Building to $1b in Japan

The speaker is building a company in Tokyo called L7B (Level 7 Ventures) with the ambitious goal of scaling it to $1 billion, documenting the entire process. Having previously sold a company for $110 million, he's starting anew with significant capital, connections, and experience. This venture aims to showcase the raw reality of being a founder, sharing successes, failures, and lessons learned. After selling his last company, the speaker found himself unfulfilled despite having everything he desired. A pivotal moment occurred on Richard Branson's private island, where conversations with other entrepreneurs led him to decide to build something meaningful, good for humanity, and fun, inspired by Branson's philosophy. L7B operates through three main strategies: investing in early-stage startups, incubating and building businesses from scratch, and acquiring existing businesses. The company is headquartered in Tokyo. A foundational element of L7B is media, which serves to attract talent and identify investment opportunities. The speaker emphasizes that the vlogs will be raw and authentic, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the building process, including mistakes and wins, hoping to inspire others and save them from similar pitfalls. The initial phase involves building a media team and establishing critical systems for growth. This includes defining goals, creating systematic processes, and assigning clear ownership for each task. The speaker and his videographer, Ian, are learning to work together, ensuring the content reflects this real-time learning experience. The speaker also shares insights into his investment philosophy at L7B. He looks for opportunities in large markets with a clear disruption or new need. Entrepreneurs must have an original insight into how to fill this need, potentially through new technology or by applying processes from other markets. Crucially, L7B only invests in businesses that "move humanity forward," meaning they genuinely improve people's lives. He explicitly states he's not interested in ventures solely focused on making money, like gambling sites or OnlyFans, as his motivation is beyond financial gain. A significant development in the journey is the company's application to the Supercell AI gaming accelerator. The speaker was invited by Google to judge an AI gaming hackathon, co-hosted by Supercell, just before his final interview for the accelerator. This experience highlights the rapid acceleration in AI development, demonstrating that an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) can now be built in a single day, a process that once took weeks or months. He likens this AI wave to the internet wave of the past, urging aspiring builders to seize the current opportunity. He was particularly impressed by a food robot project at the hackathon, where 3D models could be generated from food photos in minutes. The speaker expresses confidence in their preparation for the Supercell interview, having put in extensive effort. While not nervous, he acknowledges the potential for the accelerator to fundamentally alter their trajectory. He is eager to learn from Supercell, recognizing his inexperience in building gaming companies despite his general entrepreneurial background.