Talk given at the Open Network Lab accelerator in Tokyo in November 2012, drawing from my TC column "Ecosystem 101".

1. Can
Japan
&
Asia
become
the
Next
Silicon
Valley?
日本をはじめとするアジア市場は
次のシリコンバレーになり得るか
@BenjaminJoffe | Tokyo, 2012.11!

3. 12 Years Abroad!
• France
• Japan
(4y)
• Korea
(1y)
• China
(5y)
• Germany
• USA
• Singapore
• Malaysia
I
spent
most
of
my
working
life
(11
years)
overseas,
especially
in
Japan,
China,
South
Korea
and
USA.
My
cultural
DNA
has
become
rather
complex.

4. Since 2003!
• Founder
of
+8*
|
Plus
Eight
Star
– Digital
Strategy
with
Asia
focus
– Clients:
MicrosoP,
Tumblr,
DeNA…

5. Since 2003!
• Founder
of
+8*
|
Plus
Eight
Star
– Digital
Strategy
with
Asia
focus
– Clients:
MicrosoP,
Tumblr,
DeNA…
• 150+
talks
in
conferences
– SxSW,
TEDx,
Stanford,
LeWeb…
– 250,000
views
on
SlideShare
– Quoted
in
Forbes,
TC,
CNN,
etc.

6. “Digital Naturalist”!
• Charles
Darwin
• Galapagos
/
AtlanZs
• EvoluZon
in
Ecosystems
STARTUPS
are
DIGITAL
SPECIES

7. Mentor @ Startup Accelerators!
• 500
Startups
• Founder
InsZtute
• Chinaccelerator
• JFDI
• YeZZen
• Gamma
Rebels

8. Angel Investor in Global Startups from Asia!
!
Funded Funded
!
• Gengo
(JP)
• TokyoOtakuMode
(JP)
!
• Cmune
(CN)
Funded
• TwitMusic
(PH)
!
• PayrollHero
(PH)
Funded
• StoryPanda
(CA)
!
Funded
• YoGoMe
(MX)
• TenderTree
(US)

9. Taizo
Son:
“Standing
on
the
shoulders
of
Bill
Gates
and
Steve
Jobs,
making
Asia
the
next
Silicon
Valley
by
2030”
孫泰蔵氏「ゲイツ、ジョブズの教えを後輩に」 2030年アジ
アにシリコンバレーを (2012.11.8)
hfp://www.nikkei.com/arZcle/DGXNASDD060MH_X01C12A1000000/

11. Silicon Valley?!
• Silicon
• Valley
• SoPware!
“So$ware
is
ea,ng
the
world”
–
Marc
Andreesen

12. >$1B Company Every 3 Months!!
“A
billion
dollar
so$ware
tech
company
is
founded
every
3
months
in
USA”
–
Ron
Conway
1998
SolarWinds,
Netsuite,
VMware,
OpenTable,
Google,
RackSpace,
Paypal
1999
Zappos,
SurveyMonkey,
Opsware,
SalesForce,
Shuferfly
2000
Netezza,
ArcSight,
ExactTarget,
BillMeLater,
Pandora,
TripAdvisor
2001
SuccessFactors,
GuideWire,
DealerTrack
2002
LinkedIn
2003
Glam
Media
2004
PalanZr,
Splunk,
Kayak,
Facebook,
Evernote,
Yelp
2005
Palo
Alto
Networks,
Box,
Etsy,
HomeAway,
YouTube,
Workday
2006
Millenial
Media,
TwiTer,
Demand
Media
2007
Nicira,
Gilt,
Tumblr,
Hulu,
Dropbox,
LivinSocial,
Zynga
2008
GitHub,
Airbnb,
Yammer,
Groupon,
Pinterest
2009
Square,
Storm8,
(Quora?),
(GetAround?)
2010
Fab,
Instagram,
(Stripe?)
hfp://blog.minming.net/post/35553963889/a-­‐billion-­‐dollar-­‐soPware-­‐tech-­‐company-­‐is-­‐founded-­‐every

13. Around the world!
• Japan
Yahoo!
Japan,
Rakuten,
DeNA,
GREE,
CyberAgent,
Kakaku.com
Japan
punches
below
its
weight!
• Europe
Skype,
SpoZfy,
Rovio
(Angry
Birds),
VentePrivee
• Korea
NHN,
Nexon
• China
Tencent,
Baidu,
Alibaba,
Shanda,
Giant
InteracZve,
Vancl,
360Buy,
Sina,
Sohu,
Youku
Tudou,
Netease
NetDragon,
KingSoP,
Ctrip…
• Russia
Yandex,
Mail.ru
• Brazil
MercadoLivre,
Peixe
Urbano
Source:
author

14. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market

15. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market
2.
Capital

16. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market
2.
Capital
3.
People

17. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market
2.
Capital
3.
People
4.
Entr.
Culture

18. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market
2.
Capital
3.
People
4.
Entr.
Culture
5.
Infrastructure

