavy computing is and why it’s important?

Daisuke: Cloud computing is one of the most important trends in the IT area and most people believe that most computations or operations should be done at a data center or across site, and it’s okay if we deal with fragile information but when it comes to solving re…

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2wD7ZfS

//

Education is very hard to disrupt.

That’s both good and bad. Education is so important to both individuals and society, it should not be changed on a whim, but over time it seems that our institutions of higher education have drifted away from meeting students real needs.

Yoshito Hori, founder and CEO of Globis, is making radical changes. He turned a small training school into Japan’s first independent and fully accredited business school with an MBA. Less than ten years later, Globis became Japan’s most popular MBA program.

We talk about the need for change in education and about the successful, real-world pilot program Globis is running to modernize Japanese higher education. Yoshito also shares insights on how to teach innovative thinking and explains why such a high percentage of Globis MBAs go on to found starts or join them.

It’s a fascinating discussion and I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Show Notes

Why most Japanese do not want to attend full-time MBA programs
How to make an advanced degree both exclusive and inexpensive
How to groom MBA students to start startups
How Sumitomo missed out on a multi-billion dollar business
Why Japanese higher education is so resistant to change
This difference between SPOCs and MOOCs, and why it’s important
How drinking in front of your computer might save higher education

Links from the Founder

Check out Globis
Yoshito’s blog on entrepreneurship in Japan
Follow Yoshito on Twitter@YoshiHoriGLOBIS
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Yoshito’s article on 100 Actions to revive Japan
The G1 Global Conference

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Disrupting Japan. Straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me.

You know, education is hard to disrupt. And as long-time fans know very well, that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because education is so important and foundational not only to how well a given child will do later in life but also because in the large developed nations, the educational system forms the basis of society itself. It provides us all with a shared set of experiences.

So the fact that we don’t change the rules every few years is a good thing. On the other hand, this lack of disruption leads to educational systems that don’t really meet the needs of today’s students and today’s societies for that matter. So clearly, there must be a better way of doing things than what we’re doing now.

Well, today, I’d like to introduce you to someone who’s found a better way. Yoshito Hori founded Globis as a small business training school and grew it into Japan’s first independent and fully accredited business school offering MBAs. And then, Globis became Japan’s most popular MBA program.

Yoshito’s strategy for innovation is fascinating. Unlike similar schools in the US, Globis does not compete on cost. In fact, the Globis MBA is more expensive than similar degree programs at Todai or Hitotsubashi. No. Globis is doing something unique and something that is making a lot of people rethink how university and post graduate education is done in Japan.

But you know, Yoshito tells that story much better than I can, so let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

 Tim: So we’re sitting here today with Yoshi Hori of Globis. Thank you so much for sitting down with me.

Yoshi: Thank you very much as well.

Tim: Globis has about 7,000 students per year. It’s the most popular MBA in Japan. It always does well in the national business school rankings here. But what seems most unusual, it’s a truly international MBA program. You have students both from Japan and overseas now, right?

Yoshi: Yeah.

Tim: What sort of ratio?

Yoshi: Well, we have English MBA program and Japanese MBA program. Japanese MBA program is a part-time program. English MBA program, we have part-time, full-time, and online. We have roughly about over 100 English MBA progr…

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2JG2YoN

//

The insurance industry has proven very resistant to innovation. In fact, it has not really changed much in the past 200 years. The way insurance is sold and managed has changed, of course, but from the point of view of the consumer, things remain surpassingly like they were a century ago.

Today we talk with someone who is changing that. Kazuya “Kazy” Hata is CEO of JustInCase, a new breed of Japanese insurance company that offers insurance over the smartphone and then monitors how you use your phone, your lifestyle, and your social connections to determine what your premium should be.

We also talk about the next logical step for smart-phone-based insurance. Being able to ensure specific activities or possessions at will, maybe just for a few hours or while you are on a trip.

It’s a great conversation, and I think you will really enjoy it.

