JStarX @ Stanford

One of 20 entrepreneurs selected from Japan for a month at Stanford

JETRO's JStarX program is one of the Japanese government's flagship initiatives for developing entrepreneurs and connecting them with Silicon Valley. I was selected as one of ~20 entrepreneurs from Japan, fully funded for a month in the Bay Area.

The pitch that got me selected: an AI-native CRM for international student offices at universities.

The idea that got me in

The problem: International student offices are painfully slow — limited hours, overworked staff answering the same basic questions over and over. Universities pay grad students full tuition just to sit at a desk and answer "How do I extend my visa?" for the hundredth time.

The pitch: An AI-native solution to handle common queries, save universities money, and give students 24/7 access to information.

I built a UX/UI prototype and crafted a pitch deck. It worked — I got selected.

What the program taught

For a month, I learned directly from entrepreneurs and professors from Stanford and UC Berkeley - people with multiple exits who taught from real experience, not just frameworks.

What they covered:

• Value creation and idea validation
• Speed to execution
• How to evaluate if an idea is actually worth pursuing
• Customer discovery as the foundation of everything
• Pitching and storytelling

The biggest lesson: Be obsessed with the problem, not the solution. If you solve a problem nobody cares about, it's worthless. They hammered this constantly, and it's shaped how I approach product work.

The network that led to real outcomes

The program opened doors I couldn't have accessed otherwise:

• Airbnb office tour
• StartX accelerator visit (Stanford-exclusive)
• d.school Design Thinking Boot Camp (3-day intensive)
• VC events throughout the Bay Area
• Connections with serial entrepreneurs and Japanese-US startup ecosystem leaders

One of those connections became ongoing work:

I met the founder of Stanford Angel & Entrepreneurs, an NPO that supports startup investors and founders. After the program, I followed up and pitched myself: I'm from Japan, familiar with the Arkansas startup ecosystem, and can help you understand what entrepreneurs in both places need.

He brought me on as a scout. Now I help Stanford Angel & Entrepreneurs keep a pulse on the Arkansas and Japan startup ecosystems - talking to investors and founders, understanding what support they need, and feeding that back.

I'm also still connected to one of the mentors from the program - a serial entrepreneur who's sold multiple companies. I go to him for advice on career decisions and startup thinking.

Why this matters

The program didn't end when I left Palo Alto. I'm scouting for Stanford Angel & Entrepreneurs, helping Startup Junkie explore Asia expansion (I went to CES with their team, generated leads, and one is turning into a Korea healthcare accelerator program), and actively working on JETRO collaborations between Japan and the US.

I also brought what I learned back to McMillon Studio. The d.school workshops at JStarX were interactive, engaging, and effective - I've implemented that style into the workshops I run at the Studio. Students notice the difference.

The selection was just the entry point. The network, the mindset, and the opportunities I'm still creating - that's what stuck.