Yuta Inoue and Quantum have developed a model to help large Japanese companies both work with innovative startups and to remember how to innovate internally. Many find it hard to believe today, but Japanese companies used to be some of the most innovative firms on the planet, and Yuta explains how a few of them are now starting to return to their creative roots.

His approach is a combination of chaotic startup innovation, agency intermediation and corporate training, and after only one year, he they are already seeing the seeds of change at some of Japan's biggest companies.

These is as much creativity in Japan as there is anywhere in the world. The problem recently, however, has been in letting the innovation bubble up and commercializing it. This just might be the way forward.

Show Notes for Startups

Introducing the agency model of innovation
Why brand assets are important in Japan
The problems large companies have connecting with startups
The changing corporate view towards risk in Japan
How large companies are learning (or remembering) how to innovate
Why Japan needs (and is starting to get) a flexible workforce of creatives
The innovation mindset inside large Japanese corporations

Links from the Founder

Quantum Home Page
City Firefly - (This makes a lot more sense when you see it)
Follow Yuta on twitter @yutainoue
Mirai Nihon
Casecan

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Transcript from Japan
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk for Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for listening.

You know, for all the differences that fascinate us between Western and Asian cultures, there are far more similarities. In almost all cases, products and services that do well in the West, do well in Japan and vice versa. This is particularly true in the B2B and Enterprise space where the value propositions tend to be fairly clear and translate fairly directly. The packaging and positioning may have to be tweaked a bit. But at the end of the day, we all value similar things. We’re not really that different.

Now that said, when we find something that is truly different, something unique, it's worth paying attention to and that’s what we have this week. Yuta Inoue runs Quantum. It's kind of a combination start-up incubator open innovation training firm and creative agency. And well I’ll leave Yuta to explain it in detail in the interview.

While others, including me sometimes, have complained about Japan’s lacklustre M&A activities and the general risk aversion of corporate Japan, Yuta and Quantum has come up with a model that simply bypasses these concerns and has found a uniquely Japanese way to provide start ups with exits and large companies with a way to acquire new technologies in a way in which all parties seem comfortable.

Quantum was launched a little more than a year ago and its already having an impact. There is now strong interest in replication of the model overseas, but there is some concerns that it may not work outside of Asia. Now I don’t want to say any more and you’ll be able to draw your own conclusions during the interview, and I’d love to hear your thoughts afterwards. So without further ado, let’s get right to the interview

Tim:               I’m sitting here with Yuta Inoue of Quantum. Its, what I think is a very unique Japanese approach to incubation. And just so our listeners know, you helped to establish the Quantum Group inside Hakuhodo, which is the second largest ad agency in Japan. Your main focus is helping large companies work with creative innovative young people to help develop new products. That’s my understanding of it but I’ve got a feeling you can explain it much better. So, could you kind of explain what Quantum’s mission is and how you’re working with these companies.

Yuta:               Think that was pretty much, enough explanation. But I’ll start with the kind of background ok. Our parent company is TV Hakuhod