Disrupting Japan

Latest Episodes
The big reason Japanese companies can’t innovate
Japanese enterprises are their own worst enemy when it comes to innovation. - In this live panel discussion, I talk about my experience driving innovation at TEPCO, and Ion and Jensen share their experiences running innovation labs.
The hardest thing about hardware startups : Live from CEATEC
This year at CEATEC, I worked with Plug & Play Japan to bring on stage founders from two very different hardware startups. - We talk in-depth about what it takes to be a hardware startup in a world where venture capital seems fixated on SaaS companies...
Artificial Intelligence’s broken promise and its secret truth
The promise of AI is easily understood by anyone with an imagination, and for 40 years, venture capitalists have been enthusiastically investing in that promise. - However, it's been significantly harder for founders to turn that investment into susta...
DJ Selects: A Japanese MBA Does Not Mean What You Think It Means
Education is very hard to disrupt. - That’s both good and bad. Education is so important to both individuals and society, it should not be changed on a whim, but over time it seems that our institutions of higher education have drifted away from meeti...
How scammers are using your devices to steal money
Ad-fraud is one of the most profitable activities for organized crime today. The scammers are sophisticated, disciplined, and numerous, and they might be using your IoT devices to rip people off. - Over the past decade,
These robots are changing cooking forever. But one thing will never change
The robotics ecosystem in Japan is amazing. And confusing. - It's a collection of crazy ideas, odd creations, and true breakthroughs. And despite the combination of fawning prise and snide skepticism that Japanese robotics evoke in the international p...
Outside of the Bubble with Japan’s Startup Girls: Mone Kamishiraishi
Those of us who spend our lives working with startups live in a bubble. Whether you spend your days programming at a startup or investing in new ventures, you and I see things differently than “normal” people. - It happens to everyone to some extent.
Live from Stanford: Where are Japan’s Unicorns?
I’ve got a special bonus episode for you this week. - Last month I was part of a panel discussion hosted by Stanford University and the Japan Society of Northern California. It was part of this year’s Japan-US Innovation Awards,
DJ Selects: IoT, Japan, and the Uncertain Future of Poop
Startup founders claiming their company is going to “change the world” has become a cliche. But rarely do we see a product that could clearly and significantly make someone’s life better. D-Free is one of those products. However...
How Government Money is Hurting Japanese Startups
Japanese university and government venture funds play a much larger role in Japan than in the West. - I've always considered this difference to be, on balance, neutral, today's guest makes a convincing case that these funds are actually hurting the st...