Things are getting personal
in Japan's bid to kick-start its economy as it seeks to develop
a new breed of risk-takers.
Mr Song Ruhua is one of a new
breed of Chinese entrepreneurs that Japan wishes it could clone
for itself as a way of boosting its moribund economy. A former
academic, he and two other colleagues quit their secure jobs 10
years ago and started a 5,000-yuan (S$1,100), three-man software
development venture company that now boasts revenues of US$650
million (S$1.1 billion), a 6,000-strong workforce and operations
in 32 Chinese cities and four overseas offices. The rise of the
former Chengdu University lecturer, still young at 40, is one
reason Japan is looking to China for inspiration as it tries to
promote greater academia-industry cooperation in high-tech ventures.
Much of Japan's innovation has
been driven by large corporations rather than individuals, according
to human resource consultant Charlotte Kennedy-Takahashi. The
government has identified high-tech ventures as a key area and
focused on the industrial applications of academic research as
a way in which Japan can flex its technological expertise and
regain its competitive edge. To this end, it changed the law in
2000 to allow university professors to own the rights to their
own research as well as make money from it. But while academics
have begun to make small inroads in high-tech ventures, most are
doing so on top of their academic duties and have had to be helped
in their efforts by people such as venture capitalist Kazutaka
Muraguchi. Widely regarded as one of the top venture capitalists
in Japan, Mr Muraguchi lamented the dire lack of entrepreneurial
knowledge among Japanese graduates and workers. 'Almost 90 per
cent of the university graduates and office workers I talk to
have no idea about the process of developing a venture business,
something that takes young students only 15 minutes to absorb,'
he said. Thus, when Mr Song was in Tokyo this month to look at
opportunities in Japan, he was invited to speak to ministry officials
and industry people eager to hear what a successful academic-turned-
businessman had to say. The chairman of the Top Group told his
audience conditions governing entrepreneurship in China were as
tough, if not tougher, than in Japan. 'For the first year and
a half, no-one wanted to work for us and the three of us had to
rent a trishaw to deliver the goods ourselves,' he said.
In China, going into business
was said to be 'entering the sea', or xiahai, reflecting both
the difficulties and the traditional disdain for commerce in Chinese
society. After a year and a half of back-breaking work, Mr Song's
company had generated 3.5 million yuan in profits. 'We were sorely
tempted to just split the money because it was so difficult to
continue,' he said, but the mid-1990s was a time of reform, when
private entrepreneurship was encouraged by the Chinese government.
Mr Song and his partners decided to plough the money into the
company, which has grown into a major conglomerate in China that
excels in software development and is licensed to operate a financial
institution. Mr Song credited the Chinese government for its strong
support of private enterprise like Top Group, which has grown
through takeovers of inefficient but well-equipped state-run enterprises.
He is one of an increasing number of Chinese entrepreneurs making
their way here who have found an eager audience in a Japan keen
on sparking off a greater number of business start-ups.
The very model of success
Mr Song Ruhua, 40, is an academic who quit his job 10 years ago
along with two other colleagues to start a 5,000-yuan (S$1,100),
three-man software development venture company.
The company, Top Group, now boasts revenues of US$650 million
(S$1.1 billion), a 6,000-strong workforce and operations in 32
Chinese cities and four overseas offices.
Source: Straits Times Japan Bureau
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