Widening Our Orbit: A New Series of Events for Tokyo’s Growing Startup Community

Moon Creative Lab recently announced three new programs that we will be offering to current and future entrepreneurs. One of those offerings is Orbit, a new event series where those interested in creating new businesses can connect with others to learn, network, and collaborate.

Currently held at our Spring Terrace studio in Tokyo (and soon to expand to our studio in Palo Alto, California), Orbit events are free and open to everyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, business and design. Each event will focus on different topics focused on startups, technology, human-centered design, corporate innovation, and much more. They’re unique opportunities to learn and connect with others who are passionate about new business creation. And it’s the perfect environment for serendipitous connections to occur. Meeting a future co-founder, collaborating for an experiment, discovering the design research your idea needs – just a few of the wonderful “happy accidents” that could happen at an Orbit event!
 

Come One, Come All

Our first Orbit event was an Ask Me Anything (AMA) panel with first-time founders. It was the first time Moon invited local business leaders and supporters to share their experiences. The panel of successful founders included Takanori Sato, co-founder and CEO of Shippio, Japan’s first digital forwarding company; Eriko Suzuki, leader in global venture capital investing and founding director of Kind Capital; and Francisco Soares, engineer, community organizer, and founder of management consulting firm, SEEFY. They provided valuable insight, gave advice on common challenges, offered tips for building a successful business, and answered questions from audience members.

“Events like this are impactful for people connecting in meaningful ways to recognize the challenges of the startup process,” says Jimi Okelana, Moon Design Lead and Orbit events team member. “Through casual conversation, each of the speakers created an environment of motivation and gave insight to navigating the role of a founder. Through Orbit, we are creating a way for Moon to play a more active part in our local startup/​venture ecosystem, and this has been a great way to begin that initiative!”

Other Orbit events include Thursday Night Sliders and Moon Talk! For those who have discovered a problem they want to solve, are looking for a startup team to support, or want to learn what they need to make their venture ideas happen, Thursday Night Sliders is an opportunity to both pitch your own idea and see pitches from your peers in the startup community. Each presenter gets five minutes to present five slides describing their project, product, or idea. Thursday Night Sliders is a fun, casual event that offers attendees bite-sized tastes of challenging problems and great ideas.

Moon Talk! events are casual talks that provide insightful and valuable information for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and others interested in startups and innovation. With a different topic for each event, attendees will hear industry leaders and experts discuss subjects such as business strategies, the latest in corporate innovation, stories of startup founders, and deep dives into design and technology.Whether you’re interested in innovation, passionate about startups, or want to learn more about creating new businesses, we encourage you to come to an Orbit event and join our community. You never know – you might meet your future co-founders, team members, partners, and customers!

Learn more about Orbit here, and be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on future events from Moon.