Ep. 36: Evolution of Trading Companies - Past, Present & Future with Jason Ollison
12/12/20 • 113 min
In this episode we are joined by Jason Ollison. In August of this year, Jason was quoted in an article from the Financial Times on a $6bn investment made by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway across Japan’s five biggest trading houses so I reach out to him to understand more. If there is another person as crazy about understanding the Japanese approach to international investment I simply must know them and talk to them. Very early in our zoom coffee, it became clear that these trading houses turned global venture capital and private equity businesses may not be as simple and well-run as Buffet's mantra may suggest. So I asked Jason to come on the podcast so I wasn't the only one to benefits from his insights.
Now on a bit about Jason. Jason is a Global Business, Strategy, Risk Management, Political Economy, and International Investment professional with 20 years of experience as an award-winning Consultant. Jason has lived in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America and is proficient in Japanese, with some Spanish ability. We are in GOOD HANDS, people.
Currently, Jason spend his time in New York where he is the Co-Founder and Global Managing Director of Asialantic Global Advisors, a boutique global business & investment advisory firm focused on real economy sectors, impact investing, small & medium enterprises, and corporate strategy.
We cover a lot of turf in this conversation; Evolution of Trading Houses (Sogo Shosha). So take your time, pause when you need to, come back when you can but most importantly, enjoy it! Enjoy these kinds of conversations that the Business Karaoke Podcast brings you - a modern lens on doing business in and with Japan.
Key Takeaways:
05:05 | A historical look into how trading companies (Sogo Shosha) came to power.
18:46 | The 3 revolutions.
31:10 | Balancing resources with Human Resources in paving a path to success and the people behind the trading companies (Sogo Shosha).
43:45 | Issues around foreign talent, diverse workforce, rotating workforce and retention in long-term investment projects.
55:30 | Skills sets required for trading companies' (Sogo Shosha) talent of the future.
1:26:30 | Leveraging balance over diversity in closing the chasm.
1:40:20 | The value of trading companies (Sogo Shosha) today and future investment opportunities.
To find out more about Jason, follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-ollison-2b96341/).
In this episode we are joined by Jason Ollison. In August of this year, Jason was quoted in an article from the Financial Times on a $6bn investment made by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway across Japan’s five biggest trading houses so I reach out to him to understand more. If there is another person as crazy about understanding the Japanese approach to international investment I simply must know them and talk to them. Very early in our zoom coffee, it became clear that these trading houses turned global venture capital and private equity businesses may not be as simple and well-run as Buffet's mantra may suggest. So I asked Jason to come on the podcast so I wasn't the only one to benefits from his insights.
Now on a bit about Jason. Jason is a Global Business, Strategy, Risk Management, Political Economy, and International Investment professional with 20 years of experience as an award-winning Consultant. Jason has lived in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America and is proficient in Japanese, with some Spanish ability. We are in GOOD HANDS, people.
Currently, Jason spend his time in New York where he is the Co-Founder and Global Managing Director of Asialantic Global Advisors, a boutique global business & investment advisory firm focused on real economy sectors, impact investing, small & medium enterprises, and corporate strategy.
We cover a lot of turf in this conversation; Evolution of Trading Houses (Sogo Shosha). So take your time, pause when you need to, come back when you can but most importantly, enjoy it! Enjoy these kinds of conversations that the Business Karaoke Podcast brings you - a modern lens on doing business in and with Japan.
Key Takeaways:
05:05 | A historical look into how trading companies (Sogo Shosha) came to power.
18:46 | The 3 revolutions.
31:10 | Balancing resources with Human Resources in paving a path to success and the people behind the trading companies (Sogo Shosha).
43:45 | Issues around foreign talent, diverse workforce, rotating workforce and retention in long-term investment projects.
55:30 | Skills sets required for trading companies' (Sogo Shosha) talent of the future.
1:26:30 | Leveraging balance over diversity in closing the chasm.
