11 years in Asia's digital world turned into awe-inspiring talks for your enjoyment. "Mister Asia" - Mike Butcher, TechCrunch

1. Benjamin
Joffe
Speaker
Profile

2. “Mister
Asia”
–
Mike
Butcher,
TechCrunch
• 11
years
in
Asia
in
the
digital
space
• Japan,
Korea,
China
• Also
lived
in
USA,
Singapore,
Germany
and
France
for
a
wider
perspecDve.
4
years
1
year
6
years
• 100+
keynotes
across
17
countries
• Private
events
such
as
MicrosoG
Startup
Series,
Dell
InnovaDon
Summit,
P&G
Innovasia
(only
external
keynote
to
this
annual
event
aMended
by
P&G’s
CEO,
CTO
and
700
APAC
execuDves).
• Top
public
conferences
such
as
LeWeb
(#1
Internet
Conference
in
Europe),
Stanford,
Berkeley,
SXSW,
PICNIC,
LIFT,
GMIC,
Virtual
Goods
Summit,
European
Commission…
“We
are
Western
centric
and
understanding
the
nuances
in
digital
socializaDon
will
help
enhance
our
digital
strategies.
Benjamin’s
presentaDon
highlighted
many
gaps
in
my
understanding.”
James
Kaw,
Director,
P&G
Research
&
Development

3. Why
Invite
Me?
1. Learn
about
Asia’s
innovaFons
– China
boasts
the
largest
mobile
and
Internet
populaDon,
and
online
gaming
market
– The
fastest
Internet
in
the
world
is
in
South
Korea,
3x
faster
than
US
– Japan
has
the
world’s
highest
3G
penetraDon,
over
95%
2. Challenge
preconcepFons
– “Everything
from
the
US
is
great”
– “Everything
from
Asia
is
weird”
– “InnovaAon
is
done
by
geniuses”
– “Entrepreneurship
is
a
Western
concept”
3. Open
eyes
on
the
new
ways
of
being
global

4. What
ideas
do
I
share?
• Topics
Content
– Asia
&
innovaDon
Impact
for
the
West
– Crossing
of
Technology,
How
tech
travels
across
Sociology,
Anthropology
borders
&
cultures
– Virtual
economies
Things
that
“don’t
exist”
– Digital
“third
places”
CreaDve
&
social
places
– ArDficial
arDficial
Those
small
tasks
intelligence
(AAI)
humans
sDll
do
beMer
– Online
social
dynamics
Web
social
psychology
The
5C’s
of
innovaFon:
Copy,
CombinaDon,
CompeDDon,
Constraints,
Context
Techno-­‐Darwinism:
How
environment,
mutaDon
and
struggle
for
survival
shapes
innovaDon
See
over
50
presentaDons
at
www.slideshare.net/plus8star

5. Interviewing
Niklas
Zennstroem
Interviewing
Takeshi
Natsuno
Co-­‐Founder
of
Legendary
inventor
of
Japan’s
“i-­‐mode”
(GMIC,
Beijing
2011
|
1,500
parDcipants)
(GMIC,
Beijing
2011
|
1,500
parDcipants)
Asia
panel
with
Internet
Leaders
Keynote
from
Japan,
Korea,
China
&
SE
Asia
“From
Digital
PanopAcon
to
Noospehere”
(LeWeb,
Paris
2010
|
2,500
parDcipants)
(LIFT,
Korea,
2009
|
560
parDcipants)

6. In
the
Trenches
• Expert
research
&
strategy
• In
2003,
I
founded
+8*
(www.plus8star.com),
which
advises
the
most
innovaFve
companies
in
the
world
by
leveraging
the
best
pracDces
from
Asia.
– Our
team
includes
Japanese,
Korean
and
Chinese
consultants
and
researchers.
– Clients
are
MNCs,
startups,
including
Asian
companies.
– We
also
consult
to
creaDve
strategists
at
IDEO
and
thought
leaders
at
Harvard
Business
School.
• Hands-­‐on
with
startups
• We
ran
innovaFon
workshops
for
the
Augmented
Reality
firm
Layar,
advised
blogging
plaqorm
Tumblr
on
its
Japan
market
entry
strategy,
and
researched
best
pracDces
for
Virtual
World
IMVU.
• I
am
also
an
angel
investor
in
global
startups
– CMUNE
|
Leader
in
3D
Social
Games
(Beijing)
– MYGENGO
|
Human
TranslaDon
Plaqorm
(Tokyo)
“Within
a
few
weeks
we
have
idenDfied
and
roadmapped
various
product
enhancements
as
a
direct
result
of
our
learnings
from
+8*.
It
is
an
invaluable
reference
that
I
consult
oGen
when
considering
new
product
enhancements”
|
Lee
Clancy,
VP
Product
Management,
IMVU

7. Events
&
Advisory
• Founder
of
Mobile
Monday
Beijing,
a
monthly
event
for
mobile
industry
professionals
in
China
– 37
events
(3,000
aMendees,
130
speakers)
– Selected
among
“China’s
Top
100
mobile
industry
influencers”
in
2007
&
2008
– Senior
Expert
with
EU
DelegaDon
to
China
• More
events
in
Asia
– Co-­‐Organizer
of
tech
events
in
Asia
– Advisor
to
the
first
TEDx
event
in
Beijing
• Advisor
&
Mentor
to
startup
incubators
– 500
Startups
(Mountain
View,
USA)
– Chinaccelerator
(Dalian,
China)
– YeDZen
(Gaming
incubator,
San
Francisco)

8. • Personal
stories
• I
have
amazing
stories
to
share
about
many
top
companies,
entrepreneurs,
business
models,
and
can
demonstrate
cross-­‐border
influences
and
deconstruct
stereotypes.
• Everyone
is
an
innovator!
Contact
me
at
benjamin@plus8star.com
TwiMer
|
@benjaminjoffe
Skype
|
benjaminjoffe