Things I Learned from My Slush Asia Experience

Slush Asiaに参加したレアジョブフィリピン人スタッフからの英語コラムをお届けします。

Slush is starting to be known as the largest startup event and Asia was lucky to host it again this year. This serves as a venue for the startup community to help each other build their ideas, share their knowledge and raise Asia’s entrepreneurial spirit to greater heights. The event was a venue for those who have dreams of introducing “the next big thing” and for those who are interested in new business ventures. Last May 13 and 14, I was able to experience Slush Asia 2016 during my business trip in Japan.

The event showcased about 100 new startups that pitched their ideas to possible investors and over 60 speakers. Being one of the hundreds of attendees, I felt privileged to have been a part of Slush 2016.

During this 2 day event I was able to meet a lot of people, draw inspiration from the speakers and broaden my knowledge about entrepreneurship. As a supervisor in business development in RareJob, this was a good opportunity for me to learn and discover other business ventures.

Let me share to you a bit of wisdom that I gained from this experience.

Photo: Jussi Hellsten

Do what you love

Akiko Naka, the founder and CEO of Wantedly talked about how she took risks to follow her dreams. She said that, we should not think too much, we should just act and our passion will follow. Do what you like, as simple as that… you just have to do it and take the risk. We shouldn’t be afraid of failures because when we fail, we learn and when we learn we become better at things, we gain more wisdom from it. The more times you try the more likely you will succeed.

Hearing her presentation made me realize that I am fortunate to have succeeded in my career shift from science to business development. This also got me thinking, having succeeded in the path I’m currently on; I should motivate others to lessen their doubts in themselves, do what they love and take the plunge.

We are all investors

Kotaro Chiba the co-founder of Colopl, a mobile game publisher shared his new business which focuses on drones and VR. During his presentation he mentioned that everyone can be investors, not financial investors but investors of time. Sharing our time with people, and giving our time for learning is already a big investment towards improvements and innovations. Time fuels synergy. Kotaro-san inspired me to invest more of my time in building my skills and knowledge as well as also sharing my time to empower and motivate others.

English opens opportunities

Photo: Petri Artturi Asikainen

During the event, it was Kotaro-san’s presentation that left more of a mark on me, his presentation captured the attention of the biggest audience and it was also the most memorable one for a lot of attendees. I was surprised to hear that he just started learning English a year ago. He even said that he took English lessons just for his presentation. What surprised me the most is that it was actually his first time to give a presentation in English, Honestly, I thought that he was already an expert in giving presentations in English. He also shared how his ability to talk in English opened many opportunities to do business and widen his connections.

Being able to communicate with the participants also helped me understand their products and services more. It helped me gain knowledge from the presenters and startup representatives. At the same time their ability to use the English language helped the participants gain investors and broaden their networks. English truly is the language for business and anyone who wants to do well, should be equipped with it.

This was one awesome experience. It didn’t just placed a bigger sense of responsibility in me, it also showed me how passion, time and language all come and tie together to make one big opportunity. I can’t wait to attend next year’s Slush event.