Hiroshi Menjo Interview (English Captions)

Hiroshi Menjo holds a B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Physical Chemistry from The University of Tokyo. He also earned M.S. in Electronic Materials from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Menjo's early career was with Konica Corporation in Tokyo, where he worked as a member of the Senior Research Staff, obtaining 12 patents for the company in the area of color photography.

From there, he joined the Boston Consulting Group's Tokyo office, where he worked with U.S. and European clients as well as Japanese high-tech companies to develop strategies for both market entry and market creation.

Deciding the future of high tech was in Silicon Valley, not Tokyo, Menjo came to the US, to become a partner at AZCA Inc., a consulting firm helping high-tech venture start-ups with the development and implementation of Japan entry strategies, as well as strategic alliances with Japanese companies.

Menjo then became a Partner with The McKenna Group to run its Japan Practice. He started the practice from scratch, growing it to a multi-million-dollar consulting concern. He established his reputation in Japan as an innovation expert based on his deep understanding of entrepreneurism in Silicon Valley. His consulting activities have led to an extensive network in Japan, including major telecom companies, electronics companies, consumer electronics companies, systems firms, and trading houses. Among the past clients include NTT, NTT East/West, NTT Communications, NTT Data, NTT DoCoMo, NTT America, Sony, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Casio, Fuji Xerox, KonicaMinolta, Asahi Glass, Mitsubishi Corporation, etc.

Having met and worked with Melmon at The McKenna Group, Menjo joined with his old friend to establish NetService Ventures Group in 2002, which uniquely combined new business consulting to large established companies with startup incubation and venture investment.

He also co-founded JAIC-McKenna eBusiness Partners (JMeP), a Silicon Valley-based early stage venture capital fund. It is co-managed with Japan Asia Investment Corporation, one of Japan's largest VC firms.

He has been a guest lecturer/speaker for various universities and business organizations, such as Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Keio University, Consulate General of Japan, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), World Affairs Council, NTT, Fujitsu, Seiko to name a few.

He has contributed numerous articles to a number of Japanese business journals and magazines. He also co-authored several books in Japan, two of which became best sellers in the business field. He has also directed a series of TV programs titled "Silicon Valley Report" by collaborating with Ken-ichi Ohmae.

He was on the advisory board of Carlyle Group and helped them establish their buyout fund's activities in Japan.

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