This is the craziest tech founder I've met.
At 19, he bought a failing bar in Kyoto and turned it profitable in 1 month.
Two years later, he ran 7 businesses doing $100k/month.
When COVID sparked a tech boom, he launched software company with zero technical knowledge. People thought he was nuts. He didn't care.
He struck gold with a job platform for designers.
It grew to $2M ARR in 10 months.
Fully bootstrapped.
Solo founder.
Fueled by Asahi beer and Yakitori, this former high school soccer player sold his second company for $3M.
At this point, most people would retire and start a podcast.
Not him -- he was hungry for more.
He put all his money into a new startup, Teracy.
This time, the journey isn't as straightforward.
Teracy launched in 2019.
6 years and 4 pivots later, it still hasn't monetized.
We only have 7,000 free users.
He's burned $1.5M of his savings to keep it alive.
I asked him why he hasn't quit:
He smiled:
"I could’ve built a boring Japanese company and tried to IPO,"
"But honestly, that path feels empty. I’ve made a few million dollars and learned that money stops being motivating,"
"Most people never get to that point, so they never realize it."
"What I want is to solve a human problem (loneliness), build a product people love, and leave a meaningful legacy."
"Teracy took longer to develop because I had to grow my own (technical) skills, but it was all worth it"
"People say the remote work wave is done, but I don’t believe that. The need and the opportunity are still huge.
"That’s why I’ve kept building Teracy for six years."
"We still matter."
"I still matter."
My founder journey:
> started at 19, hit $100K/month
> burned out, lost myself
> sold, traveled the world
> 2nd startup, hit $200K MRR in 10 months, exit
> invested millions, raised $2M
> rebuilt 4 times, launched July 31
10 years in — just build