"To raise the startup standard in Japan. " Kazuma Tamura vol.1

[Slush Tokyo, an event that changed my life.]

-To begin with, can you tell me about yourself? 

Kazuma: Of course. My name is Kazuma Tamura, and I have a background of joining Slush Tokyo in march 2017 as a volunteer and became a core member right after the event in the same year. Slush usually has 500 to 600 volunteers every year, and I did the volunteers' overall management. After the event in February 2018, I took a leave of absence from my university and committed to the Slush Tokyo event in 2019. I was in the production department and managed the venue design and operations. I did leave the team once after the event in 2019, but re-joined in May and became the community manager.   

-What made you join Slush Tokyo in the first place?

Kazuma: I was born and raised in Japan and don't have experience studying abroad. However, my father and grandfather spoke English, and when I was very young, foreigners used to visit our house every now and then. That was the start of me actively seeking a global environment, and Slush Tokyo was one of the volunteers I did. As I recall, I found Slush from a Facebook post that one of my high school friends posted. Interesting story, I ended up being with that friend for the next three years as core members of Slush.

-What's unique and attractive about Slush compared to other volunteering events?

Kazuma: It's where the volunteers have ownership. Another might be where the relationship between volunteers is flat and casual. Even though most of the attendee's age and interests differ, we all drive towards the same goal. 

-Did you have an interest in startups when you joined Slush as a volunteer in 2018? 

Kazuma: I had some interest in business ventures, but to be honest, startups weren't really on my radar at the time. However, participating in the volunteer program overturned the stereotypes and ideas I had. Until then I thought that I needed to go abroad to work globally, and that I needed to start a business to be an entrepreneur. But after taking part in volunteering, I realized that startups are just one out of countless options. Overall, awareness you gain from your experience, problems you seek, and the passion towards solving them is what is really important in starting a business.

[Delivering Slush Tokyo to as many people as possible!]

-What made you join Slush Tokyo as a core member after your first volunteering experience?

Kazuma: I was very eager to bring this activity as an option for the young generation who hadn't found what they wanted to focus on, which was exactly myself before the first Slush experience. I felt that this event had many different touchpoints and could have been of interest to many people with diverse backgrounds. That's when a Slush core member reached out to me to join them on their journey, and I said yes. 

-I heard that you went to Silicon Valley right after you joined, how did you end up going there?

Kazuma: Since Slush itself is a global event, we, the people who run it, also needed to know what becoming global is all about. Therefore in August, I went to Silicon Valley for a week with three other core members.

-What did you do in Silicon Valley?

Kazuma: The CEO of Slush Tokyo at that time had a handful of respectful connections, and I talked to a number of founders in Silicon Valley. I didn't know anything about startups at the time, so I struggled to understand the complicated terms and phrases in the conversation. But this experience led me to think that I want young people to know more about this kind of thing later on. I still think it was a good experience, and I would like to go back, since it's already been three years and Silicon Valley has changed, in many aspects. 

-What do you feel is lacking in Japan compared to other countries?

Kazuma: What I felt in 2017 was the difference in the amount of information. If a person tries to run a startup in Japan and looks it up on a website in Japanese, they only get a small amount of information. However, if they look it up in English, the amount of information increases dramatically. That's where I felt that there was a significant information gap among the two languages.

-Throughout your visit to Silicon Valley, how did you change?

Kazuma: When I went to Silicon Valley, I felt overwhelmed, facing the fact that the startup industry was much broader than I thought it would be. I simply didn't know where to start from. However, though I was somewhat lost, their stories and thoughts inspired me, and I felt that I, too, could play a part. Additionally, I also learned the importance of physically going to places and talking to people who live there.   

-I heard that you participated in other events and volunteers outside of Slush Tokyo after becoming a core member.

Kazuma: The events we hold are in English at Slush Tokyo, but I also participated in other events and volunteers outside of Slush to study and learn how to create and manage a better event. One thing that I felt was that there weren't many opportunities for people from abroad who were interested in Japan or wanted to do something in Japan. There were some events with interpreters and translators, but I think it is vital to create a direct dialogue between the speakers and the audience and networking with them.

-What do you do to increase the quantity and quality of the dialogue at Slush Tokyo?

Kazuma: We try to create a flat relationship between the speakers and the participants. For example, we created a stage where attendees could openly ask the speakers questions, whereas usually, the speakers are on the big stage with a microphone. We believe that each participant has the potential to be on the big stage, so we try to make sure that the relationship between the two is as flat and interactive as possible.

-Were there any conflicts within the team while preparing for Slush Tokyo in 2018?

Kazuma: Yes, there were a lot. For example, on one hand, you have an idea that you want to achieve as a team, but on the other, it's the designers who actually shape it. There were differences in how we and the designers wanted to express. Looking back, we discussed until a couple of weeks before the actual event on how we could make the ideas we wanted to come true. At this point, I realized how important communication was between the team members who came up with the idea and the engineers and designers who would create it.