19. Components of a “Silicon Valley”!
1.
Market
2.
Capital
3.
People
4.
Entr.
Culture
5.
Infrastructure
6.
Regulaaons

20. 1. Market!
Local
=
GDP
=
USA/2

21. 1. Market!
Local
(Japan)
=
GDP
=
USA/2
Global
=
Local
+
USA

22. 2. Capital!
Capital
=

23. 2. Capital!
Capital
=
Angel
SZll
limited

24. 2. Capital!
Capital
=
Angel
SZll
limited
Growing
(ONLAB,
MOVIDA,
Seed
GLOBAL
BRAINS,
DOCOMO)

25. 2. Capital!
Capital
=
Angel
SZll
limited
Growing
(ONLAB,
MOVIDA,
Seed
GLOBAL
BRAINS,
DOCOMO)
VC
Growing

26. 2. Capital!
Capital
=
Angel
SZll
limited
Growing
(ONLAB,
MOVIDA,
Seed
GLOBAL
BRAINS,
DOCOMO)
VC
Growing
M&A,
IPO
Growing
(games)

27. 3. People!
Numbers

28. 3. People!
Numbers
Cost

29. 3. People!
Numbers
Cost
English

30. “The
lack
of
English
communica,on
skills
prevented
Japan
from
being
a
global
leader.”
–
Hiroshi
Mikitani
[人、人、人、すべては人の質にある]
少林寺拳法 宗道臣
So
Doshin,
Shorinji
Kempo
Founder

31. 3. People!
Numbers
Cost
English
Mentors
/
Serial
Entr.

32. 4. Entrepreneurial Culture!
Role
Models

33. 4. Entrepreneurial Culture!
Role
Models
Risk-­‐Taking

34. 4. Entrepreneurial Culture!
Role
Models
Risk-­‐Taking
Learning
From
Failures

35. 4. Entrepreneurial Culture!
Role
Models
Risk-­‐Taking
Learning
From
Failures
Self-­‐Promoaon
Skills

36. 5. Infrastructure!
IT

37. 5. Infrastructure!
IT
Logisacs
/
Payment

38. 5. Infrastructure!
IT
Logisacs
/
Payment
Community
/
Events

39. 5. Infrastructure!
IT
Logisacs
/
Payment
Community
/
Events
Legal
/
Accounang
/
etc.

40. 6. Regulations!
Immigraaon

41. 6. Regulations!
Immigraaon
Labor
Laws

42. 6. Regulations!
Immigraaon
Labor
Laws
Incorporaaon
Ease
Delaware
C
Corp:
1
week,
<
2,000
USD
Seed
funding:
<
5,000
USD

43. USA Scoring!

44. Japan Scoring!

45. What can we improve?!

46. CULTURE is the easiest + Most impactful!

47. Your Culture = Your OS!
"Culture
is
for
the
convenience
of
culture,
not
you.”
-­‐
Terence
McKenna

48. Your Culture = Your OS!
• Default
Install
– Country
– Family
– School
– Work
– Early
friends
"Culture
is
for
the
convenience
of
culture,
not
you.”
-­‐
Terence
McKenna

49. Your Culture = Your OS!
• Default
Install
• Updates
– Country
– Readings
– Family
– Encounters
– School
– Travels
– Work
– Experiences
– Early
friends
"Culture
is
for
the
convenience
of
culture,
not
you.”
-­‐
Terence
McKenna

50. Cultural Priorities | 文化の優先!

51. Cultural Priorities | 文化の優先!
1.
Money

52. Cultural Priorities!
1.
Money
2.
Family

53. Cultural Priorities!
1.
Money
2.
Family
3.
Society

54. Cultural Priorities!
1.
Money
2.
Family
3.
Society
4.
“Culture”
(lit.
music,
arts…)

55. Cultural Priorities!
1.
Money
2.
Family
3.
Society
4.
“Culture”
(lit.
music,
arts…)
5.
Spirituality
/
Religion

56. Cultural Priorities!
1.
Money
2.
Family
3.
Society
4.
“Culture”
(lit.
music,
arts…)
5.
Spirituality
/
Religion
6.
Appearance

57. USA

58. USA’s Stereotype!
MONEY
3
2
APPEARANCE
FAMILY
1
0
SPIRITUALITY
SOCIAL
LINK
CULTURE

59. France’s Stereotype!
MONEY
3
2
APPEARANCE
FAMILY
1
0
SPIRITUALITY
SOCIAL
LINK
CULTURE

60. Your Priorities?!
MONEY
3
2
APPEARANCE
FAMILY
1
0
SPIRITUALITY
SOCIAL
LINK
CULTURE

61. TokyoOtakuMode!
• Otaku
Community
in
English
– 7.5m
fans
on
FB
– 99%
outside
Japan
– Founders
don’t
speak
English!
• What
impressed
me
1. Join
500
Startups
2. No
English,
No
Fear
3. Incredibly
resourceful!
才略のある

62. Conclusions > Next steps!
1.
Promote
entrepreneurs
1. 起業家をプロモートする

63. Conclusions > Next steps!
1.
Promote
entrepreneurs
1. 起業家をプロモートする
2.
Always
be
pitching
2. いつもピッチング

64. Conclusions > Next steps!
1.
Promote
entrepreneurs
1. 起業家をプロモートする
2.
Always
be
pitching
2. いつもピッチング
3.
Help
each
other
3.
お互い助け合う

65. Thank you!
benjamin@plus8star.com!