 Did you guys see Taiso's shoes? He has the coolest shoes on. I don't know if you guys can see, but they're like magical. They're like all kinds of colors. It reacts on the motion. That it has a motion sensor. And we can change the colors with this map. Really? Yeah. Wow. Right. Because when I first started shoes this morning, I wasn't sure if the shoes were glowing or whether I just stayed out too late last night. Well, Taiso, it's really great to get a chance to talk to you here. My pleasure. Especially this is actually your show. I don't know if everybody knows, but the reason Slush Tokyo is here is because of you, right? No. I'm just one of the members. I think you are probably one of the most important members. So yeah, this is the third year. That's great. As you can see, the scale bigger, larger, and better, and so on, quality-wise and quantity-wise. And surprisingly, all the events driven by the Branties, the students and young people. It's kind of unique to have an event that's just run and solely by volunteers. So that Slush movement has taken off completely in Japan these days. Very good. Well, congratulations. So what's new and happening in Japan these days? I keep on watching and monitoring and supporting the Japanese ecosystem, startup ecosystem. And it's getting better and better in these days, especially for the last two or three years. And last, I read the article that last year, number at the volume of the venture funds investment in the year, it was a record high in the Japanese history. Yeah, it seems like for a country, maybe as large in advance as Japan, there hasn't been a lot of venture capital in the area historically. But that seems to be changing a lot just in the last few years. Right. And finally, Japanese big companies, establishments like Toyota or the Sony. So those kind of, even the Japan railways, or even the subway metro company, so they started the Seed Accelerator. A Seed Accelerator for the Japan rail company. Yeah, so they provide their resources. For example, the startup can utilize their installments or the facilities, infrastructure. And hey, why don't you guys hack our resources? So that's very interesting. So do you think it's good that all these corporations and lots and lots of governments and other people are trying to get into startups now? It seems like everybody's got their own accelerator. Everybody's got their Seed program. Is that a good thing, you think? Yeah, I think it's really good thing. OK. In my opinion. And is that something that's easy for them? Because I think maybe a lot of Japanese companies aren't always the fastest or the most open to change. It seems like that's almost like a clash of culture sometimes. Right. So advanced countries like Recruit or the Sony and those kind of guys, they created that their innovation center or the Seed Accelerator outside their headquarters. OK. For example, Shibuya or the Rupongi and so on. And so the organizers is still very young guy of the company. So the culture is totally different from the existing traditional headquarters. So that's why I can see the incubators or the Seed Accelerators driven by the big company working well. So you spent a lot of the last few years starting a company called Mistletoe. Maybe can you explain a little bit about what Mistletoe does and is it a venture capital firm? Is it a startup? Something in between? Good questions. Thank you. Just yesterday, I just announced on this stage that we have invested to the Estonian company called Fundabeeam. Fundabeeam. Yeah. And the Fundabeeam is the platform for the startup for fundraising using the blockchain technology. So find a blockchain with startup investing. Right. So that any kind of individuals can participate in the startup funding in the seed stage, angel stage, and so on. OK. That's really cool. And especially for Mistletoe, that alliance is very, very important for us because this kind of platform is a very, very great infrastructure for the startup to grow faster and bigger. So we are not just a traditional venture capital, but of course we will invest some money, some amount of money to the startups. But the context is very, very strategic. So my ultimate goal is creating a startup ecosystem in Asia like Silicon Valley. So we are now investing in very strategically to the potential partners who is contributing to create the ecosystem infrastructure. As part of the investments you make, you've also supported people in the community that are doing interesting work. So education is a big focus, maybe design and hardware also, right? So this is just kind of the real pure kind of franc trophy. But we are supporting the nonprofits for the social entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs who are driving a nonprofit, or the designers. We are supporting many designers to provide the chance, opportunities to design the actual products for the young designers and so on. Combining technology and hardware requires maybe different type of design or different skills? Totally different. And I'm also still learning. And for the last 20 years, I'm engaged in the software industry. So I have some knowledge about the software. But hardware is totally completely different. Seems like it's a lot more challenging to combine software and hardware. It has different manufacturing schedule, different process for creation, different process, and the different skills of the skill sets of the people. And we need an actual partner to manufacture, for example. And software can update anytime, in real time. But hardware, it's very hard. Hardware is hard. Hardware is hard. Exactly. So we are now making a community. But of course, if hardware is hardware, software, software totally discriminated, then no innovation happens. So mingle all the people into one single community to create innovative products or services. So that is the key. So that's why I'm supporting it passionately. Because as such, it's one of the place to mingle and make a chemical reaction among people. You seem like you're always on the cutting edge of new stuff. I