4 ms·

This is a very interesting topic, but the linked article does not add much. It can be shortened to one sentence: Japanese are conformists, and therefor unlikely

This is a very interesting topic, but the linked article does not add much. It can be shortened to one sentence: Japanese are conformists, and therefor unlikely to be entrepreneurs. While certainly part of the problem, Japan used to be far more conformist, and companies like Sony and Nintendo still got started. Many of the companies, such as Hitachi, Toshiba and Panasonic were actually founded in the early 1900s, and later turned into hi-tech electronics companies when the opportunity appeared. One issue is that most successful startups in the past two decades have been related to computer software, while Japan's strength has rather been electronic appliances. Perhaps Japan needs to find a path of entrepreneurship that actually appeals to Japanese in their 20s and 30s, rather than desperately try to copy the valley? My interpretation of Japanese history is that the country is very resistant to change, but when it does change, it can happen very quickly and in surprising ways.

patio11 17y ago
On the subject of appealing models for entrepreneurship: see my other post on this thread for why the typical well-prepared middle class person doesn't do it. You have to be a wee bit broken. Personally I wouldn't touch iPhone development with a ten-foot pole, but there is an entire floor at my local technology incubator related to it, and my town has several iPhone millionaires. This is one of the "overnight success in ten years" stories: my town has had a technology incubator (previous employer of mine) and an artsy-fartsy "MIT Media Lab"-type academic institution which, for the last decade, has soaked up government subsidies and produced a lot of quirky tortured, brooding artists' takes on the intersection of music and technology. Fast forward to a wee bit ago: it turns out that tortured brooding artists who sweat music and visual design are Kinda Popular Among iPhone Owners. Success breeds success, too -- the technology incubator jumped on the gravy train and there are coffees held every week where folks come to talk iPhone shop. Now if only we can get them to start doing B2C/B2SB SaaS...
- listic 17y ago
  Why exactly wouldn't you touch iPhone development with a ten-foot pole? Do you dislike Apple Inc., or don't trust your ability to design mobile apps that are worth paying for, or what?
  - patio11 17y ago
    I feel about Apple quite similarly to how I feel about Google: they're a ginormous megacorp with a much better PR team than my insurance company and precisely as much soul. That doesn't mean we can't do business, it just means I go into business dealings with both eyes open. Mobile development doesn't play to my skill set as a programmer, but that is easy enough to fix. (One copy of Objective C for Dummies, please.) The graphical design I'd have to contract out. The (limited, to my understanding) ability to extract usage metrics from iPhone apps and multi-week wait time between re-releases effectively neutralizes my main strength (testing and iteration) and the app store's discovery mechanism neutralizes the marketing channel I understand best (search and search ads). And the big killer is that the hit- and fad-focused sales lists mean that if I don't hit a homerun immediately at launch I'm probably going to end up taking a bath on the development costs. I sold $25 of my software my first month and sell ~$4,000 a month now. That is a rare trajectory for iPhone apps: typically, they get released at whatever and then start immediately declining.
    - gyardley 17y ago
      It's not so hard to extract usage metrics from iPhone applications. Companies offering help with that include Flurry (disclosure: that one's partially mine), Motally, Mobclix, Medialets, and Localytics. Pricing is generally free with the companies making money off of additional, primarily ad-related services. Or you can just roll your own. However, measuring conversions from marketing campaigns is still brutal, when it's possible at all - it's very difficult to buy installs profitably at volume. And the 'big killer' statement is largely accurate, although I've seen higher-priced niche applications grow more like your business did.
stcredzero 17y ago
One issue is that most successful startups in the past two decades have been related to computer software, while Japan's strength has rather been electronic appliances. Since computers are becoming more appliance-like, Japan's fortunes may well be on the rise again. In a "software-appliance" world, attention to detail across the whole user experience will rule the day. A lot of Japan's companies have this in their DNA. Most American companies get it at most 95% right and leave the rest up to the "smart and motivated user." Perhaps a part of the reason for the App Store's success, is that it promotes the model of "Application as Appliance?"
vital101 17y ago
"Perhaps Japan needs to find a path of entrepreneurship that actually appeals to Japanese in their 20s and 30s, rather than desperately try to copy the valley?" This piece of advise is good for almost anyone. The valley has a great business model that works there, but it may not work in your neck of the woods.
mjhnghfh 17y ago
Tell that to Soichiro Honda or Akio Morita & Masaru Ibuka
ahi 17y ago
Nintendo was founded in 1889. Something of a head scratcher. I understand little of Japanese business/culture but it seems to be fundamental difference in the nature of business enterprises. In the States corporations typically have a specific product or industry while Japanese corporations operate in any industry that might be a growth opportunity for the corporation.

