What has Patrick, the operator of RiSiN, been up to and what is he working toward now?

Rising Sun Innovators=RiSiN, what kind of person is Patrick, who is the operator and speaker? He will introduce what he has done so far and what he is working toward now in the first and second parts

At any rate, we are still getting used to each other.

Normally, Kengo-san is a behind-the-scenes person, and it is a rare case for you to appear in this way,

But today, I am being interviewed.

For some reason, we are both in the same space, but this is the first time we have dared to use this tool for this purpose. I look forward to working with you.

Q: Where are you from, Patrick?

I am always at a loss when people ask me where I am from, but to give some background, my father is Japanese, and my mother is from the Philippines.

My father is Japanese, and my mother is Filipino, so it is a little difficult to say where I am from,

I spent a long time in the Philippines and of course in the U.S. when I was a child, and returned to Japan when I was in high school, and I think I spoke Japanese when I was a child, but after living abroad for such a long time, I forgot or could no longer speak Japanese.

So, I studied Japanese, entered a regular Japanese high school, studied Japanese, took the university entrance exam, entered university, graduated from university, and at the time, I thought that Internet ventures were a growing industry in Japan. Before the mobile phone was popularized, I was most shocked by the amazingness of the "Galaga-Kei.

Everyone was already using cell phones before smartphones came out, and there were games, ringtones, video ringtones, and all sorts of other things that were common.

I thought that Internet ventures would grow in the future, and I was told by many new graduates that it would be better to join a major company or a foreign-affiliated company. So I joined a venture company because I wanted to be a global player in a field that is going to grow.

I never thought I would end up on a smartphone, to be honest.

However, I knew that the Internet industry itself would not disappear in the future.

I thought that if I placed myself there, Japan would naturally be the most advanced, especially at the time, and if I gained experience in the most advanced places, I could use that knowledge and experience to play an active role globally.

However, I remember that (overseas), things were not as developed as they were in Japan. Content itself was not as developed as in Japan.

I don't have the impression that content is as advanced as it is in Japan. Maybe it's just that we haven't moved yet.

I was mainly in the Philippines from the age of 6 to 16, and then I went to the U.S. and so on.

After that, I went back to Japan, worked for a Japanese venture company, went to the Philippines, went to Malaysia, and so on.

I never really thought I would be working abroad.

I really had a lot of trouble getting used to communication, culture, etc. after coming to Japan, but I am glad that I had that experience,

I think I naturally acquired diversity and flexibility in that sense as well.

Q: How did you become an investor?

I don't have a track record as an investor yet, and I haven't yet stepped into the shoes of an investor, but it all started four years after I returned to Japan from Malaysia.

It was September of 2020 when I returned to Japan, so I originally wanted to start my own business in the Philippines. I didn't know much about it at the time, but the company I worked for had an in-house venture program, so I applied for it and took on various challenges. As a result, I decided to start my own business in the Philippines, and I received an investment.

As I experienced various things, I remember that the startup environment in Southeast Asia was not yet as rich as it is today, and it was difficult to raise funds.

I remember that it was difficult to raise funds. I had experienced what a start-up was originally, or rather, I had experienced it once, and I had experienced various kinds of start-ups (0-1, 1-10).

At that time, I had no idea what I was doing, but I just got through it with my youth and spirit,

I chose the Philippines because I could understand the language and was familiar with the culture, so I thought that if I localized a business model that worked in Japan, it would work in the Philippines,

But it was too early, and I had the bitter experience of failing within two years.

That was when I started looking at startups and started following the startup environment in Southeast Asia.

After my failure, I went back to Japan and got involved in ad-tech, which at that time was a growing field in Japan,

I had some regrets in the Philippines, and I wanted to take revenge. I had never been to Malaysia, but I asked if they understood English, and they said they did, so I said I would go.

I had never been to Malaysia before, but I asked if they could speak English, and they said they could, so I went. Of course, there were many peaks, valleys, and troughs,

I had experienced different phases there, and when it was decided that I would return to Japan in September 2020, after Corona and other things happened, I thought a lot about what I wanted to do for the next 10 years and the next 10 years to come, I also like startups,

I had already had experience with startups, and I like startups, so I read a book called "Angels" and learned the term "angel investment" for the first time.

Of course, I had a vague idea of what a VC or investor was, but I heard that there was such a thing as angel investing, and there was a guy named Jason Calacanis who started angel investing and became successful, I was inspired by his story of how he started his own VC firm and created a fund after his angel investment success.

I thought that being a capitalist was a great job, and when I asked myself what I wanted to do with my life for the next 10 years, I knew that I wanted to try something new, and that was being a capitalist.

Why a capitalist? I had spent more than half of my working career, or rather, more than half of the time I had spent in Southeast Asia.

So, I thought that if I could support Japanese corporatization to compete globally with my experience on the business side, English ability, and financial support, this would be a job I would really like to do.

So, as I was doing various things, I thought, "Well, how can I do that?

I came back to Japan and raised my hand to be an investor or a capitalist at CBC, but I didn't have a chance to be an investor or a capitalist there. I was told that I would be involved in the launch of a venture capital firm, an independent venture capital firm,

That's how it all started.