The end of the long long stay in Japan. Perhaps it would be the last one for the next several years.
What happened during the week
The week started with the India visa application. The application documents were well accepted, but as always, the counter lady told me that “we can’t guarantee the timing of visa issuance.” It looks like I will have to go to the embassy to beg their pardon again. Sigh.
The week has been spent on meeting existing and future investors. I could meet some of the investors whom I have not met in person for the last few years. I learned from my former workplace that it is crucial to meet all stakeholders and build trust in this way. Some of the shareholders told me that “I didn’t expect that you came to see me, because you become one of the best entrepreneurs in the country.” I feel it is not a good sign. We aspire much more than where we are, and there is no room for complacency. I kept telling them that this is still a beginning and that I need their feedback rather than complement.
I also made a few investor presentations too. In the next round of financing, I defer the entire process and decision-making to the team. Surely I am very keen on the progress, but there’s no assurance that my joining will make the probability of success higher. Instead, I am spending more time on our strategy and organization building.
For the last few years, I have declined many requests to be an advisor, a committee member, etc. However, I accepted only one — to be a committee member to design the 3rd-party review of children’s welfare offices of the nation. I have kept saying that we need a mechanism like Ofsted of the UK. The budget is relatively limited — $3,000 per review. It means that it is a design of a light DD. The light but meaningful DD should be based more on quantitative data rather than qualitative research (we don’t have much time to do it).
Gojo may enter a completely next phase in the next several months. Joining of the new CTO and COO will mark the beginning of it.
Thanks to the stronger management team, my role at the company is changing these days. My job is more about judgment and decision-making, rather than day to day matters. The magnitude of the decision is relatively large, and I am thinking of how I can improve the quality of my decision making.
Now (if India visa came as planned) is the end of the long stay in Japan. I am resuming the life of globe-trotting.
