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LEFT:
Gohsuke Takama, founder, Meta Associates
RIGHT: Mika Furukawa, Associate |
With his unruly hair and generally frazzled appearance,
Gohsuke Takama looks more
like a virtual-reality voyager or new-media writer than a
Net venture dealmaker. But these days he's all of the above.
His new company, Meta
Associates, made waves a few months ago by hosting a well-received
entrepreneurial networking event called Startup Forum in Shibuya's
QFront building. Granted, Meta Associates is headquartered
in Takama's smallish apartment in Gotanda and consists of
little more than himself and Mika
Furukawa, but the Forum provided a chance for entrepreneurs
to actually meet VCs -- something that hardly happens at the
frantic, elbow-room-only events hosted by the Bit Valley Association.
Daniel Scuka caught up with Takama and Furukawa at Ubusuna.
Why launch something like the Startup Forum?
The idea came from my personal observations. Many of my friends
are programmers, Web designers, and digital artists, and they
often come up with interesting ideas. But they can't find
people to invest in them. They've all got day jobs or other
projects they do to pay the bills, and so their ideas go nowhere.
Some have even showcased their ideas in San Francisco, but
they haven't gotten much attention. So I basically wanted
to help my friends -- provide them a forum where they could
perhaps win some investment for their ideas and plans. And
my idea expanded from that point. After I found out that investment
people here are encouraging new companies to launch, it seemed
like a good idea to go forward with.
When did you get the idea?
I got the idea in August last year about the time that we
started going to the Bit Style networking parties. They were
good at the start, but they have recently become too dark,
too crowded, too noisy, too smoky, and it was impossible to
meet and talk. So, my idea was to hold an event that would
allow for real networking. In the US, entrepreneur seminars,
like those held by Upside, Red Herring, and others -- where
entrepreneurs present their ideas -- are popular, so I thought
that was the way to go.
No one does this in Japan?
These days more and more are starting to. I heard that Softbank
is holding a big one soon. So the demand is growing, and I
got the idea to organize a good one. I asked Mika Furukawa
to help and she immediately agreed -- despite having an infant
daughter and holding down a full-time job [as a sales rep
at Expression Tools, which makes game software development
tools]. In December, we held a party to announce the launch
of the Startup Forum and preannounce February's event. There
was a good indication of support, so we decided to go for
it. At first, I was not thinking specifically about an international
entrepreneur presentation forum. But I went to various networking
parties and I met many VC people -- from JP Morgan and some
of the other foreign houses -- and I found out there's a lot
of foreign interest in Japan right now.
How many people went to the Forum in February?
About 140 people attended the presentations, and 120 attended
the networking party afterwards. I was very worried whether
we'd have sufficient people. But after I started accepting
registrations, I was swamped -- I had to close registration
early because I knew the room would only seat 85 -- we had
to borrow extra chairs. It was standing-room only.
How did you send out the invitations?
I met [Hikari Tsushin's] Ben Miller at one of the CODE-J meetings
and I talked with him about my idea, and he agreed it was
a good one. In October, he launched the JaPan InterNETwork
mailing list, which has grown to be about 1,400 -- it's quite
popular. That seemed like a natural place to make the announcement.
In fact, 80 percent of the Startup Forum attendees came from
that list. That's quite a lot. I also mailed the Bit Valley
organization's mailing list. I heard there are 3,000 or 4,000
on the Bit Valley list. Ben also helped find startups to invite,
and he put me in touch with a couple of the entrepreneurs.
You also told participants that their pitches would be
time limited?
Yes. I chose 15 minutes. When I sent out the mail to the JaPan
InterNETwork and Bit Valley lists, I gave everyone the application
form specifying what to cover, so the format wasn't a surprise
to anyone. Also, my own background is in concert and event
production, which is very complicated -- handling the sound
and lighting setup -- so the Startup Forum was actually fairly
easy. But I still had problems that I didn't expect. [Laughs.]
Mika sure helped.
Five entrepreneurs made presentations; what did you think
of their pitches?
Actually, I was busy keeping time and worrying about the schedule,
so I didn't hear much of their presentations. Generally, I
thought they were good. Anyway, this was just the first event,
and it was experimental, so the presentations should only
improve. No doubt the presenters had to show a certain amount
of courage, but if they are planning to start a new company,
they have to learn to take risks.
Did anyone turn down an invite to attend?
No. A few weeks before the event, I had more than 100 registered
to attend, but no one registered to present. I got them in
the end, though. Three applied, and two came from recommendations,
and five finally agreed to participate.
Who was in the audience?
Broadview, G5, CSFB, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan
Stanley, Ernst & Young, Mitsubishi Fudosan, DKB, Hikari Tsushin,
Liberty Brokerage, and Netyear's Tanaka-san were all on the
RSVP list. I didn't get to meet many of them -- I was too
busy. We tried to link our plans to attendee's demands. But
I was very scared about no one showing up. In fact, we were
so nervous that we forgot to put Meta Associates' contact
info on the Forum brochure. We had a lot of late nights in
the run up to the Forum.
Will you do it again?
Oh yes.
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