On this episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, we were joined by the Chief Evangelist of Canva for a candid conversation about grit, growth, and the unfiltered story behind his remarkable career. Also in the conversation: The Silicon Valley myth that keeps getting mistaken for strategy What Apple got right (and still gets wrong) about AI How Canva is spreading design literacy globally Why your ikigai doesn’t need to be world-changing to be real Plus: Guy opens up about fainting on hospital rounds...
Jun 24, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 25
On this episode of The Coral Capital Podcast , Founding Partner James Riney and Investor Tiffany Kayo were joined by Phil Wickham , co-founder of Sozo Ventures—a globally-minded VC firm that’s backed breakout U.S. companies expanding into Japan, including the likes of Coinbase, Square & Palantir. Philip shares rare, behind-the-scenes insights from decades spent bridging Silicon Valley and Tokyo, explaining why Japan is suddenly hot again for global startups—and how to navigate its famously c...
May 28, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 24
At Coral Capital’s Tokyo HQ, economist and writer Noah Smith joins James Riney, Founding Partner and CEO of Coral Capital, to explore how Japan is uniquely positioned for a global resurgence. They discuss how the country can convert its global fascination into a strategic advantage, and why Japan is increasingly on the radar of institutional capital and high-net-worth investors. The conversation dives into: • The rise of the “weeb” economy” (think anime, fashion, subculture, and Japan’s growing ...
May 20, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. In this episode, economist and long-time Japan optimist Jesper Koll breaks down how Japan is faring amid rising global protectionism, demographic shifts, and geopolitical uncertainty. A resident of Japan since 1986, Jesper has spent decades at the forefront of Japan analysis and investment, having served as chief strategist and head o...
Apr 16, 2025•53 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. In this episode, we’re joined by Claire Hughes Johnson, Corporate Officer and Advisor at Stripe, and the company’s former Chief Operating Officer. From 2014 to 2021, Claire played a pivotal role in scaling Stripe’s operations, growing the team from under 200 to over 7,000 employees while leading a wide range of functions including sal...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. In this episode, we’re joined by Gen Isayama, General Partner & CEO of WiL—a venture capital firm that’s redefining how innovation happens in Japan. Unlike traditional VCs, WiL doesn’t just invest—they educate, incubate, and leverage the power of their corporate-based LP network to accelerate the growth of their companies as they ...
Mar 17, 2025•50 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. VTubing, or virtual YouTubing , is a form of digital content creation where anime-style avatars —powered by motion capture and voice acting —engage audiences through livestreams, gaming, and interactive entertainment . This industry has rapidly evolved from niche internet culture into a multi-billion-dollar market , blurring the lines...
Feb 27, 2025•38 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. Today’s guest is Andrew Schoen, Partner at NEA (New Enterprise Associates) . Established in 1977, NEA has served as a partner to the founders and teams behind some of the most transformational innovations in healthcare and technology over the past five decades including Cloudflare, Databricks, Coursera, Perplexity, Plaid, and Robinhoo...
Feb 06, 2025•38 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show where we bring on guests from tech, business, politics, and culture to talk about all things Japan. In this episode we are joined by Brian Yun, Co-founder and CEO of Woodstock, a Coral portfolio company building a social trading app with the mission to empower the next generation to create a better financial future. Brian has a phenomenal career leading up to Woodstock. While in college, he began working as a hardware design enginee...
Jan 22, 2025•38 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. Our guest today is Shinichi Takamiya, Managing Partner at Globis Capital Partners. Takamiya-san was ranked first in Forbes Japan’s Midas List in 2018, seventh in 2015, and tenth in 2020. He joined Globis Capital Partners after managing consulting projects at Arthur D. Little. His venture capital track record includes iStyle, Aucfan, Kayac, Pixta,...
Jan 05, 2025•47 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. Today, we're joined by Richard Katz, NYC correspondent for the Weekly Toyo Keizai and the author of several books, including his latest, “The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future: Entrepreneurs vs. Corporate Giants”. In this episode, we'll take a step back to dive into the historical and macroeconomic context of Japan and examine the role of start...
Dec 23, 2024•57 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, where we delve into the world of startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and the broader Asia region. Our guest today is Jonathan Shih, Managing Partner at Keyrock Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based investment management firm specializing in emerging growth companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Keyrock is an active investor in Japan, with portfolio companies such as LayerX, Zeroboard, Nealle, and Timee, alongside...
Nov 18, 2024•34 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. In this episode, we chat with Jumpei Yoshida, CFO at Kaminashi - one of Japan’s most closely watched startups. Kaminashi provides a one-stop, cloud-based solution to manage workflows for “deskless workers” in industries like manufacturing, food services, and retail. Despite 60% of Japan’s workforce being frontline employees, many still rely on ou...
