⚡ How a Cement Factory Worker was Able to Pivot from Making Playing Cards to Creating the Most Innovative Gaming Company in the World, Nintendo

Morning Innovators ⚡ This week (in less than 5 minutes!) we’ll explore…

🕹 How a cement factory worker was able to pivot from making playing cards to creating the most innovative gaming company in the world, Nintendo
📰 All the biggest news stories in the start-up world
👀 Our 3 favourite start-ups to keep an eye on this week
📧 How Bunk used an infographic to get 100,000 new users immediately
🥳 All the best job opportunities and events in the start-up world
📱A tool that speeds up building internal tools like admin dashboards and database GUIs

👆 The most clicked link in the last week’s newsletter was this article about AI predictions for 2024.

Happy hustling,
Rich & Gary

The person behind the business… This week we’re profiling a founder you may not of heard of…Fusajiro Yamauchi. Born on November 22, 1859, in Kyoto, Japan, Yamauchi helped to revolutionise the global gaming world, though he never lived to see its modern form.

Initially a budding artist and a cement factory worker, Fusajiro's business acumen was recognised by his employer, Naoshichi Yamauchi. At 22, he was adopted into the Yamauchi family, a practice common in Japan to preserve business legacies.

In 1889, Fusajiro founded Nintendo Koppai to sell hand-painted Hanafuda cards. His artistic talent and business foresight led to the expansion of Nintendo, making it Japan's top card game company.

Yamauchi's business grew from traditional Japanese Hanafuda cards to include Western-style playing cards by 1907, showcasing his adaptability and vision.

Retiring in 1929, Yamauchi left a legacy of creativity and innovation that echoes in Nintendo's ethos today. His commitment to quality and player experience became the company's guiding principles.

Decades after Yamauchi's time, Nintendo shifted from card games to video games. This pivot, while not directly influenced by Yamauchi, was in line with his ethos of innovation and adaptation.

Nintendo's Gaming Milestones:
1980s: Introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
1989: Launch of the Game Boy.
2006: Release of the Wii, a major innovation in gaming interaction.
2017: Introduction of the Nintendo Switch.

Actionable Insights for Start-up Founders:

Embrace Continuous Improvement: Yamauchi's drive for improvement in his products offers a vital lesson for start-ups: continuous innovation is key.

• Conduct Regular Feedback Sessions: Schedule periodic reviews with your team and customers to gather feedback on your products or services.

• Adopt Agile Methodologies: Implement agile practices to enable quick iterations based on feedback and changing market demands.

Focus on Customer Experience: Nintendo’s enduring appeal lies in its focus on player enjoyment, a principle stemming from Yamauchi's commitment to happy customers.

• Build a User-Centric Culture: Train your team to prioritise user experience in every aspect of your product development and customer service.

• Create a Feedback Loop: Establish a system for customers to easily provide feedback and see how their input leads to tangible improvements.

Diversify While Staying True to Core Values: Yamauchi's expansion into different types of playing cards exemplifies the balance between diversification and core business values.

• Explore Adjacent Markets: Identify markets closely related to your core business where your expertise can be leveraged.

• Maintain Brand Consistency: While diversifying, ensure that your brand's core values and messaging remain consistent.

Foster a Legacy of Quality and Innovation: Yamauchi's work laid the foundation for a company culture that values creativity and quality, a blueprint for start-up sustainability.

• Establish Quality Standards: Set high standards for your products and services and consistently meet or exceed them.

• Encourage Creative Thinking: Create an environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively and propose innovative solutions.

Lead with Empathy: Yamauchi’s empathic leadership style, highlighted by his long-term employee retention, is essential for building a loyal and motivated team.

• Invest in Employee Development: Offer training and development opportunities to help employees grow both professionally and personally.

• Recognise and Reward Efforts: Acknowledge the hard work and achievements of your team to boost morale and loyalty.

Fusajiro Yamauchi, though a figure of the past, offers timeless lessons for modern entrepreneurs. His blend of artistic vision, business acumen, and empathic leadership created not just a successful company, but a legacy that reshaped global entertainment.

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💰 Global Startup Funding In 2023 Clocks In At Lowest Level In 5 Years
Crunchbase News
A slower final quarter ended a lacklustre year for global start-up funding as venture capital investors continued to hold back in 2023, Crunchbase data shows.

🤑 11 VC predictions for 2024
Sifted
2023 was a whirlwind year for the VC industry. Funding for venture-backed start-ups plunged more than 40% and VCs themselves saw fundraising down over 40% through the end of November, according to PitchBook data.

