B.Lab - Latest Comments in The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Learning Japanese Online — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:51:18 -0000

ya your experienced is pretty natural, it happens so many times. I have same experienced but not same like you..

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Dave_Hale — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:17:16 -0000

Lance,
Fantastic article, thanks for submitting it. It will be interesting to see whether Japan's 'disenfranchised' can make an impact through entrepreneurship, as you predict.

I believe that an MBA is still quite valuable in the VC industry. Significant investors usually want a seat on the board of the start-ups in which they invest. Those board members need to have a very broad base of knowledge in order to evaluate and influence the start-ups' strategies, rather than just the ability to do the financial analysis required to determine an appropriate valuation.

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Lance Shields — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:25:31 -0000

Hi again Gerry.

That's good to know my MBA will be valued back in the US when I head home in the future. I agree with you about working for an international corp here to leverage my background and MBA. I'm actually currently at Amway Japan and am lucky to have a few interesting projects in the pipeline. Thanks for again for all your advice. You must make a good coach!

Lance

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Gerard Francis Corbett — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:45:52 -0000

Lance:

I do think that an MBA is helpful and I know folks have gone or are going back to get MBA's while they wait out the current storm. With respect to VCs, right now there is not a lot of investing. VCs and angels who still have money are waiting on a recovery to start investing again in earnest.

I am not sure what I would advise other than to say that I think you have a solid background. And I think that your best bet may be hooking up with a non japanese company who wants to succeed in Japan and needs talent like yours.

Best regards,

Gerry

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Lance Shields — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:51:30 -0000

Hi Gerry.

I appreciate your viewpoint on Silicon Valley vs. Japan. I suppose the main difference is the size of the payoff if one succeeds as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. The amount of VC money appears to be proportional to the payoff as well - I've heard $2M being on the high side here, although I'm not an expert.

Thanks for the advice on the MBA blog, that's a good idea. Do you get a sense that having an MBA means anything to employers in Silicon Valley these days? I considering returning to the Bay Area in a couple of years and wondering about the value of the degree.

Best,
Lance

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

Gerard Francis Corbett — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:48:35 -0000

Lance:

Great piece and well done! I pretty much agree with most of your points.

That said, I think your experience really is not that much different than being in the U.S. Here in SIlicon Valley, unemployment is at a 10%, perhaps a near record in California. The meltdown has had a wide ranging impact.

While I continue to look for a new gig, I am doing a fair amount of consulting including coaching. I find coaching psychologically rewarding but it is not yet at the level of paying the bills.

My advice is to continue following your gut and the MBA won't hurt. You may want to even consider doing a blog about the process of getting an MBA.

All the best,

Gerry

Re: The Japanese – Wannabe Entrepreneurs

ジェイソン (Jason) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:33:27 -0000

I plan on going this route in the next few years myself, as it's clear that my very Canadian upbringing severely clashes with the "do as your told, and wait several years for an answer" culture that I've faced while working in this country. I really enjoy living in this country, and I plan on calling Japan home for the rest of my life but, like you've mentioned above, the only way some people can be happy or earn a respectable living is to go their own way.

Good luck with your MBA :)