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<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Amelias_06e11d3123.jpg" alt="Moon+Creative+Lab+Amelias+.jpg">When <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arihorie/">Ari Horie</a>, a known advocate for women to lead and thrive in business, shared her vision of creating a foundation for both girls and women to pursue entrepreneurship in Japan, we knew <a href="http://www.mooncreativelab.com/">Moon Creative Lab</a> could help. Our visions for creating a more inclusive and robust center of innovation, creativity, and new business creation in Japan were absolutely aligned. This is what Moon Creative Lab was created to do – for Mitsui and beyond. We also knew it wouldn’t be easy.Entrepreneurship itself is a very difficult (yet very rewarding) path. And in Japan, it’s even less common for women and girls. According to <a href="https://www.accj.or.jp/the-accj-journal/tokyo-women-vc">research</a> by Tokyo Women in VC, 91% of venture capital (VC) firms in Japan have no female partners; 59% of VC funds have no women on their investment team; and 44% of funds do not have any women employees. In addition, only 13% of VC employees, 10% of actual VCs, and 3% of VC partners are women.This is why Ari launched her new non-profit organization, the WSL Impact Foundation, <a href="https://www.amelias.jp/">Amelias</a>’ program designed to build a foundation of support for high school girls and women throughout Japan. Partnering with cities like Kobe, Hokkaido, Sapporo, and Shibuya, the Amelias program offers education, workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities with former and current entrepreneurs from Japan and Silicon Valley.<h4>Moon Leads Workshops on Startup Design</h4>In July, <a href="https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000089.000060069.html">Moon became a founding sponsor of the WSL Impact Foundation</a> and we hosted an event for 60 women entrepreneurs at our Spring Terrace studio in Omotesando. This event was livestreamed at other locations in Japan including Shibuya, Kobe, and Sapporo to more than 130 women. The morning program featured guest speakers on entrepreneurship including <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fujiyoishiguro/">Fujiyo Ishiguro</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathymatsui/?originalSubdomain=jp">Kathy Matsui</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nager/">Marc Nager</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shayanne-wright/">Shayanne Wright</a>. Moon’s CEO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaichi-yokoyama-67973580/">Kaichi Yokoyama</a>, gave an inspiring talk about how to “Think Crazy” to expand your business and your journey as an entrepreneur. He shared examples of how he did just that with the creation of Moon Creative Lab four years ago by bringing the best of Silicon Valley and Japan together to create new and innovative businesses that would have an exponential impact on Mitsui and the world. The concept of “thinking crazy” was a big theme for the Amelias program to encourage participants to think and act outside of their comfort zones.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_WSL_c9819ed32e.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Womens Startup Lab">In the afternoon, Moon led two Startup Design workshops – one at our Spring Terrace office in Omotesando and the other at nearby Shibuya Parco. Workshop participants learned about the importance of human-centered business design, the practical process to discover opportunities for innovation, and the importance of entrepreneur networking – especially for women.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Spring_Terrace_WSL_44c779f906.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Spring Terrace WSL">Here’s what participants had to say about the Moon workshops:“I had learned from reading books, but it was interesting because it was the first time for me to put it into practice.”“I was able to experience the process of thought and the process of realization. A place where failure can be seen positively. I was able to experience that I was further brushed up by working as a team.”“Good prototyping and pitch! Prototyping should be done quickly and without spending too much time and money. Also, I am very grateful for the pitch because I can't practice without this opportunity. By giving us the opportunity to review our value proposition, we were able to review our business more clearly. There were voices saying "be crazy" in various places, and it was good that I was able to think outside my own frame.”<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Creative_Lab_Workshop_WSL_726d36c34a.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Workshop Spring Terrace WSL"><h4>More To Do To Support the Entrepreneurship for Girls and Women</h4>Ari Horie’s vision for the Amelias program is to make entrepreneurship not only an acceptable path for girls, but a viable and desirable one. We at Moon Creative Lab are delighted to support this vision to help make it a reality. While there is still much to do to increase the numbers of women entrepreneurs in Japan, we are excited about the potential for the future.To learn more about the WSL Impact Foundation Amelia's program, please visit: <a href="https://www.amelias.jp/">https://www.amelias.jp/</a>Mary Ann Gallo Chief Marketing Officer <a href="mailto:maryann@mooncreativelab.com">maryann@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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The last couple of years have been challenging for many of us, with Moon being no exception. We have grown our talent significantly to help support all of our projects and ventures, but many of us have still not met each other in person! With the ability to travel again, we can go back to working collaboratively with in-person teams and start making an even bigger impact on all our ventures. Many signs point to an optimistic change coming in this fiscal year — a change that we are all looking forward to.