 Welcome to ThinkTag, and this is Adventures in Small Business, a collaborative effort between the Small Business Administration, Hawaii District Office, the Hawaii Small Business Development Center, the MINK Center for Business and Leadership, the Veterans Business Outreach Center of the Pacific to showcase the stories of local entrepreneurs and small businesses. My name is Nicholas Ogawa from the Hawaii Small Business Development Center, and today we have Takahoe Iwasaki, the founder of MAJI Connection and Island of Innovation Demo Day. Welcome. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me. So maybe let's start by, please tell us a little bit about yourself and where you're from. Sure. My name is Takahoe Iwasaki. I'm the founder of MAJI Connection, which is connecting Japanese business and American business, or Hawaii business. I'm originally from Japan, Kagoshima, which is the southest area of Tushu Island. I moved to Hawaii about 60 years ago to get an MBA of University of Hawaii, and I just fell in love in Hawaii, especially people and businesses here. So I decided to stay here and open the business, and here I am. That sounds nice. Yeah, Hawaii is a great place, right? It's like heaven for a business and the people, right? So maybe tell us a little bit more about MAJI Connection and Island of Innovation Demo Day. Yeah, so as I mentioned, I'm kind of helping voice Japanese company business to connect to Hawaii startup or business. So finding partners or investors from Japan for American or Hawaii companies. So for example, one of the things that I did, it's called Islander Innovation Demo Day. I had this event last April. It's basically I have about nine startups to pitch their ideas from Japanese companies and industries. I think I have a picture here. So first picture that I have is this is a picture that for the, when we took a picture of the prize winners. And the second picture is this one is like one of the startups which is actually MetroGrowl. It's a vertical form startup. He's pitching his idea in front of Japanese investment companies. Also, the third picture. We have amazing six Dutch panels, all of them Japanese, but everybody is coming from different areas. Like Waseekombara and then Japanese, Japan. So they know a lot of like business about the Japan. So kind of start up, Hawaii startups could hear about what kind of perspective from Japanese companies are. Yeah, that's really good. Hawaii really needs and here is trying to foster Island. How did you get into the startup industry? Very kind of hard to explain, but I just like, just talk to people. I really have this idea that I really want to connect American and Japanese company all the time, even when I was in Japan. Because I used to work in media company. Also, my father is running business, many business in Kagoshima. Since I was kid, I'm always getting involved with the business environment. So I've been seeing a lot of interesting business organization, people in Japan. But then they're very, very good at making something doing business not necessarily active globally. So I want to help them to come to outside. And just always had this idea. So I just like, you know, talk to people about, oh, I really want to do this. I don't want to do that. And then one time I took internship at one of the biggest activator in Silicon Valley. Because they're doing, helping a lot of Japanese companies to introduce American startup. I thought it was a great idea to be there to kind of learn how to do that. And so I was there and I'm just talking to people about my idea. I want to make something like connecting Japanese business with American startup in Hawaii. And I just talked to, and then I talked to this one guy. And this guy talked to this Japanese company called Livernus. And they called me and they just said, hey, why don't you do the event in Hawaii? And we started to plan an island innovation every day. So it's like, I didn't have any friends. I got involved with it. And just like talk to people and do the events. And through the events, I have to talk with many startups in the organization to actually make the event happen. And I started the business through the event. Oh, I see. That's great. Yeah. Maybe can you tell us a little more about what the process kind of was? Like how did you really bring the event to life from just like thinking from plug-and-play and talking with Livernus? I mean, the process of how I make it happen, the extra process. It's like, since I used to work at the media company, I kind of knew how to do the event. Through my experience. So I mean, I kind of like used my knowledge at the same time. I never done anything about that kind of thing in Hawaii. So I just asked everybody who I know. I just literally calling everybody, email everybody that I can think of. And then if they don't know anything, I ask them, do you know somebody who knows this? So, I mean, it was very step-by-step process, but it's like, I don't know, just like, I don't think I had a plan plan. It all kind of worked out. Yeah, so