But in recent years corporate Japan has stumbled: first, Sharp, a storied electronics maker with dwindling fortunes, was bought over by Taiwan’s Foxconn. Meanwhile Toshiba is struggling to turn its fortunes around and will likely have to sell its prized memory business. Can this shift the mindset in Japan and draw more talented individual to the entrepreneurial and innovation sector? Not until the social set-up in the country changes, according to Son.
“In my gut feeling, in my opinion, we need a safety net to leave,” he said. “Japanese society is designed so that people can be comfortable working for a big company.”
He explained critical services such as insurance, the medical systems or housing loans are designed for with workers of big companies in mind. When employees leave their corporate jobs and become self-employed, he said, they might see a decline in their standard of living.
“So we need every kind of safety net, so that even though they leave to start a company by themselves, the quality of life or safety of life is the same as before.”
He has been previously critical of the Japanese government and its efforts in fostering the startup culture in the country. Son told CNBC his decision to set up Mistletoe’s second headquarters in Singapore was motivated by the local government’s stand on innovation and entrepreneurship.
“The Singapore government is one of the most advanced and forward-thinking governments,” he said, adding Japan’s size limited the government’s ability to swiftly introduce policies that are more supportive of innovators. “They have to think of every stakeholder of the country, so the speed is relatively slower than the small countries.”
The Singapore’s government’s investment arm, Temasek, for example has backed some of the most successful startups in the region, including Grab and Lazada. To foster risk-taking in controlled environments, Singapore has set up regulatory sandboxes in areas such as fintech and data analytics.
Son also said he felt the symptoms of change — in people’s mindset — is in the horizon in Japan. To propel it forward, he believed it was necessary to offer people new options, models and technologies to choose from. That’s where nurturing young entrepreneurs and innovators was critical — hence his interest in fostering a start-up-friendly ecosystem.
“That’s why I started, not for an economic reason, nor to be a celebrity. This is our family’s life work,” Son said.