patio11 17y ago

On the subject of appealing models for entrepreneurship: see my other post on this thread for why the typical well-prepared middle class person doesn't do it. You have to be a wee bit broken. Personally I wouldn't touch iPhone development with a ten-foot pole, but there is an entire floor at my local technology incubator related to it, and my town has several iPhone millionaires. This is one of the "overnight success in ten years" stories: my town has had a technology incubator (previous employer of mine) and an artsy-fartsy "MIT Media Lab"-type academic institution which, for the last decade, has soaked up government subsidies and produced a lot of quirky tortured, brooding artists' takes on the intersection of music and technology. Fast forward to a wee bit ago: it turns out that tortured brooding artists who sweat music and visual design are Kinda Popular Among iPhone Owners. Success breeds success, too -- the technology incubator jumped on the gravy train and there are coffees held every week where folks come to talk iPhone shop. Now if only we can get them to start doing B2C/B2SB SaaS...

listic 17y ago
Why exactly wouldn't you touch iPhone development with a ten-foot pole? Do you dislike Apple Inc., or don't trust your ability to design mobile apps that are worth paying for, or what?
- patio11 17y ago
  I feel about Apple quite similarly to how I feel about Google: they're a ginormous megacorp with a much better PR team than my insurance company and precisely as much soul. That doesn't mean we can't do business, it just means I go into business dealings with both eyes open. Mobile development doesn't play to my skill set as a programmer, but that is easy enough to fix. (One copy of Objective C for Dummies, please.) The graphical design I'd have to contract out. The (limited, to my understanding) ability to extract usage metrics from iPhone apps and multi-week wait time between re-releases effectively neutralizes my main strength (testing and iteration) and the app store's discovery mechanism neutralizes the marketing channel I understand best (search and search ads). And the big killer is that the hit- and fad-focused sales lists mean that if I don't hit a homerun immediately at launch I'm probably going to end up taking a bath on the development costs. I sold $25 of my software my first month and sell ~$4,000 a month now. That is a rare trajectory for iPhone apps: typically, they get released at whatever and then start immediately declining.
  - gyardley 17y ago
    It's not so hard to extract usage metrics from iPhone applications. Companies offering help with that include Flurry (disclosure: that one's partially mine), Motally, Mobclix, Medialets, and Localytics. Pricing is generally free with the companies making money off of additional, primarily ad-related services. Or you can just roll your own. However, measuring conversions from marketing campaigns is still brutal, when it's possible at all - it's very difficult to buy installs profitably at volume. And the 'big killer' statement is largely accurate, although I've seen higher-priced niche applications grow more like your business did.

stcredzero 17y ago

One issue is that most successful startups in the past two decades have been related to computer software, while Japan's strength has rather been electronic appliances. Since computers are becoming more appliance-like, Japan's fortunes may well be on the rise again. In a "software-appliance" world, attention to detail across the whole user experience will rule the day. A lot of Japan's companies have this in their DNA. Most American companies get it at most 95% right and leave the rest up to the "smart and motivated user." Perhaps a part of the reason for the App Store's success, is that it promotes the model of "Application as Appliance?"

vital101 17y ago

"Perhaps Japan needs to find a path of entrepreneurship that actually appeals to Japanese in their 20s and 30s, rather than desperately try to copy the valley?" This piece of advise is good for almost anyone. The valley has a great business model that works there, but it may not work in your neck of the woods.

mjhnghfh 17y ago

Tell that to Soichiro Honda or Akio Morita & Masaru Ibuka

ahi 17y ago

Nintendo was founded in 1889. Something of a head scratcher. I understand little of Japanese business/culture but it seems to be fundamental difference in the nature of business enterprises. In the States corporations typically have a specific product or industry while Japanese corporations operate in any industry that might be a growth opportunity for the corporation.