sorry I couldn't explain that detailed process, but it just like, you just do whatever you can do or what you think it's good that make it happen. Sometimes that's how it works. Okay, so what are some of the companies that you've helped or that joined your event? So I have some company that I help them. Yeah. Okay, so I have out of nine startups. I have maybe about four startups that I help in. So one of the biggest achievement we did was about Shaka Guide. Shaka Guide is a Hawaii startup who are making audio reality. It's basically they do making the app for tourists. That's really cool. Yeah, they can drive and they can just hear the Hawaii story. So they don't have to hire any tour guide or they don't have to be part of group. So we as a team, myself, also the other team members that we invested in. Also the other angel investor, he's very famous angel investor from Japan. He even makes the drone fund in Japan. He also invested Shaka Guide. So he got a Shaka Guide got like a lot of investment through this event. Also we are helping them. They just launched a Japanese service. So we help them to do marketing morning to the Japanese people because they're a Hawaii company. They don't know how to market in Japan, Japanese people. That's great. So hopefully next year we will help them to come to Japan market for targeting American tourists. Also we have a few startups. It's called G-Trainer Equaponics. G-Trainer is the startup making gate trainer. And the Equaponics is kind of she's making materials for the vertical form. So we helping them. So actually my partner, Liveness is helping them to make the prototype in Japan. Also we have a metro girl who is a vertical form. He's making, the Kevin Kaka is the founder of the metro girl. He's making amazing vertical form. The digital was at the vertical form. So we kind of try to help the partners or like some investors from Japan to Japan. So I mean it's very, what do you say? It's the only woman's inside an event. I'm so excited too that I'm actually doing something for them after the event. And then how fast the things going on. Yeah, no, that's great. I mean it sounds like even four or five startups out of the nine companies that you have at your event are getting help from you. I mean I really want to help everybody but it's very hard. But hopefully not soon but maybe before future I have some capacity that I can help everybody. Yeah, so you're talking about some Liveness and some of your other partners. So maybe you can explain about who they are and what they do a little bit about them. Yeah, so Liveness is, they do a lot of things but then the founder of Liveness is Mr. Maru. He kind of have a lot of like knowledge or the business idea how actually the researcher or the PhD student counts for the business. So they like to accelerate this venture capital to help the startup in Japan. So as I said when I was planning I will innovation them that I have no idea how to do this. I never done any pitch events so he helped me a lot to help the process has to be. Also we had an amazing judge including Maru-san and also we have other judges. Nobu Morita is one of the judge. He's a working NECX which is NEC stack accelerator but he's mentoring us including startups as individual mentors. He even stacks all the startups. Oh yeah. So I had no idea what to do. I don't know how to interview with startups to select the startups to be the finalist. He did all the interviews with the startups and he did the mentor to them how to kind of like improve the presentation for Japanese investors. Yeah, he sounds like an amazing guy. I don't know. Yeah, he's like I didn't like all I don't know what to do so like he's okay I can do that. That's why I'm saying talking to people is the best thing for the business. So you learned a lot from him. Yes I did. I had Kouji Miyazaki. He's a Japan reactor from plug-and-play, sorry plug-and-play Sleek and Vare. He has been like dealing with many Japanese companies in Sleek and Vare. So he had really good knowledge about what's kind of demand from Japanese companies. So at the event he did amazing job interview with the startups what they need more. Also we had Kazu Tsuburaku. He's a working event which is the biggest Japanese marketing company. So he knows many many business in Japan too. So he kind of like has very good idea about how they can improve the business. Oh, that's great. So for future events or what's your goals for your business for Manji Connection? So I really want to continue to do this. Before I started to do this I couldn't even tell how much demand Hawaii has for Japanese market. So I really want to make some kind of platform or the place where either American companies or Hawaii companies or Japanese companies come to my place. They can find any kind of solution, new solution, new perspective from outside of Japan or from America or Hawaii. That's like something I want to make in the future. Oh, great. So it's kind of like an incubator or like accelerator? Yeah, incubator, accelerator, innovation, however