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Web designer/programmer working in agencies in London, back in 2004. A freelancer who was working for us quit and raised some money for a product idea. And fri
by robertlaing 14y ago
Web designer/programmer working in agencies in London, back in 2004.
A freelancer who was working for us quit and raised some money for a product idea. And friends, who had founded Last.fm, started getting a lot of traction.
About that time I realized "oh I don't need to work for agencies my whole life". Was very inspiring. I think that unless you've grown up in SV, gone to Stanford etc, that kind of idea is very uncommon.
Moved to Japan, started a startup.
All been downhill since then :) Gotta get off this crack :)
- dmor 14y agoI love Gengo, and I know a lot of people who need to break out of agencies - I'd never heard that part of your founding story before. How did you decide to start your company in Japan, were you originally from there (you mention the UK)?
- robertlaing 14y agoMarried a Japanese girl in London (I'm British/Australian). She had been there for 10 years so perfect English. We decided to move to Japan a few months after we got married (more because I wanted to live there and see what it was like :) Started Gengo a couple of years after arriving (in 2008). I wouldn't really have had the idea for the company if I'd stayed in the UK, because obviously it's all about the language barrier. Japan's not the easiest place to start a startup (it's quite a bit easier now, more funding etc) but it wasn't insane. Onwards and upwards :)