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_s_Full_Pyramid_c06b3dc4da.png" alt="MoonCreativeLab_Mission_Pyramid"><h3>Our Guiding Light</h3>To help everyone better align ourselves to our Purpose, Mission, and Values, we have introduced what we’re calling “The Pyramid of Clarity.” This framework was created to do exactly as its name indicates — give us all clarity on what our goals and priorities are for FY23 — and to remind ourselves exactly WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.At the top of the pyramid lies our Purpose, Mission &amp; Values — the same Purpose, Mission, &amp; Values that Moon created during our inception in August 2018. These will always be Moon’s guiding light:<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Guiding_Light_24251779cb.jpg" alt="Guiding Light"><hr><h3>Our FY23 Goals and Objectives</h3>As we reflect on Moon over the last few years, there are three key questions we should always be asking ourselves:Question 1 Are we doing everything we can to push our ventures forward?Question 2 Are we constantly innovating and launching bold experiments?Question 3 Are we telling stories of both our successes and our challenges to maximize learning?<hr>If we can continuously answer “yes” to these questions, we know we’re on the right track. Thus, answering these questions are Moon’s top-line goals (and what success looks like) for FY23:Goal 1: Progressing Ventures are making progress by showing increased traction.Goal 2: Innovating&nbsp; Ventures are constantly innovating to push their venture forward.Goal 3: Storytelling Ventures are telling more stories to increase engagement within Mitsui.<hr>For each of these goals, we created a metric to help us track our progress throughout the fiscal year:Metric 1: Progressing 100% of Moon’s ventures achieve their North Star Metrics (NSM).Metric 2: Innovating 100% of Moon’s ventures conduct one bold and innovative experiment.Metric 3: Storytelling Moon shares at least 50 stories of our ventures to Mitsui and beyond.<hr>This fills out the next layer of the Pyramid of Clarity:<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Pyramid_of_Clarity_fbc595e1ea.png" alt="Pyramid of Clarity"><h3> Our FY23 Key Priorities</h3>To help us achieve success in FY23, we have identified six Key Priorities for Moon:<hr>Priority 1 Focus to ProjectsLeverage Moon’s skills and experience to increase the opportunity for our EIRs and ventures.This priority really focuses on Moon’s effort to incubate ventures in its earliest stages. It ensures that we continue to work closely with EIRs to help them grow and push their venture forward to reach an initial MVP that’s launched into the market.<hr>Priority 2 Expand Engagement Within MitsuiCreate direct impact on Mitsui BUs and subsidiaries by bringing dedicated focus to Org Ventures.The majority of new projects starting in this fiscal year will be Organizational Ventures — new businesses that we create alongside Mitsui BUs and subsidiaries. With that in mind, this year will involve a lot of relationship-building with BUs directly to figure out the right projects to work on together.<hr>Priority 3 Explore the Next FrontierDefine and extend capabilities of Moon Division so that there is a streamlined launchpad to create NewCos.With four ventures currently in Moon Division and one venture that’s a newly formed NewCo, one of our priorities this year will be helping define how to better support each of these ventures at this later stage and paving the way for the next set of ventures.<hr>Priority 4 Build a Culture of LearningLeverage Moon’s knowledge to improve the quality of ideas and enable faster starts for our ventures.Last fiscal year, we prototyped a version of Moon Academy and Space Camp aimed to help inform and educate Mitsui employees around creativity and entrepreneurship and better onboard them into Moon. This year, our priority is to take both of these programs to the next level.<hr>Priority 5 Begin to Expand Our InfluenceExplore new areas where we can build inspiring content and networks for Moon, Mitsui, and beyond.This fiscal year, we want more Mitsui employees worldwide to know and be inspired by Moon. We also want to start finding ways to inspire people outside of Mitsui. This priority will focus on launching a few experiments to help pave the way for Moon’s future.<hr>Priority 6 Empower Our TeamsEnsure our people feel supported in an environment that’s energizing and inspiring.As our work environment continues to change, we need to continue to ensure that everyone at Moon feels supported and energized by the organization. This priority will ensure that we look after Moon’s people and culture and do our best to make it thrive. &nbsp;<hr><h3>The Full Pyramid</h3>So, how does this all come together? With Moon’s Purpose, Mission, and Values at the top of the pyramid, and Moon’s FY23 Goals and Priorities filling out the next layer, the final base of the pyramid is made up of each department’s team goals and each person’s individual goals.A big reason for creating the “Pyramid of Clarity” is so that each person who works at Moon can see how their own personal goals ladder up to Moon’s FY23 Goals and Priorities, and to the guiding direction of the company.