

The Japanese start-up founder who beat the odds - a_w
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20131121-portrait-of-a-start-up-success

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asdfologist
It's doubly impressive that she attained such success as a woman in a very
male-dominated society.

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cs02rm0
Disgracefully, that site isn't accessible to UK users.

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jasoncartwright
Right, what a joke. Of course, fortunately it's trivially easy to bypass.

[https://web.archive.org/web/20131121213728/http://www.bbc.co...](https://web.archive.org/web/20131121213728/http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20131121-portrait-
of-a-start-up-success)

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coolandsmartrr
I've met Namba-san previously. She grew up in a rather traditional
environment, attending an all-female college. What gave her the
entrepreneurial ambitions was So-net's CEO suggesting her to get into business
online, as the article states. Although HNer bitwize is correct in saying that
Japan frowns upon risks, Nanba-san claims the getting an MBA in the states
hasn't directly aided her entrepreneurship, and was only a pretext to get a
break from her busy career at McKinsey.

She is indeed very ambitious; she aims DeNA to become Japan's best technology
company. My friend who works there also got to meet her before, and we both
agreed that she is a rare female leader not unlike Margaret Thatcher.

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throwaway1979
Interesting point about using the MBA as a career break. I suspect this is not
rare.

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sarreph
_When viewing from the UK_ [BBC, you srs?]

BBC Worldwide (International Site) We're sorry but this site is not accessible
from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by
the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC programme-
makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC
Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com.

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aswanson
I've always wondered why there aren't more Japanese startups. They seem to
have an outsized number of artistic, technically saavy people there, like a
perfect mix of NY and SV. what's the problem?

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bitwize
Japanese society frowns on individual initiative and risk-taking, favoring
instead preserving a harmonious fabric of society and doing what your seniors
expect of you. Notice how Ms. Namba had a U.S. business education.

And yes, that she is a woman is both enormously significant and not all that
surprising; she is going to be bucking Japanese norms anyway, so why not go
whole hog?

