Board Members & Advisors & Fellows

Co-Founder, Scale Out Corp.

Going through ‘up’s and ‘down’s of startups as an entrepreneur himself. he spent 10+ years as a partner at a venture capital. He has been engaging as a professional startup accelerator to help entrepreneurs and enterprises to start new ventures through planned trials and errors as an evangelist of Customer Development Model and Lean Startup.

He started Scale Out Corp to develop Entre-fullness upon Lean Startup integrating various entrepreneurial methodologies and thoughts.

He is a devoted soccer watcher and a listener of heavy metal songs. He constantly runs marathons as a novice , but never achieved sub-four.

The University of Tokyo (Law),
Harvard University (MBA)
Visiting Professor at Waseda University, Associate Visiting Professor at Nagoya University
Books (translated and published): Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank, Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvalez, Lean Branding by Laura Busche

Representative Director, Incubator Inc.
Akira Ishikawa specializes in new business development through a bottom-up approach.

He has been involved in the creation of new businesses, the design of internal systems for intrapreneurship, and the development of creative human resources, for major companies.

Until 2000, he was the executive director of “New-RING”, an in-house new business proposal system that is emblematic of renowned Japanese company Recruit Co. Ltd’s corporate culture, for 7 years.

Following this experience, he founded the general information website “All About” and served as its business manager for 10 years, until 2010.

He is the author of the “New Business Workbook” (新規事業ワークブック) (2017) and “First In-house Entrepreneurship” (はじめての社内起業) (2015).

Akira Ishikawa is a visiting Associate Professor at Tokyo SBI Graduate University (MBA Course).

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree (BA) in Sociology from Sophia University and a Master’s Degree (MA) in Business from Waseda University.

Company website: https://incu.co.jp/

Kumi started her career from Sony Corporation as marketing specialist and strategist. After spending several years as stay-at-home-mom and a contract worker, Kumi re-started her working at IBM Japan, and became a partner for strategic consulting group. She launched and led Innovation Management Consulting Division and worked at Corporate Strategy Division in IBM US Headquarter. Since 2014, she joined GE Healthcare Japan as CMO. After then, she jumped into startup world, as COO of 4U Lifecare, serving IT matching platform for medical professionals like Uber. From 2018, Kumi was assigned to CEO, and continued her work till 2022.

Currently, her works are versatile – Board member of SOMPO Holding, True Data, Fuji Furukawa E&C, and Tsukuba University, Advisor of JST CREST AI Area, and Next-COI, consulting services for big/small companies.

Kumi also acts as jazz vocalist and does live performance regularly in Tokyo and Osaka.

Representative Director, Bloom Concept Inc.
Associate Professor, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business School
Part-time Lecturer, Kyoto University of Arts
Principal, Business Modeling Association
Director, Japan Noh Chanters Association
Auditor, Kiribue General Incorporated Association

Graduated from Kyoto University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy, History of Aesthetics and Art. After working for a major advertising agency, he received his MBA from Thunderbird School of International Management. In 2010, he established Bloom Concept Inc.

As a concept creator, he has been involved in the planning of new businesses and products, and has brought a variety of products and businesses to the world. He is known for his highly accurate innovation process that draws out the spontaneity of the members while creating products and businesses. He is also well known for his energetic lectures on business, philosophy, and art, and his developmental seminars that awaken one’s own intellect.

In 2014, he launched a general incorporated association, Business Model Innovation Association, and served as its representative director for four years, working to promote business model thinking in regional revitalization. Since 2015, he has been teaching “Business Model Innovation” as an associate professor at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business. From 2016, he was commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as a producer of Japanese heritage for three years, providing advice to areas recognized as Japanese heritage. He is also a member of the Oita Prefecture Council for the Preservation of Cultural Properties from 2020 to 2020, and is involved in the establishment of Kiribue, a general incorporated association in Kameoka City that uses art to revitalize the region.

In 2018, he completed the Graduate School of Art and Design, Kyoto University of Arts, where he received his MFA (Master of Fine Arts). In 2021, he completed his doctorate at Kyoto University of Arts, where he received his PhD. In 2021, he became a part-time lecturer at Kyoto University of Arts.

