The Japanese start-up founder who beat the odds

It's doubly impressive that she attained such success as a woman in a very male-dominated society.

Disgracefully, that site isn't accessible to UK users.

I've met Namba-san previously. She grew up in a rather traditional environment, attending an all-female college. What gave her the entrepreneurial ambitions was So-net's CEO suggesting her to get into business online, as the article states. Although HNer bitwize is correct in saying that Japan frowns upon risks, Nanba-san claims the getting an MBA in the states hasn't directly aided her entrepreneurship, and was only a pretext to get a break from her busy career at McKinsey.

She is indeed very ambitious; she aims DeNA to become Japan's best technology company. My friend who works there also got to meet her before, and we both agreed that she is a rare female leader not unlike Margaret Thatcher.

When viewing from the UK [BBC, you srs?]

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I've always wondered why there aren't more Japanese startups. They seem to have an outsized number of artistic, technically saavy people there, like a perfect mix of NY and SV. what's the problem?