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Making the Web Easier to Surf: Part Trois

Making computers and the Internet easier to use is especially important in Japan, and an issue that's close to my heart. This month we take a look at a service offered by startup Barrier Free that enables Web surfers to append a plain Japanese language word to an URL to search for a site of interest.

Specifically, the user types in <http://rurl.net> followed by a Japanese language description of the site of interest. For example, if the user wants to find the Ministry of Finance site, he would type in <http://rurl.net/ookurashou>, converting the "ookurashou" to Japanese before submitting the URL (note that "ookurashou" must be converted to Japanese; leaving the URL in English as <http://rurl.net/ookurashou> doesn't work). The user is then redirected immediately to the Ministry of Finance site at <http://www.mof.go.jp>.

A user can thus make an immediate, intelligent attempt to go straight to a Web site of interest without knowing the URL. This is a real benefit, since many URLs are essentially impossible to guess, and many users prefer as much plain language interaction with their computers as possible.

Right now Barrier Free's system only works with a predetermined list consisting primarily of government-related organizations, and probably depends on manually entering new sites into some sort of database table. But if this table could be greatly extended, it would be extremely useful. Maybe some savvy company will buy Barrier Free and make it possible to essentially use a search engine without going to a Web site. Hmmm, but that would be extremely useful only to the user and make the search engine portal model obsolete... on second thought, it'll never happen...

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Get ready, startup folks: Here's the guy who could make it happen for you. Gary Rieschel has been there, done that, and is now one of the Main Men at Softbank Technology Ventures, a company that invests in U.S. Internet start-ups on behalf of parent Softbank.


- Please give us the capsule version of the Gary Rieschel story: How did you go from a B.A. in biology at Reed College to general manager of Sequent Computer Systems' Asian operations and now executive managing director of Softbank Technology Ventures?

When I left Reed College, Intel had just started operations in Oregon. I had put myself through school managing a grocery store and therefore had experience managing up to 30 people which Intel found attractive. I found out that I enjoyed working with people, so rather than continuing on in Immunology as a research biologist, I stayed at Intel for 3 years before going to Harvard Business School.

After Harvard, I joined some of the people I had worked with at Intel at a new company Sequent Computer Systems. I implemented their first manufacturing software, helped build their first computer, then helped them set up product marketing and all the overseas operations (Europe, Asia, Australia, and so on). I moved to Tokyo in '89 to run the joint venture we had established between Sequent and Matsushita. I lived there for 4.5 years where I met Masayoshi Son, the head of SOFTBANK. We became friends. When I returned to the US to join Cisco Systems and run their sales channels, I introduced John Chambers to Masayoshi Son, and helped create a joint venture between SOFTBANK, Cisco, and 12 other companies for Japan. I also implemented many of the channel management and training programs that Cisco still uses today.

Larry Ellison then recruited me to go to NCube, which at the time was looking very promising as the Video-On-Demand (VOD) market was taking off. After 12 months there, it was clear that the market was not happening as rapidly as we had first thought and I agreed with Larry that I would look for other opportunities. Son-san contacted me about joining the SOFTBANK operation to both look after the corporate operations and begin managing the venture capital funds that SOFTBANK had raised to invest in the Internet.

That is how I moved from a Biology major at Reed College to running the SOFTBANK venture capital group.


- You returned from Japan just as the Internet boom began there in earnest. How do you view the development of the Internet in Japan, and what does the future hold?

The Internet in Japan will evolve as rapidly in the US, but perhaps in slightly different ways tailored to the cultural differences between the US and Japan. The formality in Japan means that certain Internet practices in the US will take some time to go to Japan, but over the long run I expect the Internet to have the same level of impact in Japan that it has had in the US.


- Is SOFTBANK making investments in digital information technology/Internet-related firms in Japan in the same way it is through SBVC in the U.S.? Why or why not?

SOFTBANK is famous for finding leading US companies and helping them go to Japan. This is continuing today. I also believe that Son-san has excellent relationships with entrepreneurs in Japan and has very good visibility into how the Japanese entrepreneurs are evolving.


- If someone were to ask Gary Rieschel the one Internet-related question he is most qualified to answer, what would that question be, and how would he respond?

I think I understand the long term impact of the Internet as well or better than most. There is an immediacy and pervasiveness about the Internet that is irresistable. I have worked in the semiconductor business, the computer systems business, the networking business, and the multimedia storage and distribution business before becoming a venture capitalist. All of my prior experience is directly applicable to what is happening on the Internet today.


- How many business plans/proposals do you get per week from Internet-related companies wanting equity investments? What is the one statement/question you want to hear most from entrepreneurs but rarely do?

I am personally receiving over 100 solicitations per month, and our group in total is well over 200. I wish I heard more from entrepeneurs that they wanted specific help from me, and that they had researched SOFTBANK and our investments and way of working well enough to be pretty specific about how we could help their business. That would be very powerful to me.

Gary Rieschel
Executive Managing Director
SOFTBANK Technology Ventures
http://www.sbvc.com/

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Industry Briefs


Coke take note! Internet-enabled vending machines are coming...