1:40:20 | The value of trading companies (Sogo Shosha) today and future investment opportunities.
To find out more about Jason, follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-ollison-2b96341/).
Previous Episode
Ep. 35: Fostering Curiosity and Learning to Lead in an Innovative Future with Nathan Paterson
In this episode we are joined by Nathan Paterson. Prior to his current role of Director at IDEO Tokyo, Nathan led the research and design team at Disney Interactive Labs in Los Angeles, crafting immersive experiences with emerging technologies for Disney Guests around the world. In addition to his corporate experience Nathan built a design studio in Tokyo and co-founded an online education startup.
At IDEO, Nathan's main focus is on client Learning Programs but as you'll soon discover helping individuals, teams, and organizations learn how to navigate change through design, creativity, and play is not only a career but a calling for Nathan. Over the next hour Nathan leads us through a dynamic dialogue on the importance of fostering curiosity and learning to develop people who can lead in an innovative future. We cover everything from how to design meaningful and personalized learning opportunities, the role of community and data, to a story of how Nathan and 6 year old daughter climbed Mount Fuji and what what lessons exists for organizations to re-think their learning experiences.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform.
Let's begin
Key Takeaways
02:55 | A new take on ABC; from always closing to always curious.
04:15 | Where do the inspired find inspiration?
07:40 | Designing and empowering learning experiences.
12:15 | Maturity of learning in organizations in Japan on a global spectrum.
15:15 | Adopting a growth mindset and the role rituals play in becoming a learning organization.
25:05 | Creating unique rituals authentic to your organisation.
31:00 | Emerging metrics in education and striving for "aha" moments.
40:05 | Role of community in education.
49:40 | Flexibility and exploration in learning catalyzed by COVID-19.
1:00:20 | The fabric of organizations 5 years from now.
Learn more about Nathan here:
Personal website / Twitter / LinkedIn
Learn more about things important to Nathan here:
IDEO Tokyo
Learning at IDEO Tokyo
IDEO’s Emergent Futures document
Creative Difference
Tokyo Community School
Next Episode
Ep. 37: FinTech and Open Innovation for a Global Financial City with Makoto Shibata
In this episode we are joined by Makoto Shibata. Shibata-san leads FINOLAB which was ranked in the top 10 innovation labs in APAC in 2020. The FINOLAB community consists of 50 startup members and 16 corporate members to stimulate innovation in Financial Technology in one of the most prominent international financial centers, the Otemachi area in Tokyo.
I was keen to invite Shibata-san to share his insights on FinTech and Open Innovation not only because of his experience with startups and accelerators but because of his remarkable experience in leading emerging technology, FinTech initiatives and digital banking at MUFG. This unique balanced perspective that Shibata-san provides, balance not only between the traditional corporate world and the startup world but also between global and domestic markets is exactly the kind of insights that can equip us in the Business Karaoke Podcast community to understanding what kind of opportunities and disruption await us in the future.
This interview with Shibata-san is broken up into to parts; English and Japanese, where we explore the issues surrounding Open Innovation and Fintech from a global and local perspective, respectively.
I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did and please remember to share your feedback with me on your favourite social media platform.
Let's begin!
04:00 | Defining open innovation
07:00 | Competitiveness of Tokyo as a global FinHub
11:00 | Overview of Major stakeholders and Fintech Initiatives
22:30 | What makes a strong FinTech community?
25:15 | Foreign Startups becoming trusted business partners
27:15 | Opportunities to serve underutilized personal assets
33:00 | Looking to the next 3-5 years
Find out more about Shibata-san and FINOLAB here:
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/makoto-shibata-0aa0b33/)
FINOLAB (https://finolab.co.jp/index.html)
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/business-karaoke-podcast-with-brittany-arthur-240716/ep-36-evolution-of-trading-companies-past-present-and-future-with-jaso-26796141"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to ep. 36: evolution of trading companies - past, present & future with jason ollison on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy