It’s hard to imagine an organization more resistant to change and disruption than the government of Japan. But today’s guest, William Saito has made it his mission to bring innovation to the way the Japanese bureaucracy operates. And more astoundingly, he’s actually having an effect. William is in a unique situation as a special advisor to the Japanese cabinet, and brings the perspective of a successful startup founder to solving beuqacratic problems. We talk about both the challenges and the strategic advantages that Japan has in the coming decades and discuss a few areas where new Japanese technology has a real change of soon becoming the global standard. Our discussion gives me hope that innovative change in Japan is is possible not only bottom-up from the startups but top-down from the government. And if the goals are aligned, Japanese innovation will be a truly unstoppable force. It’s a great interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it. Show Notes for Startups Starting a company in HS & running it in Med school Why most companies fail Why William chose Japan over Microsoft Government problem solving as an entrepreneurial activity How startups and government can work together The importance of teamwork in Japan Why women have an important role to play in Japanese startups The unique opportunities in health care and elder care in Japan The most important change Japan could make to improve entrepreneurship Links from the Founder William's writings, speaking dates and blog Follow William on twitter @whsaito Friend him on Facebook An Unprogrammed Life The Team (in Japanese)    Leave a comment Transcript from Japan Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Our guest today William Saito is changing Japan form the inside, is an adviser to the Japanese government on all things technology, and although he's a big fan of disruptive innovation, he's convinced that small sustaining incremental innovations are the way to go. Or rather that's the way things are already going here in Japan. We talked about the challenges being faced by Japanese startup founders, corporate executives, government bureaucrats and talked about the best way that they can all work together to solve these problems. He's an interesting guy and as he tells his story you'll see that he's clearly not afraid of challenges. And since his currently trying to change the way Japanese government operates, that's definitely a good thing. But it's best that you hear it directly from William. So let's get right to the interview [INTERVIEW] Tim: Okay, I'm sitting here with William Saito, a successful entrepreneur currently president of Intecur Consultancy, a special adviser of the cabinet office for government in Japan, lecturer at both [Kale 00:01:29] and University of Tokyo, and the truth, I'm just going to leave out a whole lot of other things so we can actually have time for the interview. But thanks for sitting down and talking with us today. William: Not at all. My pleasure. Tim: Okay. Listen,