Simon Woodroffe: “Having No Experience Was My Advantage” | Founder of YO! Sushi
YO! Sushi and YOTEL founder Simon Woodroffe joins Bridging Talks to discuss entrepreneurship, Japan, reinvention, Dragons’ Den, innovation and the outsider advantage.
Bridging Talks Podcast
Bridging Talks Ep. 7 – Building a Knowledge Legacy: From Silicon Valley to AI with Kei Watanabe
This episode featured an interview with Kei, co-founder of Glasp, a web highlighting and knowledge sharing application. Kei shared his journey from working as a product manager in Japan to co-founding Glasp in San Francisco, explaining how the company started as a web highlighter and later integrated AI features, particularly after ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, which helped them grow rapidly. He discussed their user acquisition strategies, including community building through Slack, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as their decision to stay true to their mission of preventing knowledge isolation rather than focusing on trending features like YouTube summaries. Kei also shared insights about fundraising challenges, particularly in the US market, and advice for founders about following curiosity and maintaining belief in their mission.
Bridging Talks Ep. 6 – Ramune: Empowering Foreign Founders, and Bridging Japan’s Startup Ecosystems | Keisuke Goto
In this episode of Bridging Talks — the cross-cultural business podcast by Bridging Connect — I spoke with Keisuke Goto, Founder & CEO of Ramune Inc. and a former software engineer who spent 5 years in California.
Bridging Talks Ep. 5 – The Future of HR and Performance Management in Japan | Dan Ring
In this episode, we sit down with Dan Ring, UK-based HR consultant and founder of Elevate, to discuss his journey from global HR Business Partner roles at major financial institutions (including NatWest in the UK, Singapore, and Japan) to launching his own HR tech consultancy in Tokyo.
Bridging Talks Ep. 4 – Building a Global Freelance Career: Frontend, AI & Life Between Cultures | Joseph Allen
In this episode of Bridging Talks, host Majid Hashmi sits down with Joseph Allen, a front-end developer and freelancer with 8+ years of experience.
Bridging Talks Ep. 3 – From UK to South Korea: Using AI to Protect Women Safety | Safiyah Kilby
In this Episode 3 of Bridging Talks, our founder Majid Hashmi sits down with Safiyah (Jia) Kilby, CEO & Founder of STREETWYSE Inc., an AI-powered safety solutions company on a mission to protect women, youth, and vulnerable individuals around the world starting in South Korea.
Bridging Talks Ep. 2 – From UK to Japan: Lessons in Global Hiring & Human Connection | Paul Roberts
In Episode 2 of Bridging Talks, host Majid Hashmi speaks with Paul Roberts, a Tokyo-based tech recruiter with over two decades of experience placing bilingual professionals in Japan’s most sought-after roles. Paul has worked with global tech giants and startups alike, and shares candid insights from his blog and newsletter—covering recruitment trends, Japan market entry, and stories of life abroad. Paul has his own platform paulroberts.jp and blog.
Bridging Talks Ep. 1: Culture, Localization, and Global Business with Eunnara Jo
Welcome to the first episode of Bridging Talks, a cross-cultural business podcast powered by Bridging Connect. In this launch episode, we’re joined by Eunnara Jo, founder of JOEL Localization & Trading, a Seoul-based localisation firm that works with global brands to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps across borders.