On April 25 , 2012, btrax is excited to annouce the 4th SF Japan Night in conjunction with SF New Tech. The last SF Japan Night was very successful with over 250 people attending the event night with over 1000 online viewers watching the event streamed live.
Since February, we have been looking Japanese web start-ups for six spots at Japan Night and the response has been great. Bolstered by the success of companies like myGengo who got local VC funding after last year’s Japan Night, this year more than 30 companies applied and 15 of them passed into the second round.
A music community service which enables users to share their favorite music with their friends. Users can create their own avatars and start listening to their friends’ favorite music easily. (@beatrobo)
A Peer-to-peer job marketplace for co-working spaces. It is a platform to sell and buy small tasks directly from each other and to reserve space and accepts payment from people using credit card or PayPal. Coworkify won first place at Startup Weekend Kyoto 2011. (@cwrkfy)
An online service that assists users find a good restaurant based on friends’ recommendations. Users can collect trustworthy information by asking questions and receiving answers from their friends. (@foodstoq)
An iPhone App that allows users to download and carry sheet music on mobile devices such as iPhone and iPad. piaScore has earned a Distinguished Honoree medal in Consumer Entertainment/Information in the 2011 International Business Awards. (@piaScore)
A free web browser compatible with Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android and Windows phone. Another feature, “Fenrir Pass,” is a free cloud service that allows users to access their own bookmarks from different devices. (@fenrir_official)
Our hope is to continue this on-going platform for start-up companies in Japan to participate on the global stage with the first stop in San Francisco -the ground zero for high tech web /mobile start-ups. As with the last three events, we are expecting over 300 people to be attending this unique event .
We hope to get sponsors who want to help these start-ups by supporting our event. Also, we appreciate media coverage to support these innovative start-ups. Individual interviews with each of the finalists and a media pass are available upon request. Inquiries to acquire a media pass or to learn more about becoming a sponsor, please contact japannight@btrax.com
We interviewed Ahmed Siddiqui of SF Bay Area Startup Weekend. In this interview, Ahmed discusses his path going from a “big pond” to a “little pond” and his involvement with Startup Weekend’s entrepreneurship education. Ahmed also discusses the upcoming April 13-14 MEGA Startup Weekend – the largest Startup Weekend event in the world!
Amongst 15 highly qualified entrants, 6 lucky companies have been choosen for the April 25 SF New Tech Japan Night IV at Mighty in SF. The semi-finals was held in Tokyo last Friday before a crowd of almost 200 people. Here is a rundown of the finalists.
A music community service which enables users to share their favorite music with their friends. Users can create their own avatars and start listening to their friends’ favorite music easily. (@beatrobo)
A Peer-to-peer job marketplace for co-working spaces. It is a platform to sell and buy small tasks directly from each other and to reserve space and accepts payment from people using credit card or PayPal. Coworkify won first place at Startup Weekend Kyoto 2011. (@cwrkfy)
An online service that assists users find a good restaurant based on friends’ recommendations. Users can collect trustworthy information by asking questions and receiving answers from their friends. (@foodstoq)
An iPhone App that allows users to download and carry sheet music on mobile devices such as iPhone and iPad. piaScore has earned a Distinguished Honoree medal in Consumer Entertainment/Information in the 2011 International Business Awards. (@piaScore)
A free web browser compatible with Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android and Windows phone. Another feature, “Fenrir Pass,” is a free cloud service that allows users to access their own bookmarks from different devices. (@fenrir_official)
The story of Cheung Yan (left), founder of Nine Dragons Paper, is just one sea turtle story "Borderless Economics" tells. (Photo: World Economic Forum/Adam Dean)
Date and Time: Thursday February 23, 2012; 12pm-13:30pm
Mass migration is changing the way we live, learn and do business. A century ago, migrants crossed an ocean and never saw their homelands again. Today, they call or Skype home the moment their flight has landed. Thanks to cheap travel and easy communication, immigrants stay in contact with their native countries, creating powerful cross-border networks, uncovering and creating business and job opportunities that would never have existed had they not traversed global boundaries.