She had the pleasure of studying as a graduate student at École Nationale des Ponts et chaussées（École des Ponts Paris Tech）Business School (MBA). She obtained her Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Tsukuba. She has been a faculty Professor in the Graduate School of Management, Business Administration Program (MBA) and in a faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Tokyo Metropolitan University since 2011 and she has also been a special Professor of the School of Business Administration at Hitotsubashi University Business School since 2016. She had also worked for several financial institutions and professional consulting firms and she is currently an independent director at a number of leading companies, such as Kirin Holdings Company, Limited and IHI Corporation. Based on her diverse experience, she has given many lectures and written many books in both academic area and practical fields.

Minoru Moriya began his business career in MISUMI Group Inc., then co-founded M-OUT Inc., a company specializing in new business development, with the founder of MISUMI Group Inc., Hiroshi Taguchi. After successfully launching and selling multiple businesses, he established his own company, Moriya Minoru Office in 2010. He then began his career as a specialist in new business development and joined RAKSUL Inc. and Carepro, Inc. as Vice President. In 2018, Boutiques, Inc. and RAKSUL Inc, were listed on the stock market two months in a row. He currently serve as an advisor for several companies including, Hakuhodo Inc. and JAXA while holding post as a member of the expert committee for the Cabinet Office and senior advisor in AI at Shandong province China. One of his recent work include “Let’s take a new step forward!”: DIAMOND, Inc..

Graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo JAPAN, Mariko Nishimura started her career as an IT engineer at IBM Japan. After her career at Adobe Systems as a field marketing manager and Bascule Inc. as a producer, she founded HEART CATCH Inc. in 2014. As a producer who connects business, creative and technologies beyond borders, she starts not only projects of her own company but various projects ranging from start-ups, enterprises, and government projects. In 2020, she founded HEART CATCH LA in Los Angeles, USA. She is also working on projects in the US.

J-Startup supporters, Art Thinking Improbable Workshop Executive Producer in Japan, a committee for METI Study Group for Creativity for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an Adjunct Professor at Musashino Art University.

Associate Professor at Shizenkan University Graduate School of Leadership and Innovation
Project Associate Professor at Tama Art University
Graduate of University of Tokyo Faculty of Law
Master of Design Methods from Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design

While at P&G, the author worked with the marketing of hit products such as Febreze and Lenor, and was the brand manager of Gillette. He later joined Sony and was part of the launch of the Sony Seed Acceleration Program.

He founded his own strategic design firm BIOTOPE after leaving Sony. He specializes in brand design of B2C consumer goods and in concept and service design of high-tech R&D projects. Saso has supported innovation in a variety of companies and organizations, such as Yamamotoyama, Pentel, NHK Educational, Cookpad, NTT Docomo, Tokyu Corporation, Japan Football Association, ALE, and others. He is also well-versed in creative methodologies driven by the individual’s visions.

【Serial Entrepreneur】
He has extensive experiences in start-up space; 4 start-ups in Japan and 1 start-up in Silicon Valley

【Venture Capitalist】
He was in-charge of start-up investment in Japan and South East Asia. As well as the USA of due diligence and investment for over 100 companies world wide(2014-2017)

【Lecture Experience】
Holds dozens of lectures annually, such as idea lectures on venture finance for a successful start-up, implementation of open innovation lecture.

【Other】
Adviser/board member of several startups in Japan and US Director of startup management at Pioneers Asia, mentor advisor for startup programs such as Nihon Keizai Newspaper, Nomura Securities and NEDO.

Director INDEE Singapore
Director/co-founder MENOU
Director Kubota Pharmaceutical Holdings

Tsuda is the co-founder of INDEE Japan, an innovation firm based in Tokyo. At INDEE Japan, he coaches corporates and startups to build new business models and develop them. His entrepreneurial skills are built from his intensive engineering experience and the diversity of projects.

Tsuda has various experiences in R&D of hard disk drives. For example, Tsuda was the engineering manager for the world’s smallest disk drive (Microdrive). He holds 17 patents in multiple disciplines; mechanical, electrical and software. Also, he has worked in engineering sites located in 8 countries as an indication of his talent in running a globally diverse team.

After an engineering career, he pursued a consulting business for R&D and innovation and later co-founded INDEE Japan. At INDEE Japan, he consults corporates grow and innovate and invests and coaches startups. He was also one of the founding team at INDEE Medical. INDEE Medical grew its regenerative medicine business and was successfully sold to M3. Tsuda also co-founded MENOU a visual inspection AI startup.