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_s_Full_Pyramid_c06b3dc4da.png" alt="Full pyramid"><h3> Bringing It All Together</h3>We have a lot of ambitions for FY23 and after just two months in, we’re feeling good about what needs to be done for us to achieve success. This doesn’t mean it’ll be easy! Borders aren’t completely open yet and we still have a number of challenges to work through to make the organization thrive. That being said, we remain hopeful and optimistic that we will continue to help “light the way for all of our creative potential.”If you have any questions or thoughts around our plans for FY23, or if you would like to find a way to work together, please feel free to reach out to us at <a href="mailto:hello@mooncreativelab.com">hello@mooncreativelab.com</a>.Mike Peng&nbsp; Chief Creative Officer&nbsp; <a href="mailto:mike@mooncreativelab.com">mike@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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Lighting the Way for Tomorrow’s Businesses That Will Change How We Live, Work and Play<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2021_09_22_at_5_33_2_dce7084cd0.jpeg" alt="Moon Creative Lab Palo Alto Studio">As a kid growing up in the 80s, I didn’t need to look far to notice the innovations coming from Japan. From the Sony Walkman to my Casio calculator for school, the term “made in Japan” stood for quality and innovation. Today, Japan is still driving technology breakthroughs such as the use of AI to boost Japan’s declining fertility rates to the <a href="https://www.moonstories.blog/blog/welcome-to-moon#:~:text=use%20of%20robot%20assistants%20in%20nursing%20homes%20and%20offices">use of robot assistants in nursing homes and offices</a>. But while some tech and manufacturing companies in Japan may be continuing their heritage of innovation, Japan’s oldest and largest trading companies — the sōgō shōshas — are needing to navigate their way towards a more innovative future.<hr><h3>Silicon Valley Meets Tokyo</h3>I’m sure you don’t think of startup creation when you think of a sōgō shōsha, the very large vertically integrated trading companies that are unique to Japan. They are known for their global networks primarily running logistics, finance and risk management for the businesses they manage or invest in. The <a href="https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Sel-Str/Sogo-Shosha.html">sōgō shōshas</a> have been facing pressure on their business model since the 1970s, when manufacturers began cutting them out as “middlemen.” Today, in the age of digital transformation, these large conglomerates are looking for new ways to create value and new business opportunities. Mitsui &amp; Co., one of the largest sōgō shōshas in Japan, operates a global network of 507 companies with 133 offices worldwide. This global network spans across 65 countries and employs more than 45,000 employees. It is an investment and trading powerhouse to be sure, but not exactly known for creating businesses from scratch or from “zero-to-one” — <a href="http://www.mooncreativelab.com/">until Moon Creative Lab</a>.Moon Creative Lab was founded by Mitsui in 2018 with the vision of helping Mitsui move from “connecting” to “creating.” It’s a bold vision considering that Mitsui has been “connecting” large-scale investments for large-scale projects for decades — and with that storied history comes a certain mindset and way of working. In order to become a successful venture studio, Moon had to be markedly different from Mitsui — different in values, mindset, behaviors and even location. Can Moon uniquely combine Silicon Valley’s rich environment for startup creation with the global scale that Mitsui can provide? It’s an interesting and exciting opportunity and it’s a journey that’s just beginning for Moon. &nbsp;<hr><h3>Moon Combines Design, Technology and Business</h3>With studios in Tokyo and in Palo Alto, Moon has attracted a unique blend of talent — product managers, engineers, designers, marketers and more — that are all working together to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of the 45,000-strong global workforce of Mitsui. With a human-centered approach, Moon helps idea owners research the unmet needs of users, quickly build prototypes and MVPs and then launch them to market. Moon is also helping Mitsui idea owners learn the foundations of entrepreneurship, including how to take risks, develop meaningful KPIs, how to build a team and how to build a product roadmap.