🧠 Intel spins out a new enterprise-focused GenAI software company
UKTN
Intel, intent on making bigger moves in the market for AI-powered enterprise software, is spinning out a new platform company with the backing of Boca Raton, Florida–based asset manager and investor DigitalBridge.

💷 HSBC to take on Wise with international payments app Zing
UKTN
HSBC will take on the likes of Wise and Paysend with the launch of its new multi-currency payments app Zing.

This week we’re spotlighting some of the most exciting start-up’s making waves in the world of VR 🥽

Virtus Tech offers a no-code VR platform for fast and immersive training simulations, widely used in healthcare, insurance, education, and enterprise sectors. It simplifies creating and running simulations with features like Creator Mode for drag-and-drop course creation and Simulation Mode for immersive VR environments. The platform, which boasts 2 million simulations run and a 75% increase in knowledge retention, also includes Data Mode for AI-driven feedback. Designed to be user-friendly and device-agnostic, Virtus Tech is aimed at democratising VR training, allowing professionals to easily build, scale, and deploy interactive simulations across various organisational areas.

Emperia revolutionizes retail with its immersive e-commerce platform, designed to extend and enhance real-world shopping experiences virtually. Catering to various retail sectors, Emperia combines the convenience of e-commerce with the impact of physical shopping, offering interactive, personalized virtual experiences. Their platform enables seamless integration between physical stores, virtual channels, and the metaverse, boosting user engagement and opening new sales avenues.

Pixaera is revolutionizing professional training with its virtual reality (VR) training software. Designed for experiential learning, Pixaera's platform engages employees globally, enhancing knowledge retention and behaviour change through interactive, game-based learning experiences. The platform offers pre-built safety training courses and modules, alongside customisable options, ensuring quick and cost-effective content development tailored to specific needs. It integrates seamlessly with existing Learning Management Systems (LMS), offering robust security and user management features, making it a comprehensive solution for modern workforce training needs.

Same Parr is a seriously successful serial founder. From Tech and Software companies, to Newsletters and Podcasts; He’s built them all, and he’s built them incredibly well.

His first company was called BUNK, which enabled people in San Francisco to find housemates online with ease. And with this simple marketing trick, the BUNK team were able to capture 100,000s of new users.

Inspired by Buzzfeed’s articles that were titled “50 ways to know you’re truly from San Fransisco” or “10 things only people from San Fransisco say”, they decided to put an infographic together. They realised that although these articles didn’t get big reach, they got extremely high click through rates in the areas that the articles were targeting. So, seeing as they were targeting San Fransisco, they put together the infographic above.

The infographic was titled ‘The “Typical” San Fransisco Roomates’, and contained a series of stereotypical SF personalities. It broke down where they typically hang out, what their job was, stereotypical phrases they’d say. After creating this infographic with 6 different personalities, they posted it online and tagged all the local restaurants, bars and coffee shops. They all found it funny, and in turn, reposted it to their networks. This lead to virality, and 100,000s of new users.

Can you create something that the local community can resonate with and feel engaged with?

💼 Job opportunities

🏠 Python Engineer, Zero Deposit
🏢 Full Stack Engineer, Sona
🧑‍⚕️ Head of Strategy & Operations, KareHero

🎤 Events/Opportunities

⚠️ Applications close today for Eagle Labs’ Funding Readiness programme. The programme is designed to help demystify funding and to provide founders with the skills and knowledge they need to fund their business growth.

🤑 Funding London’s Investment Ready Programme is currently accepting applications for their second cohort launching this month. It’s a free, six week programme designed to support pre-seed and seed businesses in London raise external capital, led by diverse founders.

Each week we’ll be highlighting our favourite tools - either something we’ve been using in our businesses, or tools that our innovator community have recommended.

We’re starting the year with an awesome tool! "The Deck of Brilliance" is a free, innovative tool designed to assist creative professionals in generating ideas. The deck consists of 52 unique tools, developed from over 50 years of advertising experience, to provide a systematic approach to tackling creative briefs. It encourages users to explore different paths without getting hung up on classifications, aiming to produce 10 to 15 ideas in each session. The deck, enhanced by real-world examples from global creatives, is intended to improve both the quantity and quality of creative outputs through regular use, embodying a methodical yet flexible approach to ideation in the competitive and demanding field of advertising.

Next week we’ll be breaking down how X (Twitter) pivoted from a struggling podcasting platform to arguably the most famous, or infamous, social media platform in the world. We also highlight how one company showed prospective customers exactly what their product shouldn’t be, which gained them ridiculous amounts of attention!

P.S. Connect with us on LinkedIn…