Tsushima is an aerospace engineer by training and has acquired a unique portfolio of expertise through a career spanning over two decades across the deep-tech space. His work experience is varied and crosses multiple domains such as designing race-winning GT cars, designing and launching new IC manufacturing technologies, as well as consulting on corporate R&D projects. He is also passionate about technology startups, having set up a semiconductor manufacturing tool company in 2002 and later, co-founding INDEE Japan, an innovation consulting firm, in 2011.

Representative Director, Learning Entrepreneur’s Lab Co.,Ltd.
Representative Director, Startup Brain Co.,Ltd.
Visiting Professor, Waseda University
Visiting Professor, Ritsumeikan University
Visiting Associate Professor, Nagoya University
JST SciFos Special Advisor
Tokyo Metropolitan Government New Service Development School Advisor
Board of Director, Sonic Arc Co.,Ltd.

BSEE, Tokyo University of Science
MBA, Desautels School of Management, McGill University
Lean Launchpad Educator Program Finishers

As a seed acceleration partner, Tsutsumi runs incubator for new business at enterprises and for startups. He applies both 30 years of experience as business creator and venture capitalist and expertises of new business development theories such as Customer Development Model to his incubation activities.

Formerly, he was venture capitalist at venture capital arm of MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE. Prior to MSIVC, he worked for Silicon Valley VC, Worldview Technology Partners as an associate and Nichimen Corporation (now Sojitz) as a manager for new business development in electronics and data communication industry.

He translated books regarding Customer Development Model, including the Four Steps To The Epiphany authored by Steve Blank.

Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Matsuyama University, JMA, etc. External lecturer
Japan Management Association KAIKA Awards Review Committee member
IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

M.S. in Mechanical and Control Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, and MIT Executive MOT

Support for the introduction of 3D-CAD to the R&D department of Information Services International – Dentsu. in its early days As a CAE engineer, he performs contracted analysis of structures, vibrations, and fluids, and is a member of the manufacturing industry. Support the promotion of digital engineering.

He drove the transformation of the R&D department through the introduction of technology and process reforms to create a partnership with ITI, Inc. Carve out to a joint venture, iTiD, a consulting firm specializing in product development In collaboration with ITI, a U.S.-based company, Risk Management, Knowledge Management, Skills Management, Strategic Opportunity Management, Target Setting, Lean Design, Value Engineering and other projects. On the other hand, he is also involved in training programs and organizational development consulting for engineers and managers. Spread the activity.

In 2011, he founded INDEE Japan. He is a consultant, a mentor, a facilitator and trainer for innovation, new business development, organizational development, and human resource development.

Conduct dozens of training sessions focusing on job theory in the company and in public. He also designs and runs programs that generate new business and innovation talent over several months. At the same time, he is also involved in mentoring individual new business development teams.

He loves to travel abroad and has been to more than 60 countries, and loves to travel across borders.

Co-authored “Job Theory” Complete Comprehension Reader (SHOEISHA DIGITAL FIRST)
Co-translated book, Competitive Strategies of Software Companies (Diamond)

I joined the Mitsubishi Research Institute in April 1989. In 1991, the year before the Rio Earth Summit, the “Global Environmental Research Center” was established ahead of other organizations, and for about 20 years since its foundation, I had led various projects related to sustainability.
Since 2011, as a General Manager of Advanced Business Division, International business and policy Division, and Research and Development Unit, I have been consistently engaging in designing and implementing policies, strategies, mechanisms, and ecosystems for practice, towered disseminating and integrating sustainable value.
I’m also in charge of leading the collaboration between JIN and Mitsubishi Research Institute by launching the “JBP (Japan Bosai Platform)” and “SHIP (SDGs Holistic Innovation Platform)”.
Currently, at the Sales and Marketing Unit, I am focusing on societal problem-solving solutions and business implementation through collaboration and co-creation with many clients and partners.

Outside of Mitsubishi Research Institute, I am　the CSO/Partner of SUNDRED, whose co-operator partner is JIN. And also an advisor in several major companies about the issues of long-term sustainability/ESG vision,　new business co-creation, etc.

Mr. Isayama was Partner of DCM and is a co-founder of WiL.