<hr><h3>New Ventures Across Industries and Geographies</h3>From <a href="https://suup.me/">Suup</a>, which is creating new ways to provide working spaces in unused cafes to <a href="https://www.preferred-medicine.com/">Preferred Medicine</a>, which is looking to change the game in early cancer detection, Moon is incubating new ventures across a variety of industries in markets all over the world. Moon is also creating new businesses of their own called Moon Originals. One Moon Original includes the development of a new 3D printed fabric that will have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry and positively impact the environment. This venture was created in partnership with entrepreneur and fashion designer <a href="https://danitpeleg.com/">Danit Peleg</a>, who is based out of Tel Aviv, Israel.Moon is also working with a number of Mitsui Business Units that want to create new businesses in their respective industries. Some examples of these organizational projects include <a href="https://e-dash.io/">e-dash</a> which is a new company created from Mitsui’s energy solutions business unit. e-dash provides a web service that visualizes energy consumption, energy cost and GHG emissions to help companies stay on top of their sustainable energy procurement and management. &nbsp;<hr><h3>Moon and Mitsui Driving a More Innovative Future for Japan and Beyond</h3>So while today, Silicon Valley may still take much of the startup limelight and Japan may not be perceived as it was in its innovation heyday of the 80s — I say watch this space. We’ll be sharing more updates about Moon, its ventures and Mitsui’s journey to become an innovation leader in Japan and beyond. It’s just the beginning and we can’t wait to share our progress with you.Mary Ann Gallo Chief Marketing Officer <a href="mailto:maryann@mooncreativelab.com">maryann@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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Moon Creative Lab continuously honors the incredible women around us who connect, create, and inspire us every day, but on International Women’s Day, we joined the world in celebrating women everywhere.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Moon_Womens_Day_2022_1_B_100_e1649126417814_31ce2a0edc.jpg" alt="MoonCreativeLab_Womens_Day_2022">Much like the groundbreaking first footsteps on the moon set the path for progress, women have been pioneering and paving their own way towards equality across the world. And as March comes to a close, we can’t forget to mention that not only was it Women’s History Month, but International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 8.<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Woman_resized_356deef08b.jpeg" alt="Striking the “break the bias” pose for International Women’s Day."><figcaption>Striking the “break the bias” pose for International Women’s Day.</figcaption></figure>Throughout the second week of March, we collaborated with our parent company to organize an interactive booth and fun workshops, which resulted in over 200 participants in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to wearing purple clothes and purple masks to align with the official color of International Women’s Day (IWD), taking photos with the IWD #breakthebias pose, and displaying the names of women who actively inspire and contribute to a better world, we held workshops that promoted the awareness of bias through interactive quizzes, games, and thoughtful discussions.We celebrated all the wonderful and brave women across the globe by adding our favorite songs from female artists to a <a href="https://old-site.mooncreativelab.com/2022/04/moon-creative-lab-celebrates-women-around-the-world/#:~:text=artists%20to%20a-,Spotify%20playlist,-%2C%20sharing%20objects%20that">Spotify playlist</a>, sharing objects that remind of us women we admire, learning about bias and how we can help accelerate women’s equality, and getting inspired by Ari Horie, founder and CEO of <a href="https://womenstartuplab.com/">Women’s Startup Lab</a>, who shared her experience in increasing women’s contribution to the growth of business and entrepreneurial success.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/08mlu0zcgFW5bLbjpaiZ4E?si=00741a5b2afe406f&amp;nd=1"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/IWD_spotify_768x540_154bc72bfb.jpg" alt="Spotify playlist"></a><figcaption>We created a playlist full of our favorite women in music. Follow along!</figcaption></figure>International Women’s Day was also a great opportunity to hear from some of our women Entrepreneurs-in-Residence here at Moon. We talked to Guihua Hong, the founder of audible learning platform <a href="https://www.voox.me/">VOOX</a>, and Grace Aldas and Dell Delatorre, who have recently joined Moon as founders of MOM247, a platform and community for mothers. (*Answers have been edited for clarity.)What advice would you give to others who are experiencing bias?Dell: As a woman, empower yourself so companies can see your worth as a woman. If you’re accepted to do admin work, go out of your way to improve yourself and learn new skills so the company would see that you are also fit or have the potential to be capable of a different skilled role. Having dialogue with HR about gender shouldn’t be the main concern in job qualification, even in smaller roles.Grace: Accept that there will always be different perspectives, but also help promote self-awareness and mindfulness about our own unconscious biases.Hong: Anyone may have bias. We need to be more kind and tolerant, listen to different voices by having more open-minded conversations, and try to understand different sides. Do more and deliver the outcomes by actions rather than talking or explaining about the standpoint as a woman. If the bias is still there after you’ve made all the efforts you can, then leave it without any regret.<hr>The week of International Women’s Day was an influential one. We celebrated the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements women have contributed to our society, and learned about and honored women in our lives, around the world, and throughout history. We can’t help but to be moved by these admirable women and acknowledge the significant impact they have on us every day.

