Many of you are undoubtedly aware of last week’s Viva Technology conference (VivaTech) in Paris. Japan was featured as country of the year for VivaTech 2024. Hats off to the Japanese government officials at JETRO and METI for securing this honour for Japan ! The Country-of-the-Year selection was indeed a big deal for Japan, as […] The post An open invitation to Japan’s VCs and CVCs appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

I couldn’t help but plow through Richard Katz’s latest book, The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future. For Japanophiles and generally anyone curious about business in Japan, or the dynamics of burgeoning innovation ecosystems globally, I highly recommend this book, and not just because Katz cites me in his hopeful conclusion. Vacillating between feeling both tepid […] The post The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

先日、ヨーロッパのある大手成長株ファンドから連絡があった。このファンドは北米だけでなくヨーロッパ全土に投資している。東京にオフィスを開設することを検討しているとのことで、私に連絡をくれた。 これはもちろん素晴らしいニュースであり、日本のデジタルルネッサンスという投資機会に、世界各地の資本配分担当者がいかに目覚めているかを示すものだ。 このファンドとの話し合いの中で出てきた逸話に、東京のオフィス探しに関するものがある。東京の不動産会社がいかに大きなチャンスを盲目的に見逃しているかを思い知らされた話だ。 このファンドは、ある有名な不動産デベロッパーのウェブサイトの問い合わせフォームから問い合わせをしたらしい。彼らは、その不動産会社の web サイトの英語版で、英語で問い合わせをした。これが最初のミスだったのかもしれない。 それから2ヶ月以上が経過したが、ファンドマネージャーはいまだに不動産会社から何の返答も受けていない。 東京の皆さん、お留守ですか? このファンドの運用資産は20億米ドルを超え、投資先企業は10カ国に100社以上ある。彼らは将来の東京オフィスを、APAC ..read more

The other day a large growth equity fund in Europe reached out to me. This firm has invested across Europe as well as into North America. They contacted me because they are considering to open an office in Tokyo. This is of course fantastic news and a testament to how some capital allocators globally are […] The post A massive opportunity still up for grabs in Tokyo’s real estate sector appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

Beyond of course natural gratitude for the citation, I enjoyed Chris Newland’s article in today’s Financial Times. Global media is also awakening to Japan’s startup renaissance. The post Japan’s startup spirit awakens appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

As General Partners of Shizen Capital, we consider ourselves very fortunate to work as venture capitalists. We each also happen to have founded tech startups in our prior careers before entering the VC world. Although we would love to believe that we are brilliant, the reality is that we’ve been lucky. Any flashes of wisdom […] The post How to pitch us appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

Takerufuji toppled fellow rank-and-file wrestler Gonoyama today to win the Emperor’s Cup at the Osaka sumo basho. The 24-year-old from Aomori Prefecture became the first rikishi in over 100 years to win his first tournament upon promotion to the elite makuuchi division. Congratulations Takerufuji, and thank you for demonstrating that anything is possible. The post A testimony of tenacity appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

Thank you to Dr. Stefanie Di Russo, Rebekah Cheng, and James Hollow MBE from Fabric for leading yesterday’s Shizen Capital Workshop on design thinking. Stefanie and Rebekah offered insights on design-oriented frameworks for startups to consider before embarking on a costly product development endeavour. For example… Design the right thing Design things right Good vibes […] The post Shizen Capital Workshop Series – Strategic Design Thinking appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

“Right now, early stage venture in Japan represents the most compelling opportunity for asymmetric upside of any asset class worldwide. It’s a unique moment in time.” The post Why Japan’s Startup ecosystem will likely be on every VC’s radar in 2024 appeared first on Rude VC ..read more

Tip of the cap to Bitwise. Last month following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of its spot Bitcoin ETF, the asset management firm disclosed its bitcoin wallet address publicly. This sets a new threshold for transparency in financial markets. The Bitcoin holdings in Bitwise’s Bitcoin spot ETF (ticker: BITB) can now be viewed […] The post A new paradigm for radical transparency appeared first on Rude VC ..read more