Mr. Isayama focused on investments in consumer internet, digital media, social network, mobile applications, and non-technology sectors in Japan. He was directly involved with the portfolio companies and leads Asian practice, primarily in Japan, helping business development and investment capabilities in Asia. He has years of start-up and banking experience to identify new investment opportunities in the United States and Asia. He was a Senior Associate of DCM and was responsible for executing financings for new and existing portfolio companies and analysing market opportunities. He worked at Mizuho Financial Group, formerly the Industrial Bank of Japan, and has extensive experience in a wide variety of areas including corporate finance, structured finance, derivative trading, and market risk management using intensive quantitative methods. He worked at IBJ for seven years.

An entrepreneur by nature, he co-founded Arch Pacific, when he was a student at Tokyo University. In addition, he served as an Advisor of Amikai, Inc. He serves as a Director of ORIGAMI, Inc. He has been a Director of Star Flyer Inc. since June 2006. He serves as a Director of Ustream.tv, Inc., Pokelabo, Inc., JasperSoft Corporation and Ahalife Holdings Inc. He served as a Director of Catalyst Mobile K.K. and Avex Group Holdings Inc. He is a lecturer at Kyushu University and is active in the entrepreneurial community and serves as a judge for the Stanford Business Plan competition. He contributes a monthly article in Nikkei Industrial Newspaper. He earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in Law from Tokyo University.

Mr. Nishiyama Keita was appointed as Director-General of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in July 2018 to July 2020. As head of the Bureau, he oversees METI policy related to the information industry, including information technology and cyber security, and the content industry.

Previously, he served in concurrent roles as General Manager of the Management Reform Support Office, Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation, and Director of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Holdings. In his first role, he took charge of damage compensation and decommissioning policies resulting from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station following the Great East Japan Earth

Mr. Hamaguchi is considered a leading mind in creative concept development, strategy building and decision management.

At Ziba, he develops frameworks that balance design intuition and strategic thinking to create innovative products and services for clients in a wide range of industries. He started his business career with Panasonic in Japan and was later the Director of the New Business Planning Group at Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. and Executive Vice President of Panasonic Electric Works Laboratory of America, Inc.

Mr. Hamaguchi has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Kyoto University, Japan.

Mr. Tamura served as the Senior Executive Manager of Asahi Kasei Corporation between April 2018 and March 2022. Upon his retirement, he was appointed the advisor of the company.
Mr. Tamura worked on new business development with an out-of-the-box approach in the Marketing & Innovation Department which he was appointed the head manager in 2019. He then collaborated with start-ups to introduce the JIN IMS method to his department, making international-level improvements.
During the four years of his service as the CEO of Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation under Asahi Kasei Group until 2019, he succeeded in reviving the long-stagnate profitability of the company. His business career also started in this company, and he has more than 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry.
Mr. Tamura received his master’s degree in Electronics at Keio University.

Prof Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Kellogg was voted “Best Business School” for six years in Business Week’s survey of U.S. business schools. It is also rated as the “Best Business School for the Teaching of Marketing”. Prof Kotler has significantly contributed to Kellogg’s success through his many years of research and teaching there.

Prof Kotler is the author of Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, the most widely used marketing book in graduate business schools worldwide; Principles of Marketing and several others. He has published over one hundred and fifty articles in leading journals, several of which have received best-article awards.

Among numerous accolades for his work, Prof Kotler was the first recipient of the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) “Distinguished Marketing Educator Award” (1985). In 1995, the Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) named him “Marketer of the Year”. In 2002, he won the “Marketing Educator of the Year” award from the Academy of Marketing Science.Prof Kotler has consulted for such companies as IBM, General Electric, AT&T, Honeywell, Bank of America, Merck and others in the areas of marketing strategy and planning, marketing organization and international marketing.

He received his Master’s Degree at the University of Chicago and his PhD Degree at MIT, both in economics. He did post-doctoral work in mathematics at Harvard University and in behavioural science at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Yossi Katribas has been the Senior Deputy Director General of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office since 2012 till August 2017. Since his retirement from the government, he is the owner and CEO of a consulting company.

Mr. Katribas was born in Tel-Aviv in 1965. He enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces in 1984 and begun a successful army career, where he held various positions in the Intelligence Corps. He retired from the IDF at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Prior to joining the Prime Minister’s Office, Yossi worked for several years in the private and finance sectors, as well as in senior technology positions, as part of the biggest Israeli private defense corporate headquarters.