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Illuminating the value of entrepreneurship in Japan has long been one of our core drivers at Moon Creative Lab.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Monju_scaled_e1648775947520_1da5461d0e.jpg" alt="Moon_Creative_Lab_Monju">We realize that there is so much untapped creative potential that just needs a great place to flourish. To help foster a society of innovation and entrepreneurship, we’ve recently partnered with the <a href="https://waseda-keio-business-union.com/">Monju Business Contest</a>, an event organized by students from top Japanese universities like Waseda University and Keio University. From February 12 to March 12, 125 students in the fields of business, art, and tech experienced various aspects of creating a business and sparked their entrepreneurial spirit.Students were divided into four leagues that each had their own challenge, with five different teams in each league. Our challenge for the teams in the Moon league was to create new, mission-driven businesses that are built on ethical consumption. As we help build and launch new business for Mitsui &amp; Co. and beyond, it is embedded in our purpose that good business should be good for the world, too – human-centered and focused on making life, society, and the earth better in some way.<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/DSC_3031_1_768x512_f4d2a10b31.jpg" alt="DSC3031-1-768x512.jpg"><figcaption>Students kick off the Monju Business Contest.</figcaption></figure>Students in the Moon league participated in working sessions at our Spring Terrace studio in Tokyo to develop their ideas. We even had the head of our Tokyo studio, Mr. Tomoyuki Takada, teach students on how to make an effective, memorable pitch to prepare them for their upcoming pitch event, the final part of the Monju Business Contest.The lesson was well received by the students. “It was very helpful to understand the tips for making a clear pitch. It was very persuasive,” said one student. Another added, “the lectures were very intensive in a short time, so I was able to concentrate and absorb a lot of the content.”Throughout the contest, Moon Creative Lab helped students unlock their creativity and guided them through the many stages of entrepreneurship. They got a first-hand look into what building a business looks like from different perspectives and learned everything it takes to turn an idea into a venture, from creating and managing to prototyping and pitching an idea.<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/DSC_3159_768x512_8d779bf542.jpg" alt="DSC3159-768x512.jpg"><figcaption>Conceptualizing and developing ideas at Moon’s Spring Terrace studio in Tokyo.</figcaption></figure>After developing their business ideas, all teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. After two rounds of pitch presentations, two teams from the Moon league made it to the final round but, unfortunately, were not picked as the final winner. They did, however, present their pitches to the entire Moon Creative Lab team, which were met with enthusiasm, encouragement, and positive feedback.The Monju Business Contest was an incredible opportunity to not only help Japan’s future entrepreneurs create the next world-changing idea, but to also encourage and drive creativity and entrepreneurship in Japanese society. We at Moon Creative Lab were deeply honored to be a part of this contest and we can’t wait to see the terrific work these young entrepreneurs will do in the future.See the press release <a href="https://www.value-press.com/pressrelease/289847">here</a> (in Japanese).

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Empowering Women Through Startup Design Workshops

Moon’s FY23 Goals & Priorities

Welcome to Moon

Celebrating Women's International Day

Moon Partners With Monju Business Contest

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