Join Nobuhiro Seki, managing director of Monozukuri Ventures, for a student entrepreneurship workshop on how to "Launch Your Startup the Japanese Way" hosted by NYDesigns, a program of LaGuardia Community College, and the Zahn Innovation Center at the City College of New York. At this workshop attendees will:

• Understand the steps needed to launch a hardware startup
• Discuss best practices implemented by Japanese manufacturers and engineers
• Remember the cycles and stages of launching new businesses
• Examine business models needs for launching manufacturing/hardware products
• Review digital systems and platforms to help fundraise for hardware startups used by successful Japanese Founders
• Enjoy the art of making hardware products the Japanese way

All City University of New York (CUNY) students, faculty, staff, and alums are welcome to RSVP and attend. Non-CUNY participants are welcomed to join. Please note this workshop will be hosted virtually through Zoom.

About IN2NYC

This entrepreneurship workshop is the first in a series of presentations by successful entrepreneurs in the International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC)sponsored by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). The International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) facilitates collaborative partnerships between international entrepreneurs and partner schools, enabling entrepreneurs to qualify for cap-exempt H-1B visas, while helping partner schools attract innovators that can develop entrepreneurship and technical programs for their students. The City College of New York and NYDesigns (LaGuardia Community College) are two of partner schools in the IN2NYC program.

About NYDesigns

Founded in 2006, NYDesigns is dedicated to the success of design and hardware tech startups in NYC. Companies in our incubator get three years of private studio space and access to a network of mentors and advisers.Makers can prototype their designs and ideas in our safe, secure, 5,000-sq-ft fabrication lab. We produce events and programs for a thriving community of creators and innovators. We are part of LaGuardia Community College and proudly located in Long Island City, Queens.

About The Zahn Innovation Center

The Zahn Innovation Center is a interdisciplinary startup incubator located at the City College of New York offering an array of resources including: annual startup competitions, workshops, mentorship and networking opportunities. Additionally, we host discussions with prominent entrepreneurs, investors and other innovators at CCNY. We also encourage students to join one of our startup teams. We inspire CCNY students to approach their education as changemakers, transforming classroom learning into real-world application. Each semester we partner with various academic departments to create curricula to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset.

About Our Workshop Leader

Serving as an Adviser, Nob works for NYDesigns to help hardware startups, makers and creators get connected to critical assets such as mentorship, funding and manufacturing resources. Nob is Co-founder of FabFoundry, who offers a platform for hardware startups that brings bulletproof oversight of manufacturing processes. He also serves as Managing Director for MBC Shisaku Fund, a Kyoto-based VC fund specialized in seed-stage hardware startups.

Prior to these hardware-related companies, Nob was an executive at Six Apart, a blogging pioneer in the San Francisco Bay Area. He graduated from Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and earned a BS in Metallurgy from The University of Tokyo.