you can go anything. I don't know. But you can make up something you want. That's great. So as an entrepreneur, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges that you face? There are so many challenges. But I think the most challenging thing is generating money. I'm not talking about one-time investment or how much I have money. If you have a business, you have to have a stable business plan to generate money every month. I mean, since I started this business, it's like only like five months, six months. So I still kind of try to figure out what's the business plan that I can charge the people to actually give in the money. But at the same time, I don't want to charge a small money. I don't want to charge a small money and missing a big opportunity. But as an entrepreneur, it's very hard to balance what's the point and how much I should charge for her business, her job, her work. So that's very hard. So the second thing is managing people. I'm working by myself right now, but then I think in the future I have to hire the people. For my other business, I have many people under me, so I know how hard it is to manage people. We're coming to the end of our first segment, so we're going to take a short break and we'll be back shortly. Hi guys, I'm your host, Lillian Cumick, from Lillian's Vegan World. I come to you live every second Friday from 3pm to 6pm. So I hope you enjoy this video. Thank you so much for watching this video. See you next time. This is the show where I talk about the plant-based lifestyle and veganism. So we go through recipes, some upcoming events, information about health, regarding your health, and just some ideas on how you can have a better lifestyle, eat healthier, and have fun at the same time. So do join me. I look forward to seeing you. And Aloha. Hello, I'm Nicholas Lagao and welcome back to Adventures in Small Business. This is a think tech show, and I'm here with Takahoe Iwasaki from Magi Connection. So kind of just getting back into talking about being an entrepreneur. So what were some of the resources or organizations that you kind of used or found that really helped you if there were any? Yeah, I mean, I used all the resources that I could think of. I can think of, but if I pick up some examples or some cases, SBDC, your company helped me a lot. Oh, really? Yeah, thank you. Yeah, you both helped me a lot to find a startup that interested in the Japanese market. Also, after the event, as I said, I think I had 15, 14 startups. Because I had nine startups for the tech competition, but I have five startups that kind of just picked in their ideas. They're not tech startups. So I can't take care of everybody, because after the event, it's like, there's some startups that didn't even know how to make a business brand or a financial brand. So you guys helped me a lot in terms of helping them after the event, like how they make the business brand. And then, so you guys helped me even after before. HTDC, Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, they also helped me a lot to find startups. Also, they just launched the sandbox, which is a cool working place in Kakaako. I started to rent an office over there, because HTDC introduced me there. Yeah, that's a great place. Have you just went to a ticket tour over there? Yes. So it's like a huge place. And then we have many companies, including Hawaii, Aline, Central Pacific, Gorong, Sabu, Kotota. They have a tech team on that place. Also, every day, I have startups for small businesses coming in. So if they are interested in Japanese market, they just come to me. So I don't have to go there. So they just come in. Yeah, like saving my time a lot, because I don't have to move. So I really appreciate HTDC introduced that place to me. So PACE, entrepreneurship program from Petler University, Hawaii, because they have a lot of students start up. So Peter Ryan from PACE introduced me a lot of startups, students stood up. The G-Trainer is actually one of them. So yeah, I mean, I have other resources too, but I have a lot of organization people help me to make it happen. Oh, that's great. I mean, using the resources that are available, especially the ones that are no cost to a lot of the clients, it's resourceful as an entrepreneur. So yeah, maybe we can talk about like, you know, you're from Japan. And what are some of the differences between working in America and here in Hawaii and Japan? There's so many things that's different. So I don't know if I can like talk about one thing, but it's like our culture is very patient culture. So we would think the patient is beauty. So we really trust the people or company who will be working very hard. So when I pick up the Hawaii startup, if they're interested in coming to Japan, I try to pick up the startups for a small business. They are very interested in Japan, because if they're just looking for money, Japan is the hardest place that you can get the only money. You really have to work so hard, because we don't trust the people who work the easiest way. Also, I recommend