日本科技创业公司夹缝中求生存

    这里是很多初创企业在东京的总部；在东京这个城市，很多写字楼在出租前都会要求查看至少一年的公司业绩报表。更重要的是，这些年轻人已打破了日本企业最大的弊端——自上而下的管理风格。“在日本，清一色由中老年男性组成的管理层抑制了创新，”正在和合伙人Shuku Tanizaki共同打造一家企业的桥本昌义说。

    他们的产品是一款基于网络的项目管理工具，旨在简化项目沟通和协作。桥本说：“促使我们建立PradiseWare Inc.的原因是，日本有些管理层的做事方法让人受不了，比如还在用Excel管理项目。”

    一年前他还在为一家日本大公司工作，有一天在Twitter上发牢骚时，谷崎女士深有同感，便通过Twitter决定和他一起创建Paradiseware。如今，他们大多数时候都在Happon碰头工作。

    日本鲜有女性创业者，虽然这个国家不乏杰出的女性人才。谷崎女士曾在金融行业工作，在那里她能感到那种典型的严格等级制度令人窒息。选择离职后，她与桥本共同创业。与新合伙人一起工作时，她专注于获取融资和推动其他创业项目。“我们希望的是一个硅谷模式，但日本的环境非常不一样，因此我们的战略也很不一样，”她说。“在日本，不幸的是，掌握权力和金钱的都是老一代人。”

    桥本补充说：“这里有很多风投，但他们只对游戏和新媒体感兴趣。或许我们最好还是打造国际性业务。这里太多的初创企业都只专注于日本本土。”

    日本最成功的科技初创企业乐天集团（Rakuten）的创始人三木谷浩史想必一定会举双手赞同。和很多日本新一代创业家一样，三木谷浩史的成功部分是因为他的海外关系。1997年，他起步时只有两个员工，没有筹集资金，如今已堪称日本最成功的创业案例，员工数达到10,000人。他说：“其他像我们这样的公司，比如优衣库（Uniqlo），以及其他踌躇满志的公司正在涌现。我们这些公司将是排头兵和标准，是行业风向标。”

    日本新一届政府已起用三木谷浩史出任一个专家委员会，就重振这个世界第三大经济体献言建策。以他对科技初创界的洞察，他或许能给这个行业带来更多希望。（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

    This is headquarters for many a startup in a city where office landlords often want to see company statements going back at least a year before leasing. Most importantly these young guns are beyond the reach of Japan's arch-enemy—top-down management style. "Japan's entirely male, middle-aged management has stifled innovation," says Masayoshi hashimoto who is working on a new tech business with partner Shuku Tanizaki.

    Theirs is a web-based project management tool that makes it simple to communicate and collaborate on projects. "It is the infuriatingly irritating way management here operates—using Excel for managing projects for example—that gave us the inspiration to create PradiseWare Inc." says Mr. Hashimoto.

    When venting his frustration on Twitter while he worked for a large Japanese corporation a year ago Ms. Tanizaki identified with his anger and through Twitter later joined him to set up Paradiseware. They now meet most days at Happon to do business.

    A rare female entrepreneur in a country brimming with dynamic, untapped female talent Ms.Tanizaki was working in finance, where she felt the typical strict hierarchy stifled her. She left to team up with Hashimoto. Working with her new partner she focuses on securing funding while simultaneously working on other startup projects. "We would like a Silicon Valley mode, but circumstances are very different here in Japan so we have different strategies," she says. "Unfortunately in Japan the older generation have all the power and the money."

    Hashimoto adds: "There lots of VCs here but they are only interested in games and new media. Perhaps our best bet is to start a global business. Too many startups here focus on only Japan."

    Founder of one of Japan's must successful tech startups Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani would agree. He like many in Japan's new entrepreneur's club succeeded partly because of his foreign connections. He started with just two people in 1997 without raising any money and is now arguably Japan's top business success with 10,000 employees. "Other companies like us, like Uniqlo, other aggressive firms are emerging and those of us will set precedence and standards and set the trend," he says.

    With Mr. Mikitani now charged, as head of a new panel, by Japan's newly installed government to come up ideas to revive the world's third largest economy his vision for tech startups couldn't come at a better time.