Movement in the Triple Helix
notes from METI's MOMENT conference; Oishii strawberries are just that
Friends - the leaves on the trees are turning - autumn is in the air. A warm welcome to new subscribers - thanks for joining! By way of introduction, in this newsletter I generally cover themes related to my instruction:
Strategy for the Networked Economy
Clusters: Locations, Ecosystems and Opportunity
Business in Japan
Competitive Strategy
With the occasional foray off-topic thrown in. Thanks for being here!
Special thanks to
and for the kind recommendations - I suspect that’s how some new readers got here.A couple weeks back I made a rare mid-semester trip across the Pacific to Tokyo. As it is mid-semester and classes are in session, I packed the following:
DSLR + stand
Ring light
USB podcast mic
Extra Logitech USB camera
USB adapter with power source
It turns out, if one goes through security at SFO with a carry-on containing the above, security will indeed open your bag and, without missing a beat, ask:
Are you a podcaster?
Alas, I am not Internet-famous, nor even neighborhood-famous. Perhaps to this agent’s disappointment, I responded:
No, just a university instructor. Teaching on Zoom this week.
Thus blessed, I headed on to my flight.
Deployed in a compact Tokyo hotel room for 6am and 5am (local time) Zoom classes, our configuration looked like:
This particular class was on the development of the Hsinchu (新竹）cluster in Taiwan, or as friends in Taiwan like to say, the “real Silicon Valley” since chips are actually made there. Hsinchu, and Taiwan’s ITRI, produced, in the language of Clusters class, the anchor company turned national flagship, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).
This year I refreshed the reading, and assigned excerpts from Cho and Mathews’ excellent Tiger Technology (2000), and Chris Miller’s Chip War (2022). In combination, the two provide excellent coverage of the tactics involved (Tiger Technology in particular, on tech transfer strategy) and also the human agency required (here, Chip War in particular). Thanks to
for the recommendation of Tiger Technology a while back.As a class, we were delighted to host Jon of
as guest speaker during the second half of class. Big thanks to Jon for getting up early to speak to a group of MBA and MPP students. Not familiar with ? Here’s a sample.
One thread to the Taiwan/Hsinchu story that is shared with other Clusters of Innovation (a term I’ll borrow from Jerry Engel) is the role of returnees and transnational links with other innovation hubs, such as the San Francisco Bay Area. AnnaLee Saxenian’s excellent New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy (2007) explores the role of networks connecting Silicon Valley, Taiwan, Mainland China, India and Israel. I referenced Saxenian and the role of returnees in my class materials.
A framework tying our Taiwan class with other classes is the Triple Helix, which refers to three stakeholders of industry, academia and government (産学官連携) and how the combination of the three can, working in coordination, provide synergy and stewardship to an innovation ecosystem. In Clusters class, we referred to this in three successive case studies: Raleigh-Durham; Hsinchu, Taiwan; and Porto Digital, Brazil (hat-tip, Flavio Feferman).
A more detailed breakdown of stakeholders in a regional innovation ecosystem is provided by the Technopolis Wheel, originally put forward by faculty at UT-Austin in 1988. As you might expect from a state university in a state capital, it sub-divides the government strand of the helix into federal, state and local stakeholders.
Thus, the Triple Helix and the interplay between the three major stakeholders of government, industry and the academy was on my mind as I moderated a panel on venture capital at the MOMENT conference put on by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Technology, and Industry (METI) over two days (October 10-11) earlier this month. Here, METI - the government strand in our triple helix - was the convener.
Day 1 was orchestrated by WiL (World Innovation Lab), a transpacific venture capital fund with offices in Tokyo and Palo Alto. Our Day 1 program is below. Thanks to WiL for the invitation. It was a delight to moderate discussion with Allison Baum Gates of SemperVirens Venture Capital, and Shinichi Takamiya of Globis Capital Partners.
Shin shared how total funds invested into startups in Japan each year since he joined Globis Capital Partners in 2008 have grown from $300M/year to $8B in 2022, as shown in JVCA data below. Even if adjusted for population, this is still relatively modest compared to the US, but the ramp-up in recent years is dramatic. Investment (in 100s of millions of yen) is on the left y-axis, number of companies receiving investment is on the right axis.
Day 2 was orchestrated by Andreessen Horowitz, which mobilized some 50 people to Tokyo for the event, including name partner Ben Horowitz, go-to-market team members, and, of course, various portfolio companies. Horowitz is pictured below on Day 2, along with METI Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi.
It was striking to hear the minister of METI on successive days extol the virtues of increased labor fluidity, increased startup formation, and increased global ambitions on the part of Japanese startups. Which gets to the desired outcomes from the government stakeholder - more venture formation, and a more vital economy.
At Berkeley we are delighted to support this ambition - Berkeley SkyDeck will host its third cohort of Japanese startups, curated by METI subsidiary JETRO, starting in November.
While in Tokyo I was delighted to finally connect in person with Hiroki Koga, Haas MBA alum, and co-founder of Oishii. While Hiroki can tell the story much better than I can, Oishii is basically the Tesla of vertical farming - they have started with a premium crop - vertically farmed, incredibly tasty (hence the name) strawberries, and are working their way down the cost curve.
Here’s Hiroki on the wall at Haas:
And here’s Hiroki exhibiting startup founder hustle at the MOMENT event.
The product was fantastic, and almost surreally beautiful. It felt like eating art. It was great to finally connect with Hiroki in person.
Next week is the Japan Society of Northern California 37th annual Award of Honor Gala. The team has a pop culture theme in store this year. Most notably, we will be honoring 50 years of Hello Kitty! Looking forward to the festivities, happening the evening of November 1 in San Francisco.
Tis the season, so I will close with my favorite version of Autumn Leaves - Cannonball Adderley’s, from his wonderful album, Something Else. Such sweet melancholy.
Onward and upward,
Jon
What a fantastic post Jon! The Oishii strawberries look amazing.
Oh hey - thanks for the call out! Happy you enjoyed Tiger Technology. Its *dense* but very good