What Silicon Valley Can Learn from Japanese Innovation

Details

Agenda:

• 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM  Registration
• 4:15 PM – 4:20 PM  Opening Remarks from Larry Greenwood, Chairman of the Board, Japan Society of Northern California
• 4:20 PM – 4:50 PM  Keynote from Dr. Richard Dasher, Director, US-ATMC
• 4:50 PM – 5:30 PM  Panel Discussion and Q&A
  • Panelists:
  • Ray Hatoyama, Venture Partner, Sozo Ventures
  • Emiko Higashi, Managing Director, Tohmon Partners
  • Allen Miner, Founder & Chairman, SunBridge Corp
  • Dr. Richard Dasher, Director, US-ATMC (Moderator)
• 5:30 PM Closing Remarks from Steve Pollock, President, Japan Society of Northern California
• 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM  US-ATMC Spring Reception

Venue:

• Stanford University, Bishop Auditorium, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]

Parking options:

• Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
• Lasuen St. and Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
• Please check parking signs carefully to ensure that permitted parking (A or C) and metered spaces are free after 4:00 pm. Paid parking is enforced around The Oval until 6:00 pm.

 

Speakers

Dr. Richard Dasher

Director, US-Asia Technology Management Center

Dr. Richard Dasher has directed the US-Asia Technology Management Center and served as adjunct faculty at Stanford since 1994. From 1998 – 2017, he served concurrently as Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Systems (now Stanford System X Alliance). In 2004, Dr. Dasher became the first non-Japanese person to join the governance of a Japanese national university, serving on the Board of Directors and then on the Management Council of Tohoku University until 2011. Other service (selected) includes the Program Committee of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) of MEXT since its founding in 2007, and advisory roles with research institutes, accelerators, and nonprofits in Thailand, China, Japan, S. Korea, Canada, France, Germany, and the U.S. Dr. Dasher received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2023 for long-term promotion of economic relations between Japan and the U.S.

Larry Greenwood

Chairman of the Board, Japan Society of Northern California

Larry currently serves as Chairman of the Board at the Japan Society and brings extensive experience across diplomacy, international finance, and the private sector. Until 2015, he was senior managing director for government relations in Asia at MetLife, where he helped shape financial policy, built a regional government relations team, supported expansion into Vietnam, Malaysia, and Myanmar, and contributed to U.S. efforts in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. He previously served as vice president at the Asian Development Bank from 2006 to 2011, overseeing operations across East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific and helping expand the bank’s lending, capital base, and development effectiveness. A career U.S. diplomat from 1976 to 2006, Larry held posts in Washington, D.C., and abroad, including two assignments in Tokyo focused on trade and investment issues. He also served as U.S. ambassador to APEC from 2000 to 2003, leading preparations for presidential participation in key summits, and later retired as principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Economic Bureau, overseeing international financial and development matters. He is now a senior adviser at Bower Group Asia, advising on government relations and economic policy in Asia, particularly Japan, and holds degrees from Eckerd College and the Fletcher School, with proficiency in Japanese and French.

Ray Hatoyama

Venture Partner, Sozo Ventures

Ray Hatoyama is the Venture Partner at Sozo Ventures, where he utilities his highly experienced background in IT and entertainment industry on corporate strategy for globalization, innovation and corporate governance. Ray also serves as Chief Strategic Officer for Human Made Inc, and independent director for Pigeon, Transcosmos, Z Corp. (Yahoo Japan! and LINE), DeNA and etc. Ray was the Managing Director of Sanrio Co., Ltd. (known as Hello Kitty) and had executed Sanrio’s global expansion strategy. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and has been chosen as the 31 most successful Harvard Business Graduate of all time in Business Insider (October 2015).

Emiko Higashi

Founder & Managing Director, Tohmon Capital Partners

Emiko Higashi is a founder of Tohmon Capital Partners, a strategy and M&A advisory firm. She also serves on the board of KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ), Rambus(NYSE),andTakeda Pharmaceutical (TSE). She most recently joined the board of Rapidus Corporation, a newly formed semiconductor foundry manufacturing company focused on 2nm and beyond technology, based in Japan.She also serves on the Harvard Business School Global Advisory board. Previously,Emiko was a co-founder/CEO of Gilo Ventures, a VC fund based in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv. She spent over 15years in investment banking, last as a managing director in charge of global technology industry M&A at Merrill Lynch. Earlier she worked at Lehman Brothers and Wasserstein Perella in New York, and McKinsey in Tokyo. Emiko brings a unique blend of strategic thinking and pragmatic M&A judgment, and large corporate and entrepreneurial processes in a global context. Emiko grew up in Japan, received MBA from Harvard University and BA from International Christian University in Tokyo.

Allen Miner

Founder & Chairman, SunBridge Corp

Allen brings extensive experience in internet, enterprise, and open-source software, entrepreneurship, and international technology transfer, and has been involved in numerous successful investments, including IPOs such as Salesforce.com, MacroMill, ITMedia, and G-Mode. He has invested in more than 55 ventures and led at least seven to IPO, earning recognition on Forbes’ Midas List in 2007. He began his career at Oracle in the U.S. and played a key role in launching Oracle Japan in 1987, helping drive its rapid growth. In 1999, he founded SunBridge Group, where as CEO he focuses on helping Japanese tech startups scale globally while supporting both startups and multinational companies. He is also a founding member and adviser to the Japan Venture Capital Association and holds degrees in Computer Science and Asian Studies.