Over the past several years, Mr. Katribas has led a series of large scale national projects, including the establishment of the Israeli government’s”Digital Israel” national initiative which is in charge of the strategic planning and implementation of a national cross-ministry program to upgrade all digital services and infra-structures in the Israeli public sphere.

Yossi was also responsible for enhancing relations with foreign markets, in particular with Japan, India, China and Latin America.

Mr. Katribas is thoroughly familiar with the digital arena and has an extensive experience and strong network and relationship with top executives in the business and governmental spheres in Israel, Japan and many other countries around the world.

Yossi holds a B.A in Middle East Studies from Tel-Aviv University and Master’s Degree in Political Science and National Security Studies from Haifa University. He also graduated from the National Defense College and attended Harvard University’s Senior Executives in state and Local Government program.

Dr. Eberhart is an Assistant Professor of Management at Santa Clara University and is research fellow at Stanford University as the director at Stanford’s Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship.

His research focuses on the role of Japanese institutions in fostering entrepreneurship. He also studies comparative corporate governance of growth companies. Dr. Eberhart’s academic publications include topics such as entrepreneurship’s intersection with public policy, corporate governance and firm value, and institutional effects on innovation. His work has been quoted in the New York Times, Forbes, and the Nikkei Keizai Shimbun.

He serves as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Dept. of State and METI’s Japan-US Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council, where he leads the policy writing effort. He is also an academic advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce’s Task Force on New Growth Strategies. He lectures in classes on Japanese business and entrepreneurship at Stanford University, New York University, University of Tokyo, and Kobe University.

Dr. Eberhart earned his PhD from Stanford University. He also has a Master’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan. From 1999-2007 he founded and was the CEO of a successful start-up in Japan.

Dr. Edvinsson was the world’s first director of IC (Intellectual Capital) in 1991. He initiated the creation of the world’s first public corporate Intellectual Capital Annual Report in 1994, and inspired the development ever since on IC metrics.

In parallel, he was prototyping the Skandia Future Centre as a Lab for Service Organisational design, one of the very first in the World.

In 1996 he was recognized with awards from the American Productivity and Quality Centre, USA and Business Intelligence, UK. In 1998, Dr. Edvinsson received the prestigious Brain Trust “Brain of the Year” award for his pioneering work on IC. In 2006 he was also listed in by London Business Press as one of The 50 Most influential Thinkers in the World. He is an associate member of The Club of Rome. He is also Cofounder and Chairman of The New Club of Paris, focused on the Knowledge Economy Agenda setting initiatives. In May 2013, he received the Luminary Innovation Award for Thought Leadership by the Peter Drucker Foundation, the EU and Intel.

Since 2000 he has been the Honorary Chairman of the UK based Henley College, KM Forum and Professor Emeritus at Lund University on Intellectual Capital. In 2007, he was also appointed professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and in 2009 became Guest Professor at Jiaotong University, Xian, China.

Dr. Edvinsson was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lund University. He is the author of numerous articles on the Service management and on Intellectual Capital.

Prof. Gratton is Professor of Management Practice at London Business School where she directs the program ‘Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Companies’ – considered the world’s leading program on human resources. Prof. Gratton is the founder of The Hot Spots Movement and for over five years has led the Future of Work Research Consortium which has brought executives from more than 80 companies together both virtually and on a bespoke collaborative platform.

Prof. Gratton has written extensively about the interface between people and organizations. Her eight books have been translated into more than 15 languages. Her case on BP won the EECH best case of the year, her article on ‘signature processes’ the MIT Sloan award, and in 2012 The Shift received the best business book of the year award in Japan.

Prof. Gratton’s work has been acknowledged globally – she has won the Tata prize in India; in the US she has been named as the annual Fellow of NAHR and won the CCL prize; whilst in Australia she has won the HR prize. She is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and has chaired the WEF Council on Leadership. She serves as a judge on the FT Business Book of the Year panel, chairs the Drucker prize panel and is on the governing body of London Business School. In 2013 she was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award by HR Magazine and equally in 2013 she was amongst the 15 top thought leaders in the Thinkers50 ranking.

