Produck Podcast

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Cormac Guerin, founder and CEO of CompDeep, to talk about the AI cybersecurity threat most companies are not prepared for - and why putting AI agents at every single endpoint might be the only architecture that actually works. Cormac's path here is anything but straight. He started as a kernel hacker at Sun Microsystems, spent a d...

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Andrew Sharifiki, the co-founder of Terano AI, to discuss the stark realities, political shifts, and bureaucratic hurdles of relocating to and building a life in Japan. Andrew shares his deeply personal journey from Iran to Tokyo after COVID-19 upended his academic plans in Germany, shedding light on the isolating cultural norms, syst...

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Marc Cellucci, founder and CEO of Tempesta, for a 25-year tour through the gaming industry - from producing titles during Sega's Dreamcast era to building an AI platform in Japan where anyone can create a full, playable game world from a single sentence in under two minutes. Marc's career started at Sega in 1999, ran through l...

When Aya was a teenager, she was bullied for being too tall and not fitting Japanese beauty standards. Instead of collapsing, she drew up a vision of her "ideal self" and reverse-engineered every step to become her. What followed was one of the most relentless reinventions you'll hear this year. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee Jean sits down with Ayaka (Aya) Murai, co-fou...

After one session using Track Titan's AI coaching tool, drivers improve their lap time by more than half a second on average. That's 150,000 laps analyzed every single day, more than one million kilometers of racing telemetry, all feeding an AI system built to turn anyone from a Gran Turismo casual into a competitive sim racer. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee sits down with Max...

87% of AI agents deployed worldwide have already been attacked. 80% of companies say their agents are doing things out of control. And the average cost of a data breach? Nearly $6 million. The problem is here, it's growing fast, and most people have no idea. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee sits down with Achraf "Ash" Jday, co-founder of Antitech, a startup building AI age...

Most entrepreneurs are stuck in a hamster wheel — running hard but going nowhere. Marcel Jonté has a name for it: RRAs, or Result-Reducing Activities. And the first step to escaping them? Understanding that the middle word in "execution" is "cut." In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Lee sits down with Marcel Jonté — founder and CEO of Japan Kingdom Builders, pastor, and ent...

He got all the way to the investment committee at Antler, was offered the deal, and said no. Two years later, he has zero regrets and a completely pivoted company that's growing without a board telling him what to build. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, I catch up with my old Antler Vietnam cohort mate Rich Watson, CEO and founder of Augmented Hype, to talk about why he walked away from...

A COO burning out. A doctor's orders to do nothing for 6 months. A sound bath in Bali that sparked a vision so clear she built her entire next chapter around it. Nanako Aramaki's story is one of the most unexpected and quietly powerful ones we've had on the show. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Nanako Aramaki, founder of Zenso, a sound bath and wellness practic...

You can have the best product in the market and still get completely ignored. In a world of AI copycats and accelerating competition, the startups that win aren't just the ones with the best features — they're the ones that occupy a specific, unmistakable place in people's minds. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Apolline Daimaru, co-founder of NowThen, a brand s...

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, host Lee Jean welcomes Sylvain Pierre, the founder and CEO of Le Wagon Tokyo and a board member of French Tech, to discuss his unique journey through the Asian tech landscapeHaving spent a decade in Vietnam before moving to Japan in 2016, Sylvain shares how he transitioned from the world of IT outsourcing to building the most international coding bootcamp in...

She was managing three departments at McKinsey, saying yes to everything, and one night she sat down to journal — and wrote, through tears, "I have a choice." That one sentence ended her corporate career and launched one of Tokyo's most respected executive coaching practices. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Helen Iwata, founder of Sasuga Communications and a...

What if the secret to selling your most precious jewelry wasn't a pawn shop — but a globally curated auction where top experts from Hong Kong, Dubai, and New York compete to get you the best price? That's exactly what Monika Jain is building. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Monika Jain, president and founder of My Auctions — a global online auction marketplace for...