In Borderless Economics: Chinese Sea Turtles, Indian Fridges and the New Fruits of Global Capitalism, Robert Guest, The Economist’s Business Editor, travels the world, observing how immigrant networks create wealth, spread ideas and foster innovation. Asia Society invites you to this Corporate Briefing, where Mr. Guest will discuss key business and economic findings, including:
how Indians in America and India build the frugal technology that could ultimately save Medicare
how the “sea turtle” phenomenon – young Chinese returning home from their studies in the West – will eventually give us democracy in China
that the flow of educated migrants from poor countries to rich ones – the so-called “brain-drain” – actually reduces global poverty
that if the United States keeps its borders open and taps into the powerful global diaspora network, it will remain the world’s most powerful nation indefinitely.
how migration, for the all the disruption it causes, makes the world happier – and wealthier.
Attendees will gain macroeconomic insights into the way global immigration patterns shape the business landscape, workforce, and flow of information and ideas in the coming decades. Joe Morgan, Chief Investment Officer for Silicon Valley Bank Asset Management, will moderate the discussion. Copies of Borderless Economics will be available for purchase at the event.
The Chinese Innovators: From Shanzhai Copycats to Global Brands event brought together three leaders from top-tier Chinese companies to discuss factors driving them globally and entering the US market. The event was held in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district on December 8th, 2010.
Co-organized by Asia Society and btrax, this panel, moderated by Hanson Li from the Hina Group, featured leaders from three Chinese companies: Guolin Wang from Huawei,Brad Bao from Tencent andTerry Shidner from VanceInfo. Their insights featured innovative approaches of approaching the US market. The three panelists shared their stories as to the reasons, successes and challenges for Chinese companies in the US market. This event hosted attendees from a variety of industrial backgrounds including web design, app development, banking, legal, retail and media.
Schedule: The event was held on December 8th, 2011
6:00-6:45 Registration, drinks and networking
6:45-7:00 Panelist introductions
7:00-8:30 Moderated discussion and audience Q&A
8:30-9:30 Wrap-up, food and networking
Topics for discussion included
Factors driving Chinese companies expansion abroad
How a 1 billion domestic population influences foreign growth strategy
Challenges facing Chinese companies and successes in the U.S. market
Comparisons to Japan’s transition from cheap manufacturing base to brand leader
Evolution of intellectual property protection inside China as companies go global
About the co-organizers
Asia Society is the leading global and pan-Asian organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of the U.S. and Asia.
btrax is a cross-cultural branding, marketing and web consulting agency focused on the US, Japan and China markets with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
To see their detailed insights, we will post the video clips from the panel discussion this month. Stay tuned!
For details helping you succeed in the China market, please contact us.
Holidays are upon us and we caught up with Myles at his favorite place, Sausalito. We interviewed him as he reflected back on his career. Interesting background to say the least.
Q: Tell us about your background?
I grew up in Westchester county in NY- you know the Clintons and got a Psychology degree from SUNY. I was the college newspaper editor and music fan, and found I didn’t like Psychology. I did PR for bands, music events. I use my Psychology background and it helps figure people out.
Q: How did you get into PR?
I wanted to be in music industry and came to SF. I worked for keyboardist, Merl Saunders, doing his media and PR. I really couldn’t live on that and I knew I had to be in NY since Bill Graham Presents wouldn’t take my phone calls. I went back to NY and got into Corp PR on Madison Avenue.
Originally, I thought is I wanted to bring the concept of the internet kiosk machines to NY, which was popular in SF at the time, but the NY Cafe culture was different. No one was doing BBS then in NY because it was pre-internet and very cult-ish. Then as I did work for a Corp PR agency, we worked withStarwave, an internet content aggregator – Paul Allen’s baby.