Dr. Ogilvy is a co-founder of Global Business Network GBN, the scenario-planning unit of strategy consulting firm the Monitor Group. His research has focused primarily on the role that human values and changing motivations play in business decision making and strategy. He has pursued these interests in collaboration with Peter Schwartz since 1979, when he joined SRI International, and from 1987-2009 with GBN/Monitor.

Many of the scenario projects he led at GBN for both public and private sector clients addressed “public goods” such as telecommunications, health care, and education. While at SRI, James split his time between developing future scenarios for strategic planning and serving as director of research for the Values and Lifestyles (VALS) Program, a consumer segmentation system used in market research. He also authored monographs on social, political, and demographic trends affecting the values of American consumers. Dr. Ogilvy’s work builds on his background as a philosopher.

He taught at the University of Texas, Williams College, and for seven years at Yale, where he received his PhD in 1968. He is the author of Creating Better Futures: Scenario Planning as a Tool for a Better Tomorrow, Living Without a Goal, Many Dimensional Man; co-author of China’s Futures and Seven Tomorrows; and editor of Self and World and Revisioning Philosophy. He is currently at work on a book on emergent systems, e.g. consciousness, leadership, and wealth.

Dr. Russell studies relationship systems – people to people, to their brands, to their organizations and for innovation.

With people and technology as the intersecting crosshairs, Dr. Russell has established collaborative research initiatives in ICT and technology leadership and for national agencies and technology companies. She pioneered one of the first US public-private partnerships in microelectronic and information sciences and in manufacturing technologies. She has led interdisciplinary research programs at the University of Minnesota, The University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University. With a focus on the power of shared vision, Dr. Russell has developed planning/evaluation systems and consulted regionally and internationally on technology innovation for regional development.

Dr. Russell has a doctoral degree in Policy Analysis focused on Technology Transfer from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She serves on the advisory board of the Journal of Technology Forecasting and Social Change and several start-up companies.

Prof. Wolcott is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN) and a Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

He teaches corporate innovation and entrepreneurship for Kellogg in Evanston, Miami and Hong Kong (with HKUST). Formerly a Visiting Professor at the Keio Business School (Tokyo, Japan) a member of the advisory boards for the Nordic Innovation Center, Nordic Council, Oslo, Norway, the Global Technology Council of Kraft Foods, Inc. and the Innovation Accelerator for GE Corporate.

His book with Dr. Michael Lippitz, Grow From Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation shares over a decade of research into how established companies create innovation for business value and has since been published in Chinese and Japanese. Wolcott’s work has appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, BusinessWeek, The Financial Times (European Edition), The New York Times, The Peking University Business Review and a variety of publications worldwide. He is a frequent speaker at events worldwide. Dr. Wolcott also co-founded and serves as Partner with Clareo Partners LLC, a growth strategy and innovation management consultancy.

Prof. Wolcott received a BA, European and Chinese History; and an MS and Ph.D., Industrial Engineering & Management Science, North-western University, Evanston, Illinois.

Dr. Pigneur has been professor at the University of Lausanne since 1984, and has held visiting professorships at Georgia State University, University of British Columbia, National University of Singapore, and HEC Montreal. He earned his doctoral degree at the University of Namur, Belgium.

He was the former editor-in-chief of the academic journal Systèmes d’Information & Management. Together with Alexander Osterwalder, they invented the Business Model Canvas and in 2010 authored the international bestseller Business Model Generation (million+ copies in 35 languages); and more recently Value Proposition Design. In November 2015, they have been ranked #15 in the Most Influential Business Thinkers by Thinkers50 and received the “Strategy Award” at the Thinkers50 event in London.

Chairman and national expert, TK 532 Innovation management, SIS Swedish Institute for Standards
Senior innovation management specialist, Amplify AB
Research fellow, IMIT Institute for Management of Innovation and Technology
Chairman of the Board of Innovationsledarna, The Association for Innovation Management Professionals in Sweden
Adjunct professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2011-17
Director, Innovation management, Group Function Strategy, Ericsson, 2007-17
Assistant Attaché, Science & Technology, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo 1995-96
PhD, Technology and social change, LiU Linköping University, 1998
Master of Science, MSc Applied Physics 1988

Managing Director, EcosyX Lab
Specially Appointed Professor, System Design Management (SDM) unit of Keio University.
Managing Director, Future Center Alliance Japan (FCAJ)
Board member, The New Club of Paris
Director, Knowledge Creation Principles Consortium
Advisor, Nikken Sekkei Ltd.
BS of the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.
Ph.D. (Management Information Science, academic)

Prior to joining JIN as a full-time Executive Director in March 2019, Mr. Matsumoto was the Vice President of NineSigma Japan, and the Senior Manager of the Open Innovation Department of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. He also holds posts of Professor in the Business Engineering Graduate School of Osaka University.