What if the internet went completely dark during an earthquake — no cell towers, no Wi-Fi — and your phone could still save your life? That's the problem Phat Nguyen's team solved to win the Tokyo AI for Social Impact Hackathon, using nothing but Bluetooth mesh networking. In this episode of the Produck Podcast, Phat takes us through his journey from Vietnam to Tokyo — and what it took to...

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, host Lee Jean sits down with Asuka Kondo, a former venture capitalist and consultant turned AI ethics researcher, to explore the urgent need for guardrails in the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence. Asuka shares her unique career journey—from creative marketing and design thinking at firms like Deloitte and McKinsey to her current focus on th...

In this episode, we sit down with Sasha Lee Seals, the co-founder of Nagarayama Lead, to discuss how she is cultivating the next generation of innovators in Japan. Sasha shares her fascinating journey from being a recruiter and starting the successful Yum Cup Cakery to building an educational accelerator that empowers children to become the "CEOs of their own lives".We dive deep into the...

In this episode of the Produck Podcast, host Lee Jean sits down with Alejo Cain, the founder of Snappy Compliance, to explore the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and the burgeoning startup ecosystem in Japan. Alejo shares his journey from the Netherlands to Tokyo, driven by a passion for JDM car culture, martial arts, and the meticulous "otaku" dedication to craftsmans...

Welcome back to the Produck Podcast! In this episode, host Lee Jean sits down with Abhishek Gupta, the founder and CEO of OneInbox AI. Abhishek shares his fascinating journey from working as a telecaller in an Indian call center at age 17 to building three profitable, bootstrapped companies. We explore the evolution of customer service from traditional BPOs to AI-native platforms, Abhishek’s strat...

In this milestone 50th episode of the Product Podcast, host Lee Jean sits down with Sunshine Burry, the Community Manager and Coordinator for Google for Startups Campus in Tokyo. Originally from Switzerland and sporting one of the most unique names in the tech world, Sunshine shares his fascinating journey from being a 2D animator to leading a premier startup community in Japan. The conversation e...

Why do so many Japanese learners spend years "studying" English but still struggle to speak with confidence? In this episode of the ProDuck Podcast, host Lee Jean sits down with Mana Yamashita, a Project Manager at a Japanese SaaS company who has mastered a natural American accent and high-level fluency without ever studying abroad. Mana reveals the "Mindset Over Mastery" appro...

Welcome to another insightful episode of The Produck Podcast! In this episode, host Lee Jean sits down with his close friend and collaborator, Katie Marple. Katie is a powerhouse in the Tokyo community, serving as the founder of the She Loves network, a director at FEW Japan, and a university professor. From her beginnings in the UK to her travels through the Costa Rica jungle and eventually findi...

We’ve hit a major milestone! In this special anniversary episode, Lee looks back on the journey so far and shares his vision for the future. Whether you're a long-time listener or new to the pond, thank you for being part of our story. In this episode, we cover:🙌 Gratitude: A massive thank you to the listeners and guests who have built this community.🚀 The Next Chapter: Big updates on the fu...

What happens to your digital life when you're gone? In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Alex Josephson, a "rebel" architect and founder of Partisans, who is now disrupting the $trillion death services industry. The inspiration for his latest venture, Cumulus, was born from a heavy moment: during his father's chemotherapy, Alex was asked to "design his gr...

Are you leading a business, or is your business leading you toward burnout? In this episode, host Lee Jean sits down with Heather Dobbin—a certified mental health and leadership coach, community builder, and board member of Startup Lady Japan. Heather shares her journey from leaving the U.S. to avoid a "slow death of the soul" to becoming a key figure in the Tokyo startup ecosystem. We d...

Why do global product strategies often hit a wall in Japan? In this episode, we sit down with Chandni Dhawan, a Tokyo-based Talent Acquisition Specialist, to deconstruct the cultural friction within Japanese tech teams. We explore the fundamental clash between global expectations for speed and the Japanese dedication to process and context, and how top leaders bridge this gap using empathy and tru...