|
The demographics of applicants to Open Network Lab, a Tokyo startup incubator, shifted dramatically after the earthquake, managing partner Hironori Maeda said. Before the disaster, applications tended to come from recent university graduates or freelance programmers. But now, Maeda said, they're coming from employees at large Internet companies who are willing to quit their jobs if accepted. "Japan was all about harmony and longevity," he said. "Then the earthquake hit them, and everyone is all of a sudden put into uncertainty. That kind of woke everyone up. It probably made a lot of people consider what they should do with their lives." Open Network Lab, a joint effort among listed tech companies Digital Garage Inc., netprice.com and kakaku.com, launched less than two years ago with the aim of finding startups with the potential to go global. Teams accepted into its three-month seed accelerator program are given 1 million yen ($12,800) in funding, office space, mentoring and access to its extensive network of entrepreneurs and partners. Interest has soared since its first class, when it received 47 applications. For its fourth class that started in January, nearly 100 teams applied. Other initiatives are also sparking change. William Saito, a Japanese-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Tokyo, has made it his personal mission to reinvigorate Japan. He co-founded Impact Japan to serve as a hub and clearinghouse for innovation, helping organize local events for the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week and launching scholarships for study abroad. For the past three years, he has taken groups of about 30 Japanese students, researchers and would-be entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley to expose them to the global marketplace. "I think we're finally turning a curve," Saito said of entrepreneurship in Japan. Along with Saito's efforts, journalist Lisa Katayama and designer Tomo Saito launched the Tofu Project in San Francisco last year. The unique initiative brought 10 young Japanese entrepreneurs to California in late October for a weeklong boot camp in Silicon Valley-style design thinking and innovation. Satoshi Suzuki, the 22-year-old president of a social networking startup called Wondershake, took part in the program. He, too, is determined to make it in Silicon Valley. He describes Wondershake as an icebreaker for the real world, designed to facilitate immediate face-to-face connections at events, schools and other venues. As soon as visas are approved for him and his four partners, Suzuki plans to move to the San Francisco Bay Area. "No one expects me to succeed, and 99 percent of people don't succeed, so a lot of people could just give up," he said. "But the main reason I'm doing this is because the product is really something I want to create for the world." Suzuki said the broader issue isn't that Japanese people are afraid of risk, but that they lack mentors and examples of success to encourage them. That can be overcome if there are actually people who've done it and can say,
'You can do it too,'" he said.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor