On June 26th, 2025, the Conductive Ventures team was thrilled to return to Japan for our second annual Conductive Day. From executive panels to sushi-fueled networking, Conductive Day was a huge success. Special thanks to our guests, partners, and new friends in Japan who made it such a memorable event.
It was a day of deep discussions on AI and entrepreneurship and innovation within the enterprise. Carey Lai, co-founder and General Partner, kicked things off with his keynote spotlighting how AI startups are reimagining enterprise infrastructure at a fraction of the traditional cost, with examples from some of our portfolio companies like CSC Generation, Tripalink and Zingtree. He also pointed out the thought-provoking stat that while in 1995, nine Japanese companies made the most valuable list of companies in the world, in 2025, there are now none – technology cycles can happen suddenly and with a dramatic shift.
Kevin Yu, the former Head of Asia Pacific for Tesla, shared his stories from the frontlines of scaling US tech companies abroad – from launching PayPal in Japan to helping bring Tesla to Tokyo and working with Elon Musk. One standout anecdote: when PayPal first entered the Japanese market, users were actually suspicious of how easy it was to use – so much so that they assumed it couldn’t be safe.
On the topic of “intrapreneurship” – innovating within a corporation – he encouraged all to speak up with their ideas even if they are to get rejected at first.
“Don’t just say nothing and watch the world invent it, and think, I should have said something then”.
Co-founder and General Partner Paul Yeh, sat down with Mark Kojo, the Founder and former CEO of Chip One Stop, and former Chairman and President of Arrow Electronics Japan, to delve into his entrepreneurial journey – from the challenges of raising capital as a first-time founder to the early struggles of launching with zero sales in the first four months. Despite the rocky start, he persevered and ultimately led Chip One Stop, a supplier of electronic components, to a successful IPO, before the company was acquired by Arrow Electronics in 2011. A powerful reminder that persistence often precedes breakthrough.
Later, Kosuke Kikuchi, Platform and Relationship Director, interviewed Masa Kinoshita, the former president of FCL Components (formerly Fujitsu Component) and Head of the Venture Strategy Office at Panasonic. Masa spoke about how he was able to bring a new initiative to life (a venture capital arm) within the structure of a large corporation, emphasizing the importance of grit and a strong focus on results. He also highlighted the value of leveraging the unique resources and assets available in large organizations, and the importance of not limiting oneself, but instead having the mindset to pursue what you truly want to do.
In the afternoon, Arif Damji, Robin Chan and Veda Patel led sessions on the topics of data enablement in sleeptech, AI use cases leveraging existing infrastructure, and the evolution of pricing and business models.
Through interactive hands-on demos, Veda shared insights on how innovative product design coupled with rich consumer data is improving sleep and wellness, with interactive case studies from companies such as Whoop, Oura and Elemind.
And with vast improvements in AI models, Robin discussed how multimodal AI has augmented traditional industries through improved real world understanding and workflow automation. Some example industries that are starting to see this impact already include mobility and transportation, surveillance and security, and media management.
Arif then took the stage to dive deep into the evolution of pricing models – from SaaS-based subscription pricing to newer models like usage-based pricing and outcome-based pricing. Especially as AI-enabled products and services are becoming increasingly pervasive, he urged founders and executives to not just take a one-size fits all approach, but rather think critically about pricing in order to adapt their businesses and maximize the potential of AI.
Conductive Day 2025 was a day of new ideas, insightful conversations and broadening connections. Till next year!