them to be a little patient, because we take up so much time. It's just not a good, it's really combined. They just decide everything so far and they put the money so fast, right? We are not like that. We think about it, we don't like to take a risk. So we try to do the best way to go, and we take so much time to consider that. I mean, that's why we couldn't make a lot of like many, many good things, right? Toyota, Panasonic, it's like they take care of the quality. That's why it's time when they made a very good thing. So it's a lot of like communication channels, like going between things. Just trying to get the quality of the product. I mean, you don't have to agree with them, but you have to understand why they have to go the process. So, you know, if an American company would want to work with a Japanese company, like your startups, what are some like tips for some of the startups? As I said, be patient. They take so much time because there's a reason. There's no like for no reason. And if you don't ask, if you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask them. You just tell them, I'm American, I don't know about your culture. Can you teach me why you guys go in the business? Also, some people kind of trying to behave like Japanese or pretend they understand Japanese people. So I don't think it's great out here. I think I just told them like just behave like Americans, right? Respect your culture and respect the other Japanese cultures. There's a culture gap, like that's the fact. If you can't overcome it, you have to just embrace it. So kind of being true to yourself as a person, as a nationality. Just take care of your attitude. It's like you say the hashtag, but this be polite. Oh, sorry, I don't understand you. So not forceful. I don't understand you. Can you tell me why you do that? Your attitude is very important. Yeah, okay. So being polite and humble. Yeah, and I feel like just saying sorry. Okay, so maybe as a small business owner, what is some other advice that you would give other people trying to start their own company? I think, as I said, I'm from Japan. So I've seen me working half to be something half and challenging. So I would say 90% of your work will be something hard or something you don't like. So if you can contribute or work so hard for 30% or not 5%, just to get this 5% your joy, that's something what you want maybe in the future. So I recommend this small business owner to be kind of like patient. Persistence? Persistence, yeah, that's a good word. I'm from Japan. No, no, it's okay. So persistent and also that's something very important, I think. So maybe how does your family kind of feel about you starting your own business? Are Japanese families really supportive of startup culture in Japan? I mean, my family. Yeah. It's complicated. It's an Asian program. But many of my family support my business and they did support me to be independent. But at the same time, they really, really want me to get married. Is that a Japanese culture? Yeah, basically, if you're a single woman after 30 years old, they will judge you because of your thing or not. So maybe getting married is one of the tactics to be successful. So if you're an entrepreneur and you want to start something business in Japan, why don't we get married? What about then a single? So maybe we can talk about as you were going along, starting your business, were other great supporters for you as you kind of started your company? Yeah. I mean, since I graduated from MBA, my colleagues were very supportive. They even helped me my event free. So I'm so glad that I went to MBA program on the University of Hawaii because it was very small classes. Since I graduated there five years ago, but still very close to all my friends. And they are so supportive. And I think colleagues from my older companies, they are very supportive too. Every time I call them, hey, I need some of these kind of reasons, they're like, sure. They just give me. That's great. Yeah, I mean like a really strong community. Yes. We work very hard when I was working this media company. And they have my older colleagues from the industry. So they know how hard I'm working, they trust me. So like every time I ask for something, they really willing to give me that many resources. And I really appreciate that. Yeah, that's good. That's kind of going into the hard work, you know, character that you're kind of saying earlier about it. Okay, so, you know, before we wrap up, I just wanted to ask again, like, are you planning to do the Island demo days? Yes. So we don't decide any details, but we decided to do the Island of Innovation Demo Day 2020 next year. Same year as the Olympic. So we are still in debating on some details, but under the discussion, but please stay tuned. And if you are interested in coming to Japan Market, please apply to our Island of Innovation Demo Day 2020. Well, it's been a real great pleasure to have you here today. And thank you so much for coming and having this discussion with me. Thank you very much for having me.