Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Converse or be cast aside

A little bit of Craigslist history and some food for thought on the importance of engaging your audience. Thanks Gen.

Good Crew releases a music video

Good Crew releases a PV! (PV = “promotional video” in Japanese English parlance).
Give it a spin, then let me share how much was spent on making it:

15,000 yen.
Update: The YouTube link is here. Thanks Gen!

日本国内CodeIgniterユーザー会 & カンファレンス

For English speakers living in Japan and enthusiastic about CodeIgniter, there will be a lecture / gathering (and ostensibly a party afterwards) at the Open Source Conference next week / end.
最近話題のCode Igniterにご興味を持っている方へ、来週のオープンソースカンファレンスでCodeIgniterのセミナーが行われます。是非参加を！
CodeIgniter is a wonderfully light yet robust and easily extendable PHP framework that has helped me develop miistation.com, kirakirajin.com (now defunct), and 2kurabe.com quickly [...]

Good Crew 新アルバム近々発売！

現在私がコロムビアミュージックエンタティンメント（株）で開発しているプロジェクトの「音レボ」、ご覧になれましたでしょうか？９月から１２月の間、インターネット上でキャンペーンを開催し、一位になったバンドがメジャーデビューする約束の結果がそろそろ誕生します！
アマゾンからのパクリ：
アーティストについて
約2000組のアーティストと12000名を超えるリスナー(2008年1月現在)が登録しているコロムビアミュージックエンタテイメントの音楽コミュニティ『音レボ』。その第1回オーディションで12000名のリスナーからの人気投票で第1位に選ばれ今回デビューすることになったのがGOOD CREW(グッドクルー)です。

勿論自分も関わってるプロジェクトですが、正直の意見を言うとこのバンド、面白い！是非聞いてみてください！
Otorevo will soon be releasing the first album under the new Otorevo label and by the winner of Japan’s first all-internet voted music contest! The band is Good Crew, the album is Nippon Ha:ski, and the link for your enjoyment is an exclusive deal with Amazon – pre-order now!

Some broadband stats and rankings, particularly regarding Japan

During my weekend morning routine of reviewing the past week’s events, I was reminded of a brief discussion on Japan’s placement in worldwide broadband rankings. The term “broadband” can have a few different meanings depending on the user, but a quick search pulled up some recent statistics. The OECD basically defines broadband as anything greater [...]

MiiStation in Time.com Best 50 for 2007!

Today feels like April Fool’s Day.  MiiStation in a Time.com list?  But it looks legit, and I’m surprised and flattered that our very own MiiStation.com made it onto Time.com’s 50 Best Websites for 2007 (though we’re only 1/2 way through the year :).  You can read our entry, right along side the likes of Bix, [...]

Paul Graham’s Guide to Investors

Here’s a fascinating read by Paul Graham on factors startup founders should keep in mind while seeking investors, angel or VC.  In exploring the options myself for a few of our projects (miistation and kirakirajin) the topic inevitably turns to valuations, which I’ve found more difficult than expected to respond to.  There’s the money you [...]

Have a Wii, some design skills, and a little spare time? MiiStation is hiring!

Never in our wildest dreams did we think this would happen, but MiiStation is “looking to hire”.  To date, approximately 40% of orders on MiiStation are by non-Wii owners who want a Mii-like avatar for other digital contexts.  Now almost two weeks after a 100% price hike, the number of Mii orders continues to rise, [...]

Inspiration from Stanford’s entrepreneurship video library

I’ve been on a video binge watching insightful and inspirational talks by some of the VC and entrepreneurship community’s leaders, all given at Stanford over the past 3-4 years. Many of these were suggested by my friend Greg, who is himself an angel investor in some very promising ventures.
I’m posting these here as both [...]