“起業のハードルが上がった。” 起業のハードルが上がった。 (kigyō no hādoru ga agatta.) “The hurdle for starting a business has risen.”

That’s how serial entrepreneur Kensuke Furukawa—widely known as business influencer “けんすう”—describes the current moment in Japanese tech. At first glance, this might sound strange. After all, 生成AI (seisei AI, generative AI) has made it easier than ever to build products. But that’s exactly the point.

As generative AI spreads, the traditional playbook for IT startups is being overturned.

AI Has Made Building Easier—And Competition Harder

According to Furukawa, the rise of 生成AI (seisei AI) is fundamentally reshaping IT entrepreneurship. The difficulty of developing services and products has gone down. With fewer リソース (risoosu—resources such as money, people, time, or computing power), it’s now easier to launch a business.

But there’s a catch.

If it’s easier for you to build something, it’s also easier for others to copy it.

Imitation and “fast followers” have become more common. That makes it harder to create unique value that can’t be replaced by competitors—or by large corporations with more power and name recognition.

In the past, simply being able to build a functioning service created differentiation. Now, that advantage is disappearing.

“Boosting Unique Assets with AI” Is the Real Advantage

Furukawa argues that the strongest founders today are those who possess 独自の資産 (dokuji no shisan—unique assets) that can be ブースト (buusuto—boosted or accelerated) by AI.

Why?

Because as the value of “just building a service” declines, the value of spreading that service and building a ブランド (burando—brand) is rising.

Here’s an example from the interview:

Creating a student-focused social networking service is now technically easy. But getting students to actually use it? That’s just as difficult as before.

A student founder might have an advantage over a working adult because they already belong to a student コミュニティー (komyuniti—community). That access itself becomes a powerful asset—especially when amplified by AI tools.

Another example: Even a relatively unknown company can now create a copy of a major tech company’s service. But without the trust and brand recognition of a large corporation, users may hesitate to adopt it.

In this case, the large company’s ブランド (burando) becomes the asset that can be boosted in the AI era.

Does This Mean First Movers Always Win?

At first glance, this logic suggests that people who already have assets—brand, community, computing power—are unbeatable.

Furukawa admits there is some truth to this, especially in areas like AI development where access to computational resources can create a significant gap.

However, he emphasizes that “unique assets” are not limited to money or physical resources.

One example is deep understanding of オペレーション (opereeshon—business operations).

Suppose a student with no work experience builds an AI-powered ソリューション (soryuushon—business solution) for media or advertising companies. Without understanding the real workflow of those industries, the result may completely miss the mark.

In contrast, someone who understands the day-to-day operations of a business can create tools that truly solve problems.

Even intangible qualities can become differentiators. Furukawa points to entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, whose strong and distinctive worldview—such as advocating for Mars colonization—can itself become a source of differentiation.

In other words: Your vision, experience, and perspective may be assets, even if they’re invisible.

The key is identifying what your most important asset is—and then using AI to amplify it.

A Startup Example: LayerX

Furukawa cites LayerX as an example of a startup applying this way of thinking.

Rather than simply adding one more SaaS（サース） (saasu—Software as a Service) tool to a company’s stack, LayerX integrates deeply into corporate workflows. The goal is to create a situation where companies feel, “It’s easier and more convenient to adopt LayerX’s services than to add a single competing SaaS product.”

At the same time, they use AI to accelerate development speed—building software ahead of competitors who might try to create similar tools.

According to Furukawa, this shows a clear understanding of what their core asset is—and how to strengthen it.

Cultural Context: Why This Debate Matters in Japan

Japan’s startup ecosystem has historically been seen as more conservative compared to Silicon Valley. Large corporations and established brands carry significant weight, and trust plays a major role in business adoption.

That’s why discussions about ブランド (burando) and community access are especially important in Japan. In a society where reputation and long-term relationships matter, copying functionality alone is rarely enough.

Generative AI may be global technology—but how it interacts with local business culture is uniquely Japanese.

Learn Japanese from This Article

Let’s break down some key vocabulary and grammar you can start using right away.

Key Vocabulary

Notice how many of these are written in katakana. Modern Japanese business language is full of loanwords. Mastering katakana will dramatically improve your ability to read tech news.

Grammar Spotlight: 〜つつある

The article uses expressions like:

覆りつつある (kutsugaeri tsutsu aru) “is in the process of being overturned”

Structure:

Verb stem + つつある

This pattern expresses a change that is gradually happening.

Examples:

• IT起業のセオリーは変わりつつある。 IT kigyō no seorī wa kawari tsutsu aru. “The theory of IT entrepreneurship is gradually changing.”

• 競争は激しくなりつつある。 Kyōsō wa hageshiku nari tsutsu aru. “Competition is becoming more intense.”

• サービスの価値は下がりつつある。 Sābisu no kachi wa sagari tsutsu aru. “The value of services is declining.”

You’ll often see this pattern in news articles describing social, economic, or technological trends.

Useful Expression

独自の資産をAIでブーストする Dokuji no shisan o AI de buusuto suru “To boost unique assets with AI”

This is a powerful phrase for discussing strategy in Japanese business contexts.

Continue Learning

Working on your reading skills? Our