That is where I met Scott Heiferman. Scott contacted me to help with his start-up, iTraffic, and worked in an Asian Tenement building on Broadway. iTraffic was one of the first on-line and direct marketing/Ad agency and we published an directory on-line directory. We were the first hired by Disney, Sports Illustrated, Bell South and sold to Agency.com and came back to SF.
Scott Heiferman contacted me again and asked me if I was interested in a new venture, Meetup, but I told Scott didn’t want to go back to NY. I worked on the marketing before it launched and after the launch did communications and PR/marketing for Meetup before it became big and started 2-3 years later the SF New Tech Meetup using the same model as the NY gig in 2006.
Q: You seem to have an entrepreneurial spirit which I see in the SF Tech culture, do you have that?
Yeah, When iTraffic as growing, I did the cubicle thing and found I am just not cut out for that. I am too much of an independent thinker. As an entrepreneur, I find I need to turn the dial up every day where I have pressure to compete to get my paycheck. My support network is my family, my wife, every person working in a small company or start-up needs that.
Q: How did you and Matthew Gonzales get together?
You know Matt’s doing his own thing and I am happy for him. Pretty simple, I needed some help and I said you can just run with it and he did. We got along well and just talked about everything.
Q: What were some of the SF New Start-ups that you felt were going to be big?
Wow, I felt Evernote, Twilio, Apture - and all these you just felt they were going to be big, get snapped up by bigger fish.
Q: What’s next for SF New Tech gig, lessons learned?
I want to make this gig something grander and something special. I think it is still evolving from the Meetup group it came from to an International entry scene like Japan Night. People are interested in the international tech scene. We are still going to do two events a month and theme more events. I am also doing lunch time meetings with AT&T. It is on my back to make it grander. Expanding it to other communities, perhaps?
What we are seeing in SF the last few years, are the number of events in the “city” so competing for people’s time. I hear the Palo Alto folks have a hard time relating to the urban start-up culture here in SF. I see us as the bridge between Silicon Valley and the urban SF Tech scene.
We appreciate being involved in SF New Tech as their media sponsor. Thanks to Myles for a great 2011 year and thanks to Myles all who make SF New Tech a great place to be.
Holidays are upon us and we caught up with Myles at his favorite place, Sausalito. We interviewed him as he reflected back on his career. Interesting background to say the least.
Q: Tell us about your background?
I grew up in Westchester county in NY- you know the Clintons and got a Psychology degree from SUNY. I was the college newspaper editor and music fan, and found I didn’t like Psychology. I did PR for bands, music events. I use my Psychology background and if helps figure people out.
Q: How did you get into PR?
I wanted to be in music industry and came to SF. I worked for keyboardist, Merl Saunders, doing his media and PR. I really couldn’t live on that and I knew I had to be in NY since Bill Graham Presents wouldn’t take my phone calls. I went back to NY and got into Corp PR on Madison Avenue.
Originally, I thought is I wanted to bring the concept of internet kiosk machines to NY, which was popular in SF at the time but the NY Cafe culture was different. No one was doing BBS then in NY because it was pre-internet and very cult-ish. Then as I did work for a Corp PR agency, we worked withStarwave, internet content aggregator – Paul Allen’s baby.
That is where I met Scott Heiferman. Scott contacted me to help with his start-up, iTraffic, and worked in an Asian Tenement building on Broadway. iTraffic was one of the first on-line and direct marketing/Ad agency and we published an directory on-line directory. We were the first hired by Disney, Sports Illustrated, Bell South and sold to Agency.com and came back to SF.
Scott Heiferman contacted me again and asked me if I was interested in a new venture, Meetup, but I told didn’t want to go back to NY. I worked on the marketing before it launched and after the launch did communications and PR/marketing for Meetup before it became big and started 2-3 years later the SF New Tech Meetup using the same model as the NY gig in 2006.
Q: You seem to have an entrepreneurial spirit which I see in the SF Tech culture, do you have that?
Yeah, When iTraffic as growing, I did the cubicle thing and found I am just not cut out for that. I am too much of an independent thinker. As an entrepreneur, I find I need to turn the dial up every day where I have pressure to compete to get my paycheck. My support network is my family, my wife, every person working in a small company or start-up needs that.
