What is an Impact Maker?

Archive: March 26, 2018

Questioning + Action = Impact

In February 2013, Impact HUB Tokyo had begun renovations a former print factory’s ground floor. After surviving for two years, co-founders Shino and Shingo, painted the words “Questioning + Action = Impact” on the building’s white wall. The words embody the ethos of the company: it is only though questioning the status quo that we can begin to take action. From this, the actions create the programs and organisations that make a positive impact on society. They were convinced that this equation reflected the shared values of the people from all walks of life who gathered at Impact HUB Tokyo.

Since then, Impact HUB Tokyo has grown into a thriving community of 400 entrepreneurs (since June, 2017). When one hears the word “entrepreneur”, the image of a company or NGO founder probably comes to mind. But originally, the word entrepreneur referred to a person who questions the current situation and takes action”. The Impact HUB Tokyo has fostered the community of people they called Impact Makers.

Impact Makers are not restricted to an industry or position. They are not only founders, but also freelancers, artists, or business people working for corporations or government officers. Anyone can be an Impact Maker. Their common point is their approach as people who are critical of how things are right now and taking action to contribute to a better future.

Impact that can change the course of a river

Why is the Impact HUB Tokyo focused on impact? The seeds of this mission were sown before the two founders founded the organization, which itself is a social enterprise. One of the founders, Shino previously worked for international NGOs and a think tank, and also did social and environmentally responsible investments (impact investment) in developing countries and EU, and business development and R&D projects in foreign countries. She first learned about the Impact HUB during her time in the UK. The first Impact HUB opened its doors in Islington, in the North of London and has since spread globally, attracting entrepreneurs working to create positive impacts in their respective regions and communities.

Shino visited various Impact HUBs and noted their distinct characters. For example, the first Impact HUB in Islington had many social entrepreneurs and environmental activists. At the Impact HUB SF, there were venture capitalists who made investments in startups successively. Shino spent much of her time at Impact HUB Westminster in Central London. There, she found not only entrepreneurs, but also hackers, engineers, designers, who worked on new collaborations every day.

Shino was thinking it was not only the people engaged in poverty and education that could throw controversy to society. Entrepreneurs pioneering robotics and artists revealing the world’s hypocracies can also change society. Shino felt that Japan also needed an open place to house an entrepreneurial community and attract like-minded people to build connections. So, when she returned to Tokyo, she founded the Impact HUB Tokyo.

Impact HUB Tokyo does not believe that impact is created by the lone hero. If one were to imagine how a river flows, the course of a river is changed by the complex interactions it has with the natural environment. Societal norms can also shift as the result of an accumulation of bold actions. As individuals who make up society, it is within our power to to create a big wave (critical mass) of questioning that triggers a change in direction. We can persist in working on disruptive impact until the course of the river changes. This scene plays out every day at the Impact HUB Tokyo makes, and is the enabling environment Shino had envisioned.

World-Class entrepreneurship, Japanese style

The Impact HUB Tokyo’s other founder, Shingo Potier, brings another set of experiences. Shingo previously worked at a financial institution in London and worked with local start-ups. Shingo had the opportunity to support a Japanese startup and discovered the lack of support for entrepreneurs in the country. He found that while there were passionate entrepreneurs, there were few visionary “game changers” who could disrupt existing industries. He found Japanese entrepreneurs to prefer safe harmony that fitted into existing norms rather than innovation, too complacent for him.

According to Shingo, “This is not just an issue of entrepreneurial quality”. He has seen the scenario again and again, where the visions and passions of entrepreneurs are twisted and taken apart by intermediaries who were risk-adverse and preferred short-term returns. The VCs and financial institutions that were meant to support entrepreneurs were the ones that created the barriers and undynamic environment. In contrast to the UK government actively fostering entrepreneurial education, the Japanese government did not understand the needs of entrepreneurs or how to develop competitive global businesses.

Unsurprisingly, when compared to the UK, the support for entrepreneurship in Japan was not good. Though Shingo was disheartened, he reset his approach to “Forget what doesn’t exist, and focus on what does.” He felt there had to be a Japanese-style of entrepreneurship that could be world-class. In order to create that, there needed to be a new approach to educating entrepreneurs on how to make an impact on the existing system.

Around that time, he met Impact HUB Tokyo. He joined as a financial specialist, helped structure management and he started two programs: “Team 360” to share his startup knowledge with new entrepreneurs and the pitch event “Spark Plug”.

Be the change

Both founders agree that for an Impact Maker a change is neither a trend to follow, nor even an attempt to change another person.” Rather, in the words of Gandhi,“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” The only thing we can reliably do is change ourselves and embody the change that we wish to see in the world.

Just like the Impact Makers who come every day, the Impact HUB Tokyo is constantly growing. The activities, ways of connecting, and space layout are constantly evolving. The only thing that remains unchanged for the Impact HUB Tokyo community is the constant process of change itself.

This piece is a translation from Impact HUB Tokyo’s original post “Founders’ Story Vol. 1 Impact MAKERとは？” with permission.

Writer/Editor: Ishikawa Koumei (石川孔明) Translator: Yuki Fujimoto