In Osaka Gas, Mr. Matsumoto has been involved in numerous projects on new business creation. He was part of the team developing a freeze-crushing machine, as well as being involved in the research and development of a thin film type gas sensor. As leader of research planning in its Institute of Technology, he was engaged in starting up of several projects such as on fuel cells or on the production and storage of hydrogen energy.
Mr. Matsumoto also led the establishment of a ‘Management of Technology’ (MOT) school at Osaka Gas to promote technology education and innovation.

Mr. Horii is a Professor at the Graduate School of Civil Engineering at Tokyo University. He also serves at the Chair of the Centre for Knowledge Structuring at Tokyo University.

Mr. Horii led the establishment of i.school within Tokyo University and served as its executive director. i. school focuses on fostering innovative thinking and creative disruption by human-centred innovation and leadership cultivation. Mr. Horii has also been invited to speak on Ted talk about his approach to innovation thinking.

Prior to joining JIN as a full time Executive Director in May 2022, he was the Director of Open Innovation at Procter & Gamble. At P&G he was responsible for developing and executing P&G ‘s open innovation strategies in Japan and Korea and building a strong portfolio of projects with external partnerships to help accelerating innovation to market.

He is also holding visiting professor positions at Hosei University, Global MBA program and Institute of Business and Accounting, Kwansei Gakuin University, where he is teaching Innovation Strategies and Open Innovation.

Over the 23 years at P&G’s Research and Development Division he was involved in many product innovation projects in different business units which led to successful market launches.
A strong believer of the power of open innovation, Dr. Nair made effective use of P&G ‘s open Innovation approach to bring speed to market as one of the key vectors for a successful product innovation. He has also developed and managed a very diverse innovation eco-system in Japan, Korea, India, China and Silicon Valley for P&G’s open innovation.

He promoted Open Innovation in Japan by extensively lecturing at Industrial and innovation forums where he shared his experiences and perspectives from the global open innovation point of view.
Dr. Nair holds a Masters and Ph.D in Polymer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Mr. Ando is a Sony Corporation veteran, joining in 1969 and being put in charge of its management during its heyday as a worldwide innovation leader. He eventually was appointed as the President and COO of Sony Corporation in 2000. In 2005, he became Chairman of Sony Financial Holdings Inc. as well as of Sony Life Insurance. He was the Honorary Chairman of Sony Life Insurance from 2011 to 2018. He is
currently serving as the Chairman of The University of Nagano.

Mr. Ando was instrumental in successfully diversifying Sony’s business, establishing the Sony Prudential Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (now known as Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.), and becoming its Deputy President. From 1996 onwards he was furthermore instrumental in developing the “VAIO” business. Mr. Ando also has extensive overseas experience, having served as President of Sony Engineering and Manufacturing of America in the 1990s.

Mr. Nonaka is a Professor Emeritus of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University as well as Xerox Distinguished Faculty Scholar of the University of California, Berkeley, from which he also received his Ph.D.

Prof Nonaka’s main research interest is organizational knowledge creation, researching knowledge creating processes in companies around the world. He has also been conducting research on the characteristics of strategic and of innovative activities in Japanese companies.

Selected publications include The Essence of Innovation; The Knowledge-Creating Company; and The Wise Leader in the Harvard Business Review. Among many accolades, Prof Nonaka was awarded the Purple Ribbon Medal by the Japanese government as well as being chosen as one of the most influential business thinkers by the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Funahashi began his career at a large Japanese trading house developing products for overseas sales before joining Recruit Corporation in 1987, where he worked on human resource issues before being put in charge of the new business development office.

