Web Business Entrepreneurs in Japan and the U.S.A. ― Quantitative Analysis of Data from Tokyo and Silicon Valley ―

It has long been pointed out that entrepreneurs in Japan face many obstacles, that the startup ratio is low, and that growth tends to curbed (Feigenbaum and Brunner, 2002; Tajji and Tsuyuki, 2010). Internet and mobile related businesses are, however, growing at the global level, and this wave has reached Japan. While one IPO follows another in this sector in Japan, neither public nor private institutions have focused research on startups and growth in it. The study reported here is a preliminary, small-sample, pilot study aimed at assessing current conditions for startups leading the charge in developing Web-based businesses. Since these startups require only modest financing, they are not handicapped by the immaturity of the venture finance market in Japan. Here we compare these Japanese startups with startups in Silicon Valley in the U.S.A., which boasts the most mature venture finance market in the world