Q: How did you and Matthew Gonzales get together?
You know Matt’s doing his own thing and I am happy for him. Pretty simple, I needed some help and I said you can just run with it and he did. We got along well and just talked about everything.
Q: What were some of the SF New Start-ups that you felt were going to be big?
Wow, I felt Evernote, Twilio, Apture - and all these you just felt they were going to be big, get snapped up by bigger fish.
Q: What’s next for SF New Tech gig, lessons learned?
I want to make this gig something grander and something special. I think it is still evolving from the Meetup group it came from to an International entry scene like Japan Night. People are interested in the international tech scene. We are still going to do two events a month and theme more events. I am also doing lunch time meetings with AT&T. It is on my back to make it grander. Expanding it to other communities, perhaps?
What we are seeing in SF the last few years, are the number of events in the “city” so competing for people’s time. I hear the Palo Alto folks have a hard time relating to the urban start-up culture here in SF. I see us as the bridge between Silicon Valley and the urban SF Tech scene.
We appreciate being involved in SF New Tech as their media sponsor. Thanks to Myles for a great 2011 year and thanks to Myles all who make SF New Tech a great place to be.
The biggest web-tech contest in Japan landed in Silicon Valley. The 7th Mashup Awards (MA7) Ninja Challenge, was held in Palo Alto on October 19, 2011 at DOCOMO Innovations, Inc.
At the event, 10 US startups interested in the Japanese market presented in front of leading Japanese industry experts in the market to get their professional advice and wisdom. The event also included some keynote speeches by Evernote, Qualcomm, and RECRUIT.
Yas Naoi – Project Manager / Architect, DOCOMO Innovations, Inc.
The Ninja Challenge Presenters
Touchanote / Tagfair, Inc. – Touchanote brings the note storage and organization capabilities of Evernote together with the convenience of NFC one-touch technology.
Go Go Mongo! / Go Go Mongo! – Go Go Mongo! is currently one of the leading kids healthy eating-focused brands in the mobile marketplace.
Viewdle / Viewdle, Inc. – Best-in class computer vision technology enables the creation of new user experiences that realize the potential of your smartphone.
Cocoafish / Cocoafish – Build your mobile app without writing any server code. Create!, Build! & Deploy!
TimeGrab / Socially Relevant – Socially Relevant helps you manage consumer experience across mobile, Web, and voice.
Dolphin Browser / MoboTap – Winner! Dolphin brings you the world’s first gesture browser. Fast and playful, you can train your Dolphin to adapt to the way you want to browse.
ZeroPC.com / ZeroDesktop, Inc – ZeroPC provides deep integration with popular Web services to deliver a complete, integrated “social desktop” experience.
Pirate Ninja / Qubop Inc. – Using revolutionary new iOS 5 face recognition, Pirate Ninja instantly converts the people in your photos with a single tap.
Beintoo / Beintoo srl – Beintoo is the first gamification and rewarding technology for mobile and web apps developers.
The Dolphin browser came away with the chance to compete against Japanese startups. Entiries will close Nov. in Japan with the award ceremony set for December 11 in Japan. Good job and good luck to MoboTap.
btrax was honored to help organize and MC the inaugural event. We hope to have a greater attendance next year. Great job to all.
btrax has grown rapidly from a San Francisco boutique design house into a cross-cultural branding and web consulting agency with amazing clients in six countries.
On April 25 , 2012, btrax is excited to annouce the 4th SF Japan Night in conjunction with SF New Tech. The last SF Japan Night was very successful with over 250 people attending the event night with over 1000 online viewers watching the event streamed live.
Hideaki
Amongst 15 highly qualified entrants, 6 lucky companies have been choosen for the April 25 SF New Tech Japan Night IV at Mighty in SF. The semi-finals was held in Tokyo last Friday before a crowd of almost 200 people. Here is a rundown of the finalists.
The 
Holidays are upon us and we caught up with 