In 1996, Mr. Funahashi successfully led the creation of a business incubation division in Recruit. He also launched the magazine Entre and started to provide venture companies with comprehensive support services. In 2000, he was put in charge of Recruit’s business support services project and established Actcell Corporation. In 2001, Actcell went into partnership with ICAB, a Swedish intellectual capital rating company, and obtained the license for the highly innovative IC Rating® approach for evaluating substantive corporate value that is not clearly listed on balance sheets, and successfully developed a Japanese version of this rating method.

Mr. Funahashi also serves as a member of the subcommittee on Management and Intellectual Assets at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

After working at Brother Industries, Ltd. and Swarovski Japan, Ms. Ishiguro founded a high-tech specialty consulting firm in Silicon Valley and advised clients such as Yahoo!, Netscape, Panasonic, and Sony on U.S.-Japan alliances and technology transfers. She devises comprehensive digital marketing solutions for corporate clients that resolve fundamental business issues. The company was listed on the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2008.

As one of only few highly successful women in Silicon Valley’s tech entrepreneurship scene, Ms. Ishiguro is a frequent commentator in the media, extensively lecturing and writing about business and marketing strategies. Her regular columns include Smart Times on Nikkei Business Daily and Capture Business Innovation Tips on ITmedia Executive. She also serves as an advisory board member at ad:tech Tokyo.

She has been a member of METI’s New Industrial Structure Committee. Ms. Ishiguro is also the winner of the “Entrepreneur of the Year Japan, 2008” (growth category). For “Woman of the Year, 2009” she was 1st in the Leader category and 1st runner-up for the Grand Prize.

Mr. Kelley is a Partner at IDEO. He also holds the position of an Executive Fellow at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and holds a similar role at the University of Tokyo.

Tom Kelley is the best-selling author of The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation as well as a partner at the renowned design and innovation consultancy IDEO. As a leading innovation speaker, he addresses scores of business audiences on how to foster a culture of innovation and tap into the creative potential of their organizations. Over the years, he has spoken in more than thirty countries and helped IDEO grow from 15 designers to a staff of more than 600, while leading diverse areas such as business development, marketing, human resources, and operations.

Mr. Noda is Professor at Meiji University’s Graduate School of Global Business and special-appointment Research Advisor at Recruit’s Works Institute, where he in charge of New Business. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Noda served as Executive Manager of Nomura Research Institute’s consulting department.

Mr. Noda is the founder of J. Feel, Inc., a consulting company focusing on organizational management. He also served as its President until 2010. Mr. Noda specializes in organizational and strategic management. His focus is on individual behaviors and decision-making in a wide range of organizations, from small groups to large corporations.

Having authored numerous books on people motivation and organizational design for talent management, he regularly appears on major TV programs, including as a commentator on Broadcaster (TBS), as news commentator on Zoom In Super (Nippon Television), and as anchor on Keizai Wide Vision e (NHK General) and 7PM (BS Japan).

Mr. Maeno is the Dean of the Graduate School of System Design and Management at Keio University. Prior to his appointment at Keio University, he has worked for Canon, Inc., in Tokyo.

Mr. Maeno’s research is at the forefront of highly innovative and new knowledge-creating areas of systems design education, human-machine interfaces, as well as human cognition.

Representative Director of ONE-GLOCAL

Joined East Japan Railway Company in 1989.
In 2001, she became involved in the Ekinaka business and became the President and Representative Director of JR East Station Retailing, which operates “ecute”. After that, she launched the Regional Rediscovery Project at the head office, and worked on expanding sales channels for local products and processing of agricultural products, including Aomori “A-FACTORY” and the local product store “Nomono”
In 2014, she joined Calbee as Senior Executive Officer in charge of B2C and new businesses.
In 2019, she founded ONE-GLOCAL to work on projects co-creation with local communities from the perspective of regional design through the discovery and processing of attractive materials and studied at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London until April 2020.
In December, she opened the EC site “Each one-A story of regions and materials-“.
She is also deeply involved in local communities as an outside director, a member of various committees in the national government, the administration, NHK, and as an ambassador to Ibaraki.

President of HANDY Inc. The former President and CEO of Kyocera Corporation, one of Japan’s leading companies in system electronic devices, telecom equipment and applied ceramic products.
Mr. Nishiguchi obtained his M.S. degree from Osaka Kyoiku University and Ph.D. in management science and innovation policy studies at Doshisha University Graduate School of Policy Studies.