Of Sci-fi, LA, Ramen & Superheroes — Interview with Genkii CEO, Ken Brady

I present you Ken Brady, CEO of Genkii, the startup that brought us the first virtual world on the iPhone and iPod touch. Ken is one of those guys who can’t be described with any one-word moniker. (He once sold a screenplay to Miramax!) He is at once a writer, actor, director, producer, tech futurist, political junkie, and all-around media whore, based on his Genkii profile.

With his team fully based in Tokyo, Ken has provided us very interesting insights on how’s it like starting up in Japan. Hailing from LA and bringing together a team of geeks, Genkii is something worth watching out for.

Hello Ken,

Really looking forward to your take on my questions! Here goes :)

It’s interesting that Japanese folks play Second Life on their mobile phones, as playing an MMORPG on a mobile phone is generally not a big thing yet across Asia. Is this true and also a main reason why you would base Genkii in Tokyo?

That’s not exactly right. Second Life – and other existing virtual worlds – are not really prevalent on mobile phones right now, either in Japan or elsewhere. Though mobile technology, including the iPhone, is advancing rapidly, the amount of power needed to fully render existing 3D worlds like SL is just too great. That’s not saying it can’t be done eventually, but right now it would be a matter of stripping features out of those worlds in order to make them function on a mobile device. That, or building mobile worlds from scratch. One of the things we’ve focused on with Sparkle 3D is building the world from the ground up, starting on a mobile platform. Sparkle IM – our communication tool for existing worlds like Second Life – allows limited functionality on the iPhone and iPod touch, but that’s not really the same thing as running Second Life on a mobile phone. :)

Certainly we considered Japan’s track record: advanced technology, huge adoption of mobile technology, fast broadband speeds, etc. Add that to the amount of time Japanese spend on their mobiles and the always-on-the-go pace of the society, and we absolutely feel Japan will be an important part of the worldwide adoption of mobile immersive spaces and MMORPGs.

Are there other considerations that compelled you to startup in Japan? What were the other localities you were considering?

As the majority of the Genkii team is from from the US, it’s a question we get asked often. One of the reasons is quite simple: we just like it here. We enjoy the culture, the food, the environment, and the excitement of Tokyo. The other part is a little harder to see from the outside: community and opportunity in the tech world. We’ve met a large number of talented and enthusiastic people in Tokyo – both Japanese and foreign – and we’ve found them to be receptive to new ideas and genuinely interested in helping build a solid bridge between technology in Japan and the rest of the world. We also believe wholeheartedly in this goal, and spend much of our time at events and meetups that aim to bring us closer to reaching it.

That sense of community abounds in the US – especially in places like Portland, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area – and it’s easy for us, since we’re from the US, to connect with those communities whenever we need to. But it’s a bit more hidden in Tokyo, and I think many people from outside Japan don’t know it’s even there. That’s changing, though, and we’d like to help. Being part of that change allows us to draw on the resources and talent from both the US and Japan, and also to be close to China and SE Asia, all of which I think are vital if we want to grow as an international company.

I spent a fair amount of time in Thailand and China, Yuki grew up in Taiwan, and Adam and Jeff traveled around quite a bit as well, so we could certainly have ended up any number of places. Perhaps this is just where we are today, and we’ll be somewhere else tomorrow – but we do all feel like Japan is home.

From the media, we all know that the living expenses in Japan are pretty high in Tokyo. How do you cope? Do you have external sources of funding to stay afloat? Eat cheap ramen like how American startup hackers survive on? Office rental space must be
exorbitant too, is there some sort of cheap workspace cum accomodation that you’d like to share?

I love to joke that, in Tokyo, ramen isn’t just for homeless people and students – it’s also for startups. :) But ramen isn’t really that cheap here. Yet Tokyo is like most big cities in that you can just get by or you can go all out. The range is huge. I find it costs about the same to live in Tokyo as Los Angeles – way cheaper than San Francisco or New York.

We’re self-funded, have relied on contracts and consulting to get us where we are now, and are big proponents of being a lean startup. We work in coffee shops (and the occasional bar) or each others’ homes. As we grow we know this will necessarily change, but you do what you can with what you have.

Culture within a startup is very important as it gels like minded people together to work on great things. At Yahoo, they play faceball and my friends at Google tell me that nerf gun battles happen suddenly in the middle of the day, what kind of social bonding activity does Genkii engage in? Something Japanese?

We spend a lot of time together, from hanging out in coffee shops, going out drinking, watching movies and having barbecues to snowboarding and playing video games. And yes, there have been a fair number of late nights singing karaoke. You can join us sometime, if you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view).

Suppose there’s a startup founder who’s egging to work magic in the Japanese market, what are the Top 3 tips/ advice would you give him/her?

First off, find a way to spend some time in Japan! It’s true that every market is different around the world, but I think many people make the mistake of treating Japan as a known quantity, since there’s so much exposure to its culture in mass media. It’s a much more complex market than it appears on the outside. Second, work with local partners. There are a lot of Japanese companies – and foreigners working in Japan – who can help you make in-roads and are happy to do so if you’ve got a great idea and are enthusiastic. And, third, be respectful. Of course this is true in any place where you are the visitor, but I believe it’s vital in Japan. You’ll find far more people willing to help you out and introduce you to others who will help you further if you don’t play the part of the arrogant outsider.

Did you have a personal ambition to make it big in Japan all along? Do you think that you’ll be settling down in Japan and calling it your home eventually?

I had traveled to Japan for many years before finally moving to Tokyo, but wasn’t really sure if I would ever actually live here. I think I’ll likely stay for a long time – and I think that’s true of everyone at Genkii – though I can’t speak for us all. We have developers in several countries around the world, and are likely to expand that part of the company moving forward. Given the right sort of opportunity, we’re not against relocating as individuals or as a company. That said, we believe having a presence in Japan will always be vital to the company.

It’s nice to see that Genkii is mostly powered by geeks, I really like Jeff’s self biography on the Gekii homepage. Won’t you tell us more about their super powers? :)

Honestly, Genkii is comprised entirely of geeks, though different stripes. Science fiction writer, manga artist, programmers…you get the picture. Though we do have a pretty balanced background in terms of work and business experience.

(Not sure if you’re asking for more background or a bit about super powers. I’m choosing the latter.)

That said:

Jeff is Supreme Code Ninja. When supplied with enough coffee, he is completely unstopppable, a machine who is equally adept immersed in lines of code or singing in a karaoke booth.

Adam is Wielder of the Productivity Stick. Balancing the arts of techie and strategist, he flits between projects, corralling the rest of the team and ringing the Pavolovian bell when they get out of hand.

Yuki is Master of All that is Cute. From logos to comics, she fashions adorable images from the gortesque ideas presented by the rest of us. Out of all of the Genkii team, she looks the best in a skirt.

Ken, at a recent tech event, was dubbed International Man of Geekery and decided it’s a title worn with pride. Flying from place to place, imparting strange and somewhat confusing predictions about the future is his curse.

:)

-Ken

This article is part of a feature series on prominent attendees of  unConference 2009 on May 16th. Follow the event on twitter here. (event hashtag: #unconf2009)