The Future of Japan

Coming up with ideas is easy. Spotting the bad one early is a rare skill. Today we talk with Yo Shibata serial entrepreneur an investor about how you know if you really have a great startup idea. We chat about what it was like being acquired by Rakuten, and what can be done to improve M&A in Japan. Yo also talks publicly for the first time about is new startup and why the current B2B SaaS trend in Japan might have peaked and might be about to completely reverse itself. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The advantage of launching early on a new platform The reason for Japanese consumers' love for points systems What it's like to be acquired by Rakuten The birth of the Tokyo Founders Fund The weakness almost all Japanese VC Funds have How to know when you ave a good startup idea Te importance of "Founder-Market Fit" Is this new "anti-SaaS" platform the way forward Why most Japanese enterprises are bad at M&A The most important difference between Japanese and US startup culture Why the ecosystem is more important than the startups themselves Links from the Founder Check out Tailor Yo's big bet against the SaaS trend. ... and they are hiring Follow Yo on Twitter @yoyoshibata Be sure to give a listen to Yo's podcast START/FM Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. So, how do you know if your startup idea is any good? After all, coming up with ideas is easy, knowing how to evaluate them before spending a lot of time and money, well, that's that' a real skill, and we're going to get to that. Today we sit down with Yo Shibata, serial entrepreneur, investor, and well-known figure in Japan startup ecosystem. We talk about where Japanese startups are heading and the big bet Yo is making on his next startup. A big bet based on the idea that the current B2B SaaS boom in Japan has got it all wrong.  Now, Yo's theory flies in the face of all common knowledge about the Japanese market, but as long-time fans of disrupting Japan know, I am a hopeless contrarian. Anyone who can make a compelling case about why conventional wisdom is wrong always has my full attention.  I just love those stories and ideas, and I love bringing them to you. So Yo and I dive deep into why Japan's current SaaS trend might be about to reverse itself, and what might take its place. We talk about what it's like to be acquired by Rakuten, how corporate Japan is getting better at M&A, and of course, how to know if you actually have a good startup idea.  But you know, Yo tells that story much better than I can so let's get right to the interview. Interview  Tim: So we're sitting here with Yo Shibata, serial entrepreneur and investor. So thanks for sitting down with us, I really appreciate it.  Yo: Thank you for having me. Pretty excited.  Tim: I'm excited to have you here. And I mean, Yo, you've done so much here. You've started a number of companies, you've started your own fund, you even have your own podcast. It's a great opportunity to really dig in.  Yo: Yeah, yeah, pretty much.  Tim: Just for background, let's talk about your startups. There's been a lot of them.  Yo: Right.  Tim: Your first one you started in college, right?  Yo: Yes, that was when I was 19 or 20 years old. I started a small company with my friend. It was SEO consulting firm. That was back in 2005 or something like that.  Tim: Was that something you planned on like scaling into a big company or was that just beer money for you and your friend?  Yo: Back in 2005, in Japan, there was no venture capital, especially like seed stage, very rarely saw angel investors. They usually took majority stakes with like, $50,000 or something like that.  Tim: Yeah. And back then, angel investors, they were all doctors or lawyers, they weren't startup people at all.