Year: 2007

MoMoers had a super time during the last two mixer events, and it was truly great to see so many attendees and meet with such a wide range of mobile-savvy folks. Now it’s time to get back down to business! While we certainly plan to hold those ‘open-to-all’ evenings several more times throughout 2007, our next event is reserved for people working in the mobile community only in an effort to focus on our core audience.

We have arranged for two Tokyo-based VCs to present an overview of their operations and discuss what they are looking for when they are approached by start-ups for funding. This “get the money to meet the talent”-theme evening should certainly result in some interesting conversations and new connections for everyone concerned. So mark your calendar for 19 March at KDDI’s fabulous Designing Studio, Harajuku, and please RSVP so we can prepare enough food for the post-presentation networking session in the 5th floor Wired Cafe.

Michael Korver – Co-founding Partner – Global Venture Capital
Global Venture CapitalMichael was born and raised in Tokyo and first developed his insider’s perspective on Asian business from his experience as an analyst at the Nomura Research Institute in Tokyo from 1983 until 1986 – where he first met Hirokazu-san, GVC’s other managing partner – and as an international transactions lawyer with Richards & O’Neil in New York and Tokyo from 1987 until 1993. Since 1993, Michael has worked as an international business consultant, corporate lawyer, venture capitalist and entrepreneur in Tokyo. GVC’s partners have been active in entrepreneurship, venture capital and private equity globally for over 20 years.

Masaaki Suga – Vice President – CYBIRD Investment Partners
CYBIRD Investment PartnersMasaaki Suga joined CIP in January 2007. Earlier, he resided in Vancouver, Canada, and managed a number of projects in which he helped companies and products in North America to enter into the Japan and Asia market. Previously he worked for Macromedia (Adobe Systems) to run product and marketing division of server side products in Japan. Masaaki received an MBA from McGill University, Montreal Canada. CYBIRD Investment Partners Inc. (CIP) is a capital investment management company and 100% owned by CYBIRD Holdings Co., Ltd. CIP manages CYBIRD Plus Mobile Fund, the first mobile focused fund in Japan.

Date: Monday, 19 March 2007
Venue: KDDI Designing Studio GMAP
18:30 – Doors Open
19:00 – Welcome/introduction
19:15 – First presentation
19:30 – Second presentation
19:45 – Q & A
20:00 – Networking
22:00 – Last Call

It’s a new year – all hail the Golden Pig – and we’re looking forward to the Mobile Monday kick-off, on 5 February, with a relaxed evening of person-to-person networking with plenty of the best gourmet pizza in Tokyo.

In 2007, Mobile Monday Tokyo enters its fourth year, and the size – over 350 at our last event – and sophistication of the MoMo community continues to expand. MoMo is now regularly attended by CEOs and professionals from Japan’s best-known mobile players, as well as a large number of entrepreneurs, developers and other tremendously knowledgeable people.

Moreover, as many MoMo participants tend to arrive on Monday evening direct from work, it’s clear that providing a reliable networking venue – complete with food and drink – are prerequisites for fostering a growing, ever-more dynamic community.

Therefore, starting in February, your humble organizers have decided to adopt the MoMo Beijing model and charge a modest entry fee (¥1,000 with preregistration – OR – ¥2,000 at the door). The revenue will ensure that we can book suitable locations and offer a decent light buffet, which we think will be appreciated by those ‘running on empty’ come 19:00 ish..

Regardless, corporate sponsorship will remain the primary support for MoMo Tokyo. Our sincere thanks to Jonckers and Robert Leonard for their fantastic on-going support! We remain keen to sign up additional forward-thinking companies interested in sponsoring the most switched-on mobile community in Japan.

Finally, we are delighted to announce that Tokyo’s very own NaviBlog was selected as the Japan nominee for the upcoming Mobile Monday Global Peer Awards, to be held at 3GSM in Barcelona, 12 February. NaviBlog presented to us here last May and also received Red Herring Asia’s Top 100 award in August. Good luck to Mandali and his team, we hope you bring home some hardware like Opera Japan did at the Global Summit in Helsinki last year.

Sponsored by: Jonckers Translation & Engineering and Robert Leonard Consulting

Date: Monday, 5 February 2007 :: 18:30 – 23:00
Venue: Pizza Express in Harajuku – GMAP
Admission: ¥1,000 with registration – OR – ¥2,000 at the door
Includes: 1 drink ticket and Tokyo’s best pizza buffet

18:30 – Doors Open
19:00 – Networking – Buffet
22:30 – Last Call
23:00 – Close – Nijikai

A quick tip for the pre-registration form:
Save the trees! Use your keitai email address to have the confirmation email sent to your handset and just show that for easy check in at the door!