[full article at http://www.latimes.com/business/20000910/t000085112.html ]
Sunday, September 10, 2000
Japan Giving Its Start-Ups a U.S. Education, With Limited Success
Asia: It is sending fledgling firms to American incubators to learn
entrepreneurial ways. But applicant pool is thin, and cultural barriers may
be culprit.
By EVELYN IRITANI, Times Staff Writer
An innovative experiment by the Japanese government to unlock the secret
of America's entrepreneurial energies has gotten off to a rocky start.
By placing a handful of their most promising high-tech start-ups in
American business incubators for several years of intensive parenting, the
Japanese hoped to pick up some tips on high-tech nurturing and, with luck,
grow the world's next technology giant-killer.
"Maybe we can create the next Microsoft, Yahoo or Sony," said Shinya
Fujii, the former Sony Co. executive in charge of the TigerGate 2000
program, an undertaking of the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO.
But six months after its launch, three out of five participating U.S.
technology incubators--including USC's popular EC2 Annenberg Center
Incubator Project--have yet to find a suitable Japanese start-up from a
disappointing number of applicants. With each passing day, the
entrepreneurial gap between Japan and the United States widens further.
TigerGate's slow start raises doubts about Japan's ability to duplicate
the environment that has helped make the U.S. a leader in technology
innovation.
Even supporters of Japan's good intentions question the wisdom of
trying to transplant America's high-tech sizzle to one of the world's least
hospitable climates for entrepreneurs.
However, Japan's involvement in this effort illustrates just how badly
it fears being left behind as the technology revolution reshapes the way the
world lives, plays and does business.
"JETRO may be a little clueless in implementation, but they're
certainly in the right arena, the right ballpark," said Jon Goodman,
executive director of the EC2 incubator. "They've just got to figure out
what the rules of the game are."
Why should Japan, still the world's second-largest economy despite a
decade of stagnant growth, be worried?
The answer lies in such countries as Ireland and Israel, which in less
than a decade have gone from being global laggards to shining lights,
propelled to a large degree by a burgeoning high-technology industry backed
by small-business-friendly government policies.
And the link between entrepreneurship and economic well-being is
becoming more obvious by the day. Entrepreneurial activity accounted for as
much as one-third of the difference in growth rates among 10 countries, in a
recent study by Babson College, the London Business School and the Kaufman
Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. The level of entrepreneurial activity
ranged from 8.5% in the U.S. to a meager 1.5% in Japan.
"Entrepreneurship facilitates economic adaptation," said professor Paul
Reynolds of the London Business School, a co-author of the report. "The U.S.
is by far the most adaptive system there is."