know way back you were one of the first people to get involved in mobile and then gaming. And now it sounds like IoT and blockchain is kind of a big interest area. Are there things that you see coming over the horizon that are even more new, or are there new things that you want to focus on over the next few years? Yeah. For last 20 years, 20 years ago, I was focusing on the web service, like e-commerce or search engines and so on. And at the time, the terminals of the internet is the desktop PC or something like that. And after that, broadband revolution came. And YouTube or something like that, web2.org comes. And I was shifting from the e-commerce to those kind of new things. The online game is one of the great contents. Seems like you've been able to be right on top of the next change and next curve. And after that, the mobile internet came. So I was focusing on the mobile apps and so on. So the mobile game is also one of the great things. But in these days, thanks to the IoT movement and also the maker's movement, all the devices, all the things will be connected to the network. So in a sense, I'm so excited for the last 20 years, most excited period I'm facing on, that because we can change the whole lifestyle of the people or the work style of the people or the chains of the industry. So not just technology, but how technology fits into the rest of everyone's lifestyle. Right. So for the last 10 years, I was focusing on the very technical, technological things to innovate the products and services. But in these days, I'm learning design or the lifestyle or the learning of big companies, culture. I don't think it sounds like you're doing much work. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun. Yeah. So because I love the learning that unknown things. So because I'm very curious, my curiosity is very broad. So that's why now is the time for me, finally. So Misuto is not a venture capital, but my own money, principal investment. So I don't have to worry about limited partners of the time. So that's why, honestly speaking, to be honest, if I lose money, it's OK. Well, I hope you don't lose money, but it sounds like you are doing some really cool stuff. More important thing is not the money, but how we can change our lifestyle for the better directions. So that's the key, I think. I know you're spending some time now in Singapore. Yeah. And one of the things that we were talking about backstage, you were mentioning how Singapore has been pushing to make changes happen quickly for legal structure and for companies to be able to innovate. What do you think Japan and the US and other people can learn from Singapore? In the US and Japan, there are so many new cutting technology like drones or the autonomous mass vehicles and so on using the AI and so on. But unfortunately, those kind of new things is because it's too new, it's very difficult to adapt the existing transportation system or the infrastructure. Maybe slow to change because there's so much existing infrastructure. So it's an innovator's dilemma. And also, there are so many regulations for the other obstacles. So I'm especially in these days, I'm very frequently going to Singapore, back and forth to Japan, that Singapore is very quick to decide the change of regulations and laws. It seems like they have a very forward-thinking government trying to help technology grow. Yeah, for such a small country, actually. Only three to four million people, I think. Right, right. So that's why I started talking with the regulators. So you guys should definitely take advantage of the new technologies to create a new city infrastructure or the new design of the housing or the factory, even the factory or the industrial area or even the agriculture production, food production system and so on. And there are some existing regulations, but you should change like this and like that. Then you can be ahead of most of the advanced countries. And my goal is to bring all the great startup technologies driven by the startups, innovative technologies driven by the startup to bring it there and test it and make it happen and bring the governors or the government people of the US or Japan or other countries. Hey, this is a new 21st century model. It's much efficient and much better quality of life and very happy and cost-effective. So then if they can clearly see what is happening and then, oh, this is it. What you're saying is like that. And then they can change the regulations very quickly. So maybe easier for other people to see once they see it happening in a small test environment. Right. You know that all the startups will create a prototype to minimize viable products and get funded by the investors. But startups are often pretty messy when they get started. Is that something that can work OK for Singapore? Do you think they are comfortable with that? I just started very recently. So it's still in the beginning process. But I think I'm an entrepreneur. I have a soul, spirit of the entrepreneurship. So even if it's very hard and difficult to change, but I never give up. I notice your shirt is talking about IPOs are so 2015. This is the founder being Kredo, the tagline that if the founder being kind of the platform penetrate to the startup ecosystem. And then I think it's totally democratized platform. So you know that traditional venture capital sets the seed stage, cities A, cities B, C, IPO. And they get the capital return, capital gain from the non-linear variation curve. But if this kind of thing penetrates and works in real time, and then the variation of the market cap goes linear. So more continuous real time trading for it. So in a sense, no IPO gap. OK. So that's why they said that. In 2015, IPOs are so. So what do you think is different today in Japan versus maybe six, seven years ago? What things are now, seems like things have changed and people starting to explore startups more, maybe not so much traditional model. Yeah, 10 years ago, 6, 8 years ago, even 5 years ago, there are only small independent venture capitals and very few angel