FUJI DENKI REIKI, a leading manufacturer of vending machines and cold storage units, has developed an Internet-enabled vending machine. The device contains a CPU and both PHS and LAN connections, enabling the operator to display on the face of the machine advertisements or information from the Internet or any other digitized source that can be handled on a PC, according to the company. FUJI DENKI REIKI plans to start mass producing the machines three years from now. In the meantime,it plans to release a new "interactive" vending machine equipped with a camera and monitor next fall...


At last: Some decent rates for international calls originating in Japan

Tokyo-based discount telephone service provider MTB JAPAN will from January 1999 begin offering Family Call, a fixed-rate international telephone service. The new service will enable subscribers to make 100 minutes of calls to the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia for a fixed monthly rate of 4,800 yen ($39). The company plans to market the service to foreign students and single employees living in Japan. MTB will team up with U.S. telecommunications firm PRIMUS COMMUNICATIONS in order to secure special telephone lines for the system.


MITI to allow first-year write-offs of PCs, other measures designed to spur IT investment

MITI will draft a number of measures designed to spur investment in computerization and IT infrastructure. Specifically, the ministry will allow companies to write off PC purchases of up to 1.0 million yen ($8,333) in the year of purchase, and will shorten the general amortization period for computers and related equipment from six to four years. MITI wants to invigorate the IT sector and encourage computerization, and figures that the new measures will boost sales in the IT sector by 14%, or 800 billion yen ($6.67 bil), while creating an economic "ripple effect" worth some 1.8 trillion yen ($15.0 bil). Now if they would just boost that amount to $17,000 as with the Section 179 deduction in the U.S...


DSL coming to Japan?

Takamatsu-based SHIKOKU INFORMATION AND TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK (STNet), a unit of SHIKOKU ELECTRICPOWER, plans to start offering symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL) services throughout Shikoku Prefecture from January 1999, pending MPT approval and the results of field trials slated to begin in December. Digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies, of which SDSL is one, allow up to 1.5Mbps data transmissions over the ordinary copper pairs of wires used to provide conventional telephone service. STNet's will be the first commercial DSL service ever offered in Japan, according to a spokesman. The service will be priced at less than 2/3 what STNet currently charges for 192-384Kbps services, the spokesman said.


More back-end fulfillment support for online retailers

YAMATO TRANSPORT on November 4 launched "Kuroneko Tanken-tai," a support service for online mail-order sales. The new service is located on the company's Web site <http://tanken.kuronekoyamato.co.jp> which features approximately 650 businesses that offer direct shipments of local produce to consumers. YAMATO handles all incoming orders for the featured businesses, and collects customer payments. The company claims that the service allows delivery to customers on the day following the transaction, much faster than the average one-week period required for most online mail-order purchases. Some industry insiders say YAMATO's move will spark further expansion in the online mail-order market.


Japanese Internet in Mongolia

DIRECT INTERNET of Tokyo in late October started an Internet satellite data service in Mongolia in collaboration with Ulan Bator-based ISP DATACOM. Provided via PANAMSAT's PAS-2 communications satellite, the IP Multicasting Service is a high-speed Internet access service which will distribute Japanese and U.S. content to three universities and 645 junior high schools across the country. DATACOM plans to sell its 2,000 members, medical and educational institutions and foreign firms a $500-600 service kit which consists of an antenna and a PC receiver board. DIRECT INTERNET projects that the number of service subscribers will reach 10,000 by March 2000.


Big Brother wants you surfing by phone...

NTT will in mid-November begin selling Telesse, a new telephone that will offer users "easy access to the Internet." Telesse comes with a large LCD, simple keyboard, and ISDN capability. NTT hopes to sell the product to consumers who do not plan to buy PCs, but who still want to use the Internet and e-mail, a spokesman said. The company expects to sell 60,000 units per year at a retail price of approximately 80,000 yen ($690).


To go online or not...

FUJI XEROX has begun studying the feasibility of selling office products, such as printers and portable PCs, via the Internet. By sending out direct mailings to 80,000 users in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and by conducting online surveys, the company hopes to be able to discern whether or not the Internet will serve as an effective new sales channel for the company. FUJI XEROX plans to reach a conclusion by the end of the year when the results of the survey are analyzed.

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Reader survey results

Well, it seems that JIR readers find each feature about equally annoying on average, so we'll just keep on puttering along. But as per comments, we'll keep the focus primarily on the interviews, Industry Briefs, and commentary.

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JIR schmoozers rock Kosai Kaikan

More than 50 JIR subscribers rocked the Tetsudo Kosai Kaikan November 5, schmoozing and boozing well past the appointed 9:00 pm closing time and forcing T.K.K. authorities to move the party out onto Shinjuku-dori. Very fine indeed.

It was a tremendous pleasure to meet so many talented and knowledgeable people, and the Tetsudo Kosai Kaikan turned out to be a quite a nice venue (see party shots at <http://www.jir.net/party98/>). And stay tuned for info on the JIR Spring '99 bash...

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Comdex '98 report

Key findings from this year's Comdex: The lunch buffet at the Bellagio Hotel is incredible, and only $12.50.

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Tim Clark
Editor

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Ion Global (USA)
Japanese e-business specialists
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