10 Questions with Jeffrey Tsui | Diversity in Japan — Founder Series
日本語/English
In an effort to share the perspective and experience of foreign, English-speaking founders in Japan, Japan VC Insider is launching our Diversity in Japan — Founder Series. In each installment, we’ll interview a foreign founder building in Japan and ask them a series of questions on topics including their own experience, overall market trends, and advice for other foreign founders.
Our first featured founder is Jeff Tsui, Founder and CEO of Visual Alpha.
After working as a software development lead for global asset managers like StateStreet and Wellington Management, Jeff launched Visual Alpha in 2019 along with others sharing the same view he had in the investment management industry. His goal is to use his knowledge in natural language processing, investment data analysis, and reporting automation to build a successful startup aimed at transforming investment reporting efficiency for the investment management industry in Japan and around the world.
For the TLDR, here are the top takeaways!
Key Takeaways
- Biggest Challenge: Shortening the sales cycle.
- Key To Success: Understanding culture >>> understanding the language.
- In the next 5 years: More foreigners in the startup ecosystem leading to more and earlier internationalization of Japanese startups.
However, keep reading to learn more about Jeff’s experience building in Japan!
- When did you know you wanted to be a founder?
In my late 20s, after working for a global bank for a couple of years, I realized the limit of working for large corporations. And I started thinking about the possibility of starting a SaaS business so that I can provide better solutions in a quicker and cheaper way.
The inspiration that accumulated after years of seeing and hearing peers building startups was ultimately the trigger to become a founder. Also, I wanted to make sure that I had the necessary preparations before starting. Obviously, there is a lot of inspiration from people but on the flip side also understand there are risks. The inspiration accumulated but also it was a process to gradually eliminate risks. So lots of preparation was involved. The inspiration was important but the early stage preparation was probably more important in order to make the decision to start.
2. Who is your role model?
I’ve read a lot about the giants in the tech world since then [founding Visual Alpha], such as Bill Gates, Larry Page, etc. But the real role model will be friends around me who have succeeded. For example, I had a couple of friends who left Google and started their own mobile app company in their early 20s. At one point, they tried to recruit me, but I didn’t have much belief. Their success inspired me. I’ve also learned a lot from these founders.
3. What technology/trends are you most excited about?
Related to our business which is helping institutional investors to make more informed decisions, I’d like to see more attention to ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) related data analysis and reporting. It’s already been a trend globally, but still lacks real involvement from private sector investors. We need to find a way to convince investors about the linkage between ESG indicators to investment returns.
For personal interest, I am excited about quantum computing, genome deciphering, and applications of biotech and professional sports-related technologies.
4. What is your “Why Japan”? Further, what made you want to build your company here?
The biggest reason to be honest is that I’ve spent most of my professional career in Japan. And this is the place where I know people and the market. The opportunity of starting from Japan, in our case, is that Japanese clients are infamously demanding so that I believe if we get Japan right, our service quality will be evident for other markets too.
5. What is a big challenge you’ve faced building in Japan and how have you dealt with it?
I’ve never built a company outside of Japan, so the challenge I say here might be universal.
The biggest challenge we’ve been facing is to shorten the sales cycle. Japanese institutions can take more than 12 months to make a purchasing decision. Especially, when it is a solution for efficiency or cost saving, they often hesitate due to the Labor Law in Japan making it nearly impossible for them to make workforce reductions in order to save operational cost.
We are still struggling with it. But we started to try to pitch from the angle of a business enabler solution instead of a cost-saving solution. We also find out the pitch has to be done both from the bottom up and top down because the consensus from the user group and decision maker is essential.
6. What has been a benefit of having global experiences as a founder in Japan?
We quickly built a team full of English-speaking software engineers with no requirement of the Japanese language. But after covid, the tide turned against us, due to restrictions on immigration into Japan.
Our team is globally ready, so we have started exploring global markets even at an early stage. We’ve entered multiple accelerator programs in the U.S., U.K., and South East Asia. Global expansion is always one of our top priorities.
7. In the next 5 years, what changes do you see happening in the Japanese startup ecosystem?
I expect to see an increasing number of foreigners in the startup ecosystem in the next couple of years. Because post covid, there will be an influx of foreign talent into Japan. Many of them would like to work for startups. This may lead to more and early internationalization of Japanese startups.
I also expect to see Japanese VC funds that invest globally will do much better than their peers.
8. What’s an example of a time you’ve been most proud of yourself/your work?
It has to be when a deal is signed! There’s nothing that makes me happier than a new contract.
9. What’s something you want to get better at doing?
I hope I can be better at many things, from sales to product design to people management. As an early-stage startup founder, I have to wear multiple hats at the moment. I think it’s been a process of self-reflection so far because it really tests the limit of your capability.
10. For foreign founders starting today, what is the biggest piece of advice you have?
I’ve actually met quite a few foreign founders in Japan. Some have been quite successful. I think what they all have in common is that they all speak quite fluent Japanese. I think you have to speak the language to do business in this market.
However, understanding the culture is 10x more important than understanding the language. You can talk in English, but [it’s better] if you understand the culture of Japanese meetings. It took me a long time to understand the facial expressions and the nuance in the meeting. For example you walk in a meeting room, the other side has 3–4 people, what are their roles? By reading their seating position, the order they talk, you can figure out their roles.
I feel like to be honest, I don’t feel so disadvantaged being a foreign founder in Japan. I do the sales by myself. I feel like there are some advantages to being a foreigner because you don’t have to talk the same way. The Japanese are very careful with what they say in a way foreigners don’t have to. The perception on the other end is that you’re a foreigner, so they have a “foreigner card”.
An advantage is that [they] can have a more global vision. Thinking about [the] global market in the early stage may be a good thing. Even if you do not have the capacity to really expand globally, but [it’s important] to understand the global competitors. The competitor research is super hard. Those guys are probably still at the early stage, and probably only exist in the US, so it’s hard to search.
The only way to know your competitor is to talk to the client. They will tell you exactly who has reached out to them and what they do.
When asked for advice for founders that don’t speak Japanese, Jeff further added:
I think in that case, finding a co-founder or COO with both extensive local market experience and a global mindset will be the best solution.
This is just the first opinion we are happy to bring you.
We look forward to sharing other profiles, experiences, and advice. Ultimately, we want to increase transparency and action toward a thriving Japan ecosystem, supportive of diverse innovators and builders.
If you are a foreign founder in Japan, we would love to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out to our team via email at team-p-global@incubatefund.com.