investors. So most of the venture capitals are driven by the banks or the financial institutions. So they watch the startup like a long lending or something like that. Isn't that difficult though? I mean, in Japan, there's still maybe not the same structure for personal bankruptcy that you have in other countries. And it might be tough for entrepreneurs if things don't always work. So until the six or seven years ago, if they invest into the startup company, they asked the entrepreneurs for covenants. So those are crazy. So otherwise, if they fail the startup, they have to be bankrupt. Yeah, and they have to pay off a long time. Pay off a long time. So that's terrible. So in these days, there is no such a covenants at all. And also, the volume of the investment, of the size of the investment, each investment, is bigger and bigger in these days. Just last week, I read the article that the Japanese 24 years old startup, founder is 24 years old. And one and a half year old's company got funded. They raised 30 million US dollars for the city's bee. And the variation is maybe tens of almost 100 million, something like that, for one and a half year old company. So I was so surprised in the world that time has come, like Segon Valley. Of course, Segon Valley is much further advanced ahead. But maybe your 10 years, the goal of the Segon Valley is coming to Japan. Do you think there's other places than just Tokyo, where people are starting to embrace technology, maybe in Osaka, or Kobe, or other places in Japan? Yes, in that aspect, the Japanese government and universities are working very nicely. Because the government has allocated some amount of money for the universities to create the venture funds driven by the universities. So student-run venture capital? Yeah, for example, the Tokyo University has an H capital. And the Kyoto University has a Miyako capital. And there are so many other venture capital driven by the universities popped up. And also the researchers of the professors started adapting their research technologies to the commercial services. KO is a university here that's also doing a lot of entrepreneurial support systems. I think it's really exciting to see not just Tokyo but other places get off the ground. Where do you see kind of next horizon? Is there another place that we should be exploring next, or new types of technology you're interested in? So in that context, in my perspective, the next step for the Japanese ecosystem is connecting the international relationship with the second body, of course, and other parts of the United States and Asian countries like Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and so on. A lot's been happening in Southeast Asia the last few years, and so on. Yeah, exactly. So actually, those kind of people, the Southeast Asian country people, love the technology of the Northeast Asian countries like the U.Japan and Korea and so on. But so far, they have no clue to meet up. So I think that such works very well, because such started Shanghai last year. And from the first year, more than 5,000 people get together. And also, there's such Singapore there. And so there's tech in Asia. There are so many tech companies and events there. And also, Asian guys coming to Japan frequently, and even Japanese are coming to those people. So they started connecting dots. If you were a young person in Japan today, where would you go to learn about technology? Would you try and develop here in Japan? Would you go to Southeast Asia? Would you go to China? Would you go to US? It depends on the technology and the verticals. But for example, mechanical things, like using the hardware, the robotics, and so on, or the automotive. Japan, there are so many good traditions of the culture and technology of that part of the world. A lot of companies here in Japan produce automotive technology, parts and supply chain, certainly robotics. Definitely an area of expertise for Japan. So for example, even any Chinese companies or even Southeast Asian Asian companies can make EV, electric vehicle, with a very reasonable price. But on the other hand, Japanese automotive industry has a very good know-how about thermal management. So you know that it's a moving vehicle. So there are so many thermographic changes. So the Japanese automotive company has a great know-how in managing technology of the thermographical technologies to make the life cycle of each car longer. So otherwise, it's broke very quickly. So eventually, the cost of the lifetime cycle is very important, especially for the taxi or the bus and so on. So I'm sure that instead of selling the products, hardware products one by one to the consumers, but the software as a service kind of thing will become very popular for the business model-wise. So maybe turning a more kind of discrete hardware production company into more continuous software. So lifelong cycle management is the key for the service provision. So in a sense, Japan has some Japanese companies have some great know-how about it. So combining the beauty of the Chinese manufacturing and Taiwanese manufacturing and also know-how of that kind of the long history know-hows, then I think some kind of a startup driven by the Asian people will create amazing products for services. Sounds like we have a bright future ahead of us. So I want to thank you for helping bring Slush to Tokyo and bring technology to Japan. You contributed a lot to the Slush community because from the first year, you came all the way from all over the world, not from the US, all over the world. You are the permanent traveler, right? I've spent a lot of time coming back and forth to Japan and my wife and family are here. But now really excited because James Rainey and Yohesawayama are running our fund here in Japan. Right. The 500-star Japan's presence is really great in these days. Thank you. You've been a big help for us getting off the ground here. Thanks for spending some time with us in the audience today. I think we're going to go take some questions in the cafe now. OK. All right. Thank you. Thank you.