Oct 20, 2024•23 min
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode, we chat with Mark Suster, a Partner at Upfront Ventures. Upfront is one of LA’s most prominent venture capital firms, renowned for backing companies like Ring, GOAT, Overture, and even Starbucks back in the day. Mark was previously the founder & CEO of two successful enterprise software companies, the most recent of which was sold to...
Dec 05, 2023•41 min•Ep. 12
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. This episode is a fireside chat with Ming Maa , the Group President of Grab . Initially established as a taxi-hailing app in Malaysia back in 2012, Grab has evolved into the leading super app in Southeast Asia and the region's first decacorn. It empowers the region's economy through a diverse range of services, including transportation, delivery, and fin...
Jul 09, 2023•28 min•Ep. 11
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode we chat with Andrew Chen , General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he invests in games, AR/VR, metaverse, and consumer tech startups. He is on the boards of Clubhouse, Substack, Z League, Sleeper, Snackpass, All Day Kitchens, Sandbox VR, Reforge, Maven, Practice, and others. He is a prolific writer on user growth, metrics, and netwo...
Dec 20, 2022•36 min•Ep. 10
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode, we chat with Richard Pearson, Chief Innovator & UK Director and Shutaro Takeda, Chief Strategist at Kyoto Fusioneering (a Coral Capital portfolio company). Kyoto Fusioneering is a nuclear fusion startup founded in 2019. Their business model is unique in that they develop and sell key components and technologies for fusion power plant...
Dec 06, 2022•52 min•Ep. 9
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode, we chat with Sho Nakanose , founder and CEO of GITAI (a Coral Capital portfolio company). GITAI is a space robotics startup founded in 2016. Prior to founding GITAI, he successfully built and sold a tech company in India. Since founding, GITAI has been able to recruit some of the best roboticists in Japan, including the key engineers fro...
Nov 23, 2022•28 min•Ep. 8
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode, we chat with Sam Rosenblum , a Partner at Haun Ventures. Haun Ventures is a crypto focused venture capital firm founded by former a16z Partner Katie Haun in 2022 with a record $1.5 billion debut fund. Prior to Haun Ventures, Sam was a Partner at Polychain Capital, another leading crypto-focused investment firm. He was also an early team ...
Nov 08, 2022•44 min•Ep. 7
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia. In this episode, we chat with Kathy Matsui, General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-focused VC founded in 2021. Most people will know her for coining the term " Womenomics " in her groundbreaking report published when she was at Goldman Sachs. Her research put gender diversity front and center of Japanese government policies in the years th...
Oct 25, 2022•56 min•Ep. 6
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. In this episode, we chat with Ernest M. Higa, Founder of Domino’s Japan, and essentially the godfather of pizza delivery in Japan. In this episode we discuss: How and why Higa started Domino’s in Tokyo four decades ago. The assumptions people had about the Japan market. What was localized, and what was not. Online ordering in the early days of th...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 5
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. In this episode, we chat with Takafumi Kurahashi, COO at SmartHR. SmartHR is the leading HR SaaS company in Japan. In 2021 they closed a JPY 15.6 billion (~$142.5 million) Series D, most of which was committed from global investors including Light Street Capital, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Whale Rock, and other global institutional investor...
Jun 13, 2022•33 min•Ep. 4
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. In this episode, we chat with Han Kim, the Managing Director and a co-founder of Altos Ventures. Altos Ventures was founded in 1996 with a $30M fund, and now manages more than $10B. Notable investments include Coupang, Woowa Brothers, Roblox and Toss. Coupang, a Korean e-commerce startup, was valued at over $100B at IPO last year. In this episode...
Apr 26, 2022•46 min•Ep. 3
Welcome to another episode of The Coral Capital Podcast, a show about startups, technology, and venture capital with a focus on Japan and Asia broadly. In this episode, we chat with Michael Seibel, the Managing Director and CEO of Y Combinator (or, “YC”). YC, one of the top startup accelerators in the world, has invested in over 3,000 companies including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Instacart, Docker and Gusto. The combined valuation of YC companies is over $400B. Michael was the cofounder o...
Feb 08, 2022•40 min•Ep. 2
More and more global investors are starting to invest in Japanese tech. In this episode we interview Gaurav Gupta, Partner at Light Street Capital, a firm that has invested in Japanese tech companies since 2011. Their track record includes investments in Start Today (ZOZO), Monotaro, BASE, and Freee on the public side, as well as SmartHR's most recent Series D on the private side. This episode covers: How he became a Partner at Light Street Capital How Japan's E-Commerce and SaaS penetration is ...
Nov 01, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 1
