Interesting event this week: Link
Looking forward to hearing a tailor-made story for Japan that’s not based on technology, but on a culture with high standards. 

Dandelion Chocolate was founded by Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs. In similar fashion to Blue Bottle Coffee, Dandelion has launched in Japan. 

The food business can do well if it’s packaged distinctly for the Japanese consumer. The product must be high quality. It helps if the business localizes production and creates jobs, too. The old fashioned way works if it it meshes with the culture. Localization of human resources, processes and systems is mandatory in Japan. Dandelion Chocolate is fully localized in the Bay Area. They are copying this model with a factory and stores in Japan.  

This launch might not be the way Marc Andreessen envisioned software eating the world. Certainly the software model doesn’t apply here. As expected cloud-based software like Salesforce is growing fast in Japan. 

Dandelion Chocolate is following Blue Bottle’s lead by highlighting the importance of customer experience in the brick-and-mortar world. It’s still possible to do things the old fashioned way. Let’s see what happens.