Chris Tolles once pointed out to me that there are three tribes in the Valley -- White, Indian, and Chinese. From within these tribes, it's easy to find our heroes -- Steve Jobs, Vinod Khosla, Pehong Chen, to name a few. This makes me wonder, where is my tribe -- the Japanese (Americans)? And, in particular, who are my tribe's heroes?
In general, I don't get too hung up on racial differentiation. As a Japanese American whose ancestors immigrated a few generations ago, I am definitely more "American" than "Japanese" at least culturally speaking. And yet, I wonder, where are my brethren? Why aren't there more successful Japanese entreprenuers/engineers in the Valley, not to mention the heroes and leaders?
Sure, there's Guy Kawasaki. But, as confirmed by his LinkedIn profile, he really hasn't been in the fire of starting/running companies in years ("Advisor" and "VC" don't count). Likewise, Scott Oki of Microsoft fame, left the industry in the early 90's. I think he mostly builds golf courses these days. (And, he hails from Seattle not the Valley).
Then, there's a handful of Wayne Yamamoto's -- this guy and this guy. I think some confuse the former with me -- he also worked at Sun and our research interests are similar. The latter seems to have had success and, unfortunately, problems at S3. I've met neither. If you are either Wayne or Wayne, send me an email -- love to meet.
Last, there's Jeff Yasuda. I met Jeff a few weeks ago. He heads up a start up called Fuzz. He's up to some good stuff.
Here's a call to all my brethren -- leave a comment (or send me an email) and let me know the good stuff you are doing. Prove me wrong -- seems like we should be kicking butt in the Valley.
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