Kei Shibata on Founding with <1% Equity, Taking Risks in Risk-Free Environments & Non-Ideal Startup Paths - E62

Kei Shibata co-founded Venture Republic Group in 2001 and has been serving as CEO since the foundation. The company runs a group of online travel websites and apps across Asia including LINE TRAVEL jp , Japan's largest online travel metasearch/media (26 million monthly users on Web + 22 million followers on LINE app), Trip101, a Singapore-based global online travel media for modern travelers, and allstay, a leading mobile accommodation search app in Korea.

He led the company to IPO (2177. JASDAQ) in 2008 after 7 years of inception, to buyout by the management in 2012, to sales of “coneco.net,” its online shopping engine business in Japan to Yahoo! Japan in 2013, and to bring in LINE Corporation, Asia’s leading mobile messaging company as an investor in 2018 as a liquidity event.

Kei also serves as co-founder/organizer of WIT (Web In Travel) Japan & North Asia, the largest international business conference in North Asia focusing on travel & technology, Chairman of Keio University's alumni association for startup founders/CEOs and Executive Committee Member of Harvard Business School Club of Japan.

Kei is also an angel investor in the travel & technology space across APEC and America regions for over 10 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Law from Keio University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

In his free time, Kei is an avid nordic/alpine skier & snowboarder.

Shownotes at https://www.jeremyau.com/blog/kei-shibata

You can find our community discussions on the podcast episode at

https://club.jeremyau.com/c/podcasts/62-kei-shibata-on-founding-with-1-equity-taking-risks-in-risk-free-environments-non-ideal-startup-paths