4 ms·
In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old.
by adregan 13y ago
In Japan, established companies are king. Nintendo claims to be 100 years old. My buddy's company sells semiconductors, and they also claim to be 100 years old. Of course these companies aren't truly 100 years old, but it means a lot to work an older company. There's a lot of pride in it. Not to mention, banks want to deal with older companies and so do landlords (the article says some are looking for 2 years of profit).
I've certainly dealt with the pushback that comes with suggesting new ideas in Japan. I've heard "efficiency" derided as a foreigner idea, specifically "you Americans always want to change things to make them more efficient" in regards to no longer grading 1000s of multiple choice entrance exams by hand.
And I don't want to get political, but while I can understand how Abe's economic policies might help pump life into the startup scene, I don't see how the hyper conservative social atmosphere he has charged since taking office will help. I don't mean to be too cynical, but when I read that Abe wants to encourage Japanese startups, I read that he wants to encourage startups of Japanese people not startups in Japan (evidenced perhaps by all of the articles on this subject that mention Masayoshi Son go out of their way to tell you that he is Zainichi Korean, even though he's a Japanese citizen and his family has been in Japan for generations).
- whatusername 13y agoI always thought Nintendo's corporate history was pretty legit? Start with cards, move to games/entertainment, move to video games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo
- jpatokal 13y agoSure, but the point is that you don't hear Silicon Valley companies boasting about the length of their history.
- unknownian 13y agoIf I was part of a company that bounced back and adapted over so many years, I'd be proud of it. Also, I'm pretty sure you do hear companies boasting their age. IBM (though not a startup or anything) does this. A lot of <20 year old companies like to mention if they are more than 5 years old to show that they are stable and have experience.
- a_bonobo 13y agoThe history of these old companies is usually legit - see Wikipedia's List of oldest companies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies Sadly Kongo Gumi, the Nr. 1, was swallowed by another company.
- seestheday 13y agoWow, I just read the Wikipedia history of Kongo Gumi. I find it amazing that it was also started by a Korean.
- adregan 13y agoI mean they also ran taxi services and love hotels. But I guess other than the taxi service, everything really was about entertainment. Often though, a younger company just assumes the "body" of the older one. It helps with getting loans from the bank, etc.
- xxpor 13y ago>I've certainly dealt with the pushback that comes with suggesting new ideas in Japan. I've heard "efficiency" derided as a foreigner idea, specifically "you Americans always want to change things to make them more efficient" in regards to no longer grading 1000s of multiple choice entrance exams by hand. Wait, what? Isn't this the county famous for Kaizen and the Toyota method?
- adregan 13y agoAll of the new hiring took place around that time just so there would be more people to grade. A lot of inward facing companies in Japan foster an atmosphere of "you aren't working unless it really feels like you're working." But no one cares if you sleep at your desk, so it's not all bad.
- verisimilidude 13y agoOddly enough, among the four tech start-up founders I met in Japan, ALL of them were Korean-Japanese. They all shared a similar story: * Their fathers and grandfathers were forced to become entrepreneurs because they were scorned (in various ways) by traditional Japanese businesses due to their heritage. * These parents found success in sometimes seedy areas of the Japanese economy, such as casinos, love hotels, etc. In other words, businesses that "proper" Japanese did not want to be caught running. * The parents converted these successes into more respectable businesses, like restaurants, etc. * All of this entrepreneurial knowledge and spirit (and eventually capital) got passed down to the kids, over the generations. Likewise, many of the other entrepreneurs I met were foreigners, from places like Ghana, Bangladesh, etc. It's just anecdotal, but interesting food for thought nonetheless.
- adregan 13y agoTime and time again, immigrants often have that great entrepreneurial spirit (here in Japan and abroad). I'm certainly being overly sensitive, but I just think it's interesting that this article pointed out that the 2nd or 3rd wealthiest Japanese citizen is Korean in light of the anti-Korean citizens sentiment bubbling in Japan this past year.