In March 2013, while a student at Kyoto University, Shono took part in a Silicon Valley workshop organized by OIH. Shono already had a job lined up from April at an IT consulting firm listed on the First Section, but five days in Silicon Valley changed Shono\u2019s outlook on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shono had long had the idea at the core of today\u2019s business: \u201cCouldn\u2019t warranty cards be managed with IT?\u201d But there was no burning desire to \u201cstart a business no matter what!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even going to Silicon Valley was just a matter of \u201csince I\u2019m joining an IT company, I want to see the holy land of IT.\u201d But a mentor met there encouraged Shono, saying, \u201cThat idea is interesting, so why not start a business?\u201d<\/strong><\/mark> and Shono quickly turned positive. \u201cIf I proposed a new business at the company I was joining, there was a good chance it would be dismissed as impossible. Then let\u2019s take the challenge now.\u201d Once the decision was made, Shono moved fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the six months until registering the company that October, Shono researched needs and thoroughly prepared the challenges and solutions for managing warranty cards with IT. Shono looks back on meeting investors as \u201clucky,\u201d but it was undoubtedly the result of thorough preparation. The month after registering the company, an investment was made, the first for Nippon Venture Capital as well, and the company raised 10 million yen. It had crossed the \u201cDevil River\u201d and the \u201cValley of Death\u201d in one go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now in its fourth year, the company has seven employees, and Shono\u2019s main job is putting together business partnerships based in Tokyo. But the head office remains in Osaka. The reason: \u201cSupport in Osaka is incredibly passionate\u201d<\/strong><\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFunding is more plentiful in Tokyo, and business partnerships are in Tokyo too, after all. But because there are also more ventures there, the media is more likely to pay attention if you call yourself a \u2018regional venture.\u2019 And you can\u2019t get something like the OIH Startup Acceleration Program (OSAP<\/a>) in Tokyo. Valuing connections between people is a warm culture unique to Osaka.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Shono experiences how \u201ca president is busy and lonely,\u201d the relationships with peers and mentors met through OSAP may be what recharges Shono\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, we asked about the next vision. \u201cOur goal is for people all over Japan to use Warrantee. I\u2019d be happier to hear \u2018I use it too! It\u2019s handy!\u2019 than to go public.\u201d Aiming for the day when the idea that got a push in Silicon Valley spreads throughout Japan, Shono\u2019s efforts continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interview year: 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":75,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/new-ja\/?post_type=library&p=94","catch_copy":"Decided to start a business during five days in Silicon Valley. \u201cFast fundraising in eight months\u201d and the energy to keep going are thanks to Osaka\u2019s passionate ecosystem.","company":"Warrantee Inc.","sub_catch":""},"library-category":[30,29,28,31,26],"class_list":["post-18184","library","type-library","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library-category-it","library-category-osap","library-category-aplication","library-category-ecosystem","library-category-siliconvaley","en-US"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library\/18184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-category?post=18184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}