Show Notes

Who actually buys long-term cell phone insurance
What behavior might make you a “risky” smartphone user
Why there are so few life sciences startups in Japan
The future of insurance on demand
Why P2P insurance presents a unique market opportunity
Why it is so hard for insurance companies to innovate
How Japan’s FSA is working to encourage insurance innovation

Links from the Founder

Everything you wanted to know about JustInCase
Kazy’s blog (Japanese)
Follow Kazy on Twitter @KazyHata
Friend him on Facebook
Genome Link Online Hackathon

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

You know, the insurance industry is really resistant to innovation. The modern insurance industry was largely developed in the 17th and 18th century and it’s not changed a whole lot since then. Oh, the tools have changed: insurance is sold very differently today, risks are better understood and better quantified, better measured, and the emergence of the global reinsurance market has made the system far more stable, but the way insurance works from your point of view, from the way you and I see it, things have changed very little over the past hundred years.

Most of the change in the industry is driven by regulatory changes rather than entrepreneurial innovation, and for insurance, I’ve got to say, I’m pretty much okay with that. Insurance firms need to remain solvent for decades and theoretically forever, and the fail fast, fail forward philosophy doesn’t really work when it comes time to pay out life insurance or after a natural disaster, and yet, there needs to be a way to innovate and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Kazuya Hata or “Kazy” as his friends call him is the founder and CEO of JustInCase. JustInCase offers insurance over the smartphone and the first product they’re insuring is your smartphone itself. JustInCase then uses artificial intelligence to analyze your usage profile and your social connections to determine the premium you should be paying.

We also talk about the next logical step for a smartphone-based insurance, being able to enter specific activities or possessions at will, maybe just for a few hours or while you’re on a trip. The cellphone interface and the personal rich data which we continuously share about ourselves online, whether we know it or not allows companies to build up a personalized risk profile and both offer customized and flexible products and replace the number of fraudulent claims.

But you know, Kazi tells this story much better than I can so let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

I’m sitting here with Kazy Hata of JustInCase who offers not only insurance on your cellphone but actually sells insurance on the cellphone. Does that make sense?

Kazuya: That’s actually right, yes.

Tim: Well, thanks for sitting down with me. Okay, let’s talk about your product. You’re offering basic cellphone repair insurance for 200 Yen a month,

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2JSzPY2

//

The insurance industry has proven very resistant to innovation. In fact, it has not really changed much in the past 200 years. The way insurance is sold and managed has changed, of course, but from the point of view of the consumer, things remain surpassingly like they were a century ago.

Today we talk with someone who is changing that. Kazuya “Kazy” Hata is CEO of JustInCase, a new breed of Japanese insurance company that offers insurance over the smartphone and then monitors how you use your phone, your lifestyle, and your social connections to determine what your premium should be.

We also talk about the next logical step for smart-phone-based insurance. Being able to ensure specific activities or possessions at will, maybe just for a few hours or while you are on a trip.

It’s a great conversation, and I think you will really enjoy it.

Show Notes

Who actually buys long-term cell phone insurance
What behavior might make you a “risky” smartphone user
Why there are so few life sciences startups in Japan
The future of insurance on demand
Why P2P insurance presents a unique market opportunity
Why it is so hard for insurance companies to innovate
How Japan’s FSA is working to encourage insurance innovation

Links from the Founder

Everything you wanted to know about JustInCase
Kazy’s blog (Japanese)
Follow Kazy on Twitter @KazyHata
Friend him on Facebook
Genome Link Online Hackathon

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

You know, the insurance industry is really resistant to innovation. The modern insurance industry was largely developed in the 17th and 18th century and it’s not changed a whole lot since then. Oh, the tools have changed: insurance is sold very differently today, risks are better understood and better quantified, better measured, and the emergence of the global reinsurance market has made the system far more stable, but the way insurance works from your point of view, from the way you and I see it, things have changed very little over the past hundred years.

Most of the change in the industry is driven by regulatory changes rather than entrepreneurial innovation, and for insurance, I’ve got to say, I’m pretty much okay with that. Insurance firms need to remain solvent for decades and theoretically forever, and the fail fast, fail forward philosophy doesn’t really work when it comes time to pay out life insurance or after a natural disaster, and yet, there needs to be a way to innovate and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Kazuya Hata or “Kazy” as his friends call him is the founder and CEO of JustInCase. JustInCase offers insurance over the smartphone and the first product they’re insuring is your smartphone itself. JustInCase then uses artificial intelligence to analyze your usage profile and your social connections to determine the premium you should be paying.

