Björn Lapakko

Recently, I was writing about my first trip to Asia where Funderbeam co-hosted an community building event in Singapore . Now, I'm happy to recap a successful Funderbeam trip to Tokyo, Japan, provide some things I learned which may help others taking their first business trip to Japan, and share a few photos. As I mentioned above, before a few weeks ago, my exposure to Asia had been limited to my time with friends and family in the US who are of Asian descent. My closest friends in Minneapolis represent Cambodian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ethnicities, and my uncle from Hawaii is of Japanese descent. Most still speak their native languages and celebrate their culture's holidays but that has only provided me a nice baseline for expectations and excitement. Full immersion is the only way to get into the DNA of a culture, which is why I'm deeply grateful for the opportunities Funderbeam has offered me. Especially in regards to having my first experiences in the world of Japanese business culture.

For those you are podcast lovers, I want to recommend the BBC's "A History of the World in 100 Objects." In particular, their episode about Hokusai's ' The Great Wave .' This episode will offer some great context into Japan's history in international business and how far it has evolved in such a short time. Though, ( WARNING: 100% impression based thought approaching ) I feel the general consensus is that the Japanese market is more cautious than most. However, when you take this bit of history into context, I think one has to admire how much this culture has adjusted in regards to embracing and influencing global business.

I'll only share a bit from this podcast so you can get the gist...

When The Great Wave was first issued, in about 1830, Japan's contact with the outside world was strictly regulated. It was only in 1859 when Japan, under pressure from America and other powers, opened a few of its ports that Japanese prints began to be exported to Europe. They were quickly discovered and celebrated by European and American artists like Whistler, Van Gogh, and Monet. The Great Wave inspired Debussy's symphonic sketches La Mer and has become one of the most iconic images of the power of the sea. For me, this represented a bit ( minus the show of military force ) of what Funderbeam is trying to accomplish internationally. We deeply desire to work with nations across the globe. Both to influence and be influenced by other entrepreneurial cultures. This, I imagine, will improve not only our business but ultimately positively affect investing and entrepreneurship around the world. If not, it at least provided a great segue into what we were doing in Tokyo two weeks ago.

On October 30th in Tokyo, Japan, Funderbeam and our gracious co-host and investor, Mistletoe Inc. invited a very small group of forward-thinkers to join us for an event during which a community of investors, entrepreneurs, regulatory authorities, and opinion leaders would gather to discuss the evolution of Japanese venture financing.

We heard Japanese and European based thought-leaders discuss in panel format the future of #fundraising and #investing in Japan, during which we explored the latest developments, platforms, ICOs, and regulatory approaches.

Panel members included the following leaders:

Mike Kayamori - Co-Founder, CEO at Quoine Ken Kawai - Anderson Mori & Tomotsune - Special Counsel Yoshiaki Ishii - Director for New Business Policy Office, METI Taizo Son - Founder & CEO, Mistletoe Kaidi Ruusalepp - Founder & CEO, Funderbeam (Moderator) After we concluded the headlining portion of this event, we hosted a networking session so people within the community could reunite with familiar faces as well as make new connections. For me, this was a great opportunity to learn more about Japanese business culture in addition to meeting expats from around the globe who have found a home and career in Tokyo. Ultimately, these are the kind of engagements I am trying to organize and build upon for Funderbeam around the globe. So, if you're interested in collaborating on something similar in your region of the world, please connect with me ASAP .

Kaidi and I also made time to meet-up with our platform entrepreneurs, investors, and traders who were unable to attend the event, which is always a really wonderful experience. Hearing how people found Funderbeam, why they were interested in us, and how they hope we can help them is regularly fascinating and motivational. I hope at one point I can meet and work with Funderbeam investors, traders, and entrepreneurs in each of the countries represented on the platform ( currently that number is 101 ).

For those actively doing business in Japan, I'd love to hear some tips and tricks you have for arranging events, meeting influencers, traveling around, learning about the culture, etc. In my short time I came up with this short list:

Purchase a metro card! I used Pasmo which worked everywhere I traveled (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Nagano , and Matsumoto) except in Nagano. If you don't speak Japanese, download Google Translate and then download the translation file for Japanese within the app so you can translate even when you are offline. For me, pronouncing Japanese words was much easier than I've experienced with Finnish or Estonian. Plus, if I wrote what I wanted to communicate and just showed the person the text they would regularly understand my written English or the translated English to Kanji. Rent a mobile wifi router! This will be the best purchase you'll make during your business trip. I used Japan Wireless but there are many other options. Honor, respect, patience, and smile. I feel as though this should just be applied to life in general but my short experience in Japan reinforced the idea that when you put forth positive energy into the world, you get it back tenfold. If you're an entrepreneur or investor based in Tokyo or curious about the startup culture there, join the Amplify Circle Slack channel. Please share some of your thoughts, advice, and experiences below.

A few additional photos from our events and experiences while in Japan:

Björn Lapakko

Oslo, Oslo, Norge 5K følgere Over 500 forbindelser

Se felles forbindelser Vis forbindelsene du har felles med Björn Logg på Velkommen tilbake E-post eller telefon Passord Vis Glemt passordet? Logg på eller Ny på LinkedIn? Bli med nå eller Ny på LinkedIn? Bli med nå

Kontakt Björn for tjenester

Markedsføringsrådgivning, Innholdsmarkedsføring, Firmaarrangementer, Arrangementsplanlegging, Forretningskonsultering, Merkevarerådgivning, Innholdsstrategi

Erfaring

Entrepreneur

Antler

Co Organizer

Hokkaido Innovation Week

Investor

Funderbeam

Utdanning

Oregon State University

M.B.A.

University of St. Thomas - Opus College of Business

B.A. Marketing

Se hele profilen til Björn.

Andre tilsvarende profiler

Tim Nilo

Bente Kvam Kristoffersen

Eldbjørg Dahl

Dag Lausund

Martin Ygre

Hanne Hollstedt

Lars Terje Grorud

Kenneth Dreyer

Finge Holden

Øyvind Vederhus

Silje Thoresen

Kjetil Angell Kjerstad

Cathrine Golf

Silje Ulla-Zahl

Camilla Frydenbø

Kristina Renberg

Maria Aas-Eng

Heidi Legein

Anders G. Larsson

Henning Jodnes

Få nye ferdigheter med disse kursene

Marketing Automation: How to Build a Successful Campaign

How to Generate Marketing Leads with AI

Marketing Strategy for Designers

Oslo, Oslo, Norge

5K følgere Over 500 forbindelser

Vis forbindelsene du har felles med Björn

Velkommen tilbake

E-post eller telefon

Passord

Glemt passordet?

eller

Ny på LinkedIn? Bli med nå

eller

Ny på LinkedIn? Bli med nå