05-04-2012 — Strategies for Japanese Start-up Funding and Expansion

Event Overview

Japan creates a huge number of start-ups of all kinds ever year. Yet there is much less venture capital and angel investing in Japan than in America. So where does the capital for these Japanese start-ups come from? What does this mean for US companies that want to partner with Japanese start-ups and US investors that want to invest in them? How does Japan’s system for funding start-ups affect their expansion plans, and what can Japanese start-ups do from the outset to position themselves for global expansion? Join us to explore these topics with a panel of experts.

Featured Panelists and Moderator

Michael Alfant is the Group Chairman and CEO of Fusions Systems Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles. Fusion Systems is one of Asia’s fastest growing leaders in Business Technology and Systems Consulting. Mr. Alfant started an IT solutions company named Fusion Systems Japan in 1992. Mr. Alfant is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, a frequent speaker at US and Japanese Universities, and a member of the Board of Directors of listed firms in both America and Japan. Michael Alfant graduated from the City University of NY with a BS in Computer Science.

Robert Eberhart is a researcher at Stanford’s Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship where he leads the Stanford Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship. His research focuses on comparative corporate governance of growth companies with special emphasis on Japan and the role of Japanese institutions in fostering entrepreneurship. Mr. Eberhart received a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan after undergraduate studies in Finance at Michigan State University. He is a doctoral candidate in Stanford’s department of Management Science and Engineering.

Scott Ellman is CEO and Founder of USAsia Venture Partners.
He has over twenty years of experience in strategic alliances, marketing and business development. Scott has held senior positions at high technology start-ups and pioneers such as Silicon Graphics (SGI) and VMware where, among other things, he managed some of the companies’ most important alliances including those with Hitachi, Toshiba, Oracle, NEC, Dell, IBM, HP and eBay. Scott is a strategic advisor to several technology companies as well as the Keizai Society and a member of the Japan-US Innovation in Business and Technology Advisory Council. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Brown University.

William F. Miller is Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management Emeritus; Professor of Computer Science Emeritus; President Emeritus, SRI International; Chairman Emeritus, Borland Software Corporation; and Chairman/Founder of Nanostellar, Inc. Professor Miller has carried out research on atomic and nuclear physics, computer graphic systems and languages, computer systems architecture, and the computer industry. His current research interests are on industrial development with special interest in local and regional industrial development, the evolution of regions of innovation and entrepreneurship, the “habitat” for entrepreneurship, and the globalization of R&D. His international industrial development studies have focused on Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Malaysia.

Allen Miner is a founder/General Partner of SunBridge Partners and the founder/CEO of SunBridge Corporation. Allen aims to create a dynamic environment in which Japanese information technology startups develop at a globally competitive pace, thereby producing returns on investment that consistently rank among the top quartile of venture capital funds worldwide. Allen cofounded the Japan Venture Capital Association; founded Japan Venture Research, tracking over 3,500 Japanese startups; and was recognized on the Forbes’ Midas List of Leading Venture Capitalists.

Founded in 1990, the Keizai Society US-Japan Business Forum is an all-
volunteer business and professional networking organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of its primary purposes is to provide a venue for programs that showcase specialists with expertise on issues critical to the success of entrepreneurs and companies doing business with Japan and the U.S. Please visit www.keizai.org for more information.

Keizai Society’s theme for 2012 is “Japan in Transformation.” It encompasses commercial entrepreneurship and new venture formation as well as social entrepreneurship, new patterns of employment, corporate reform and many other critical priorities that are already breathing new life into Japan’s business community and its other institutions.