Disrupting Japan: Startups and Innovation in Japan Tim Romero: Serial startup founder in Japan and indomitable innovator

Japanese HR departments are in a bit of a panic right now.



The increasing job mobility that startups have unleashed is forcing them to rethink their entire mission. 



Today we sit down and Takako Ogawa, co-founder and CEO of Panalyt, a startup at the center of this transformation, and we talk about the changing career paths in Japan, when startups need to change CEOs, and the dangers of going global that people don't seem to talk about.  



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

Fusion energy promises almost unlimited, inexpensive, clean energy.



That's a pretty big promise.



Today we sit down with Satoshi Konishi, co-founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, and we talk about what it is really going to take to develop commercially viable fusion power and the role that startups have to play in that process.



We talk about the emerging public-private research partnerships, who is pulling ahead in the fusion race, and  we dig into the long history and near future of fusion energy



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

Most sustainability startups struggle to find sustainable business models



Towing, however, has found their solution, and their customers are seeing 20% to 70% increases crop yields.



Today we sit down with Towing co-founder Teppei Okamura and he explains why even such a drastic yield improvement required an innovative production and distribution model to achieve scale.



We also talk about the advantages (and the challenges) of working with university research teams, how environment policy and carbon credits affect innovation in sustainable agriculture, and Towing's joint research project with JAXA, Japan's space agency, on developing farming in space.



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

Almost everyone agrees that the Japanese education system needs to be modernized, but EdTech startups face an uphill battle in Japan. 



Of course, academia and governments are not known for being particularly innovative or forward-thinking, and that's why Kohei Kuboyama left a fast-track career at Japan's Ministry of Finance to launch and EdTech startup. 



Kohei lays out his blueprint for getting new technology and new products adopted in Japan's schools, explains the challenges of leaving government service to start a startup, and talks about a few positive long-term trends he sees in Japan's eduction system.



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

MedTech is one of the most challenging areas for startups to compete in, 



"Move fast and break things" just doesn't work in medicine.  So you might be surprised to learn that there are quite a few innovative medical startups coming out of Japan right now.  



Today we talk with Yuichi Tamura, founder of Cardio Intelligence, who has developed Smart Robin, and AI platform that can read EKGs, has been certified as a diagnostic device and is being used in clinics and hospitals all over Japan. 



We talk about the challenges of bringing medical AI to market, their plans for global expansion, and the most important thing that venture capital can offer medTech startups. 



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

Japan wants to learn how to code.



Over the past 15 years software development in Japan has changed from low-level clerical work to a mission-critical skill, and the Japanese government and industry as scrambling to find programmers and develop new talent.



Yan Fan came to Japan on a mission to teach everyone how to code. After opening Japan's first coding  bootcamp, and she and her co-founder Kani grew Code Chrysalis to profitability and about 50 staff, and continue to grow rapidly.



Yan and I talk about digital literacy in Japan, and she also  explains her blueprint for making sales in Japan without speaking Japanese, identifying a startup's unique value in Japan, and her experience raising money from both angels and CVCs



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