We also talk about the next logical step for a smartphone-based insurance, being able to enter specific activities or possessions at will, maybe just for a few hours or while you’re on a trip. The cellphone interface and the personal rich data which we continuously share about ourselves online, whether we know it or not allows companies to build up a personalized risk profile and both offer customized and flexible products and replace the number of fraudulent claims.

But you know, Kazi tells this story much better than I can so let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

I’m sitting here with Kazy Hata of JustInCase who offers not only insurance on your cellphone but actually sells insurance on the cellphone. Does that make sense?

Kazuya: That’s actually right, yes.

Tim: Well, thanks for sitting down with me. Okay, let’s talk about your product. You’re offering basic cellphone repair insurance for 200 Yen a month,

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2JSzPY2

//

Blue Innovation attracted a lot of international attention last year when they announced the  T-Friend done system.

This dystopian drone flies around offices after hours reminding staff not to work overtime, and taking pictures of those who violate overtime policy so that management can be alerted.¥

We’ll talk about this particular done, of course, but Blue Innovation’s technology is much broader and is making an impact an many more important, if perhaps less visible, areas. Founder and CEO Takayuki Kumada explains the early days of the company and why they decided to pivot into drones in the first place.

We also talk about the future of drones in Japan and globally, about what’s really holding the industry back, and why the Japanese government crackdown on drones might have actually forced the industry to focus on a very specialized and very lucrative niche.

It’s a great conversation, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Show Notes

What is a drone integrator, and why are they important?
How Blue Innovation pivoted from environmental consulting to drones
How drones navigate with no WiFi no GPS and no light
What kinds of jobs drones should not do
Why flying drones make more sense than swimming or crawling drones
Which industries will be most affected by drones
What’s really holding drones back
How Japan can overcome China’s lead in drones

Links from the Founder

Check out everything Blue Innovation is doing
Blue Innovation’s Facebook page
Japan Drone 2018 on the Blue Innovation blog
Friend Takayuki on Facebook

 Leave a comment
Transcript
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs.

I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

One of the ideas I’ve talked about a lot over the past few years and one that’s finally gaining some acceptance is that the bulk of meaningful innovation in Japan is going to come not from startups but from midsized companies. Of course, Japanese venture capital and the ecosystem will adapt to include these players but things are going to develop differently in Japan than in the United States. With this in mind, perhaps you won’t be too surprised to learn that Japan’s leading drone company is not a traditional startup but a midsized company that pivoted into drones from a completely different industry.

Today, we’ll sit down with Takayuki Kumada, founder and CEO of Blue Innovation, Japan’s leading drone integrator. Now, Blue Innovation attracted international attention last year with the announcement of their T-Friend drone. Now, this drone is designed to reduce overtime by flying around the office taking pictures of staff and telling them to go home, and yeah, we talk about how effective this is likely to be but we also talk about the integrator strategy, the one that’s being pursued by a lot of the most successful high-tech startups in Japan. It’s a strategy that allows them to quickly collaborate across industries and brings an immediate cash flow, but it does come at a cost and it might not be stable long-term, but we’ll get into that. We also talk about the future of drones, both in Japan and globally and what’s really holding the industry back, and why the Japanese government’s crackdown on drones might have actually forced the industry to focus on a very specialized and very lucrative niche,

But you know, Takayuki tells the story much better than I can, so let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview]

Tim: So I’m sitting here with Takayuki Kumada, the CEO of Blue Innovation, and Blue Innovation is developing civil engineering services using drones. So thanks for sitting down with me.

Takayuki: Thank you very much.

Tim: Okay. On your website and in interviews, I’ve heard you describe Blue Innovation as drone integrators. I was wondering if you could explain, what exactly does that mean? What is a drone integrator?

Takayuki: Ah, I see.

from Disrupting Japan https://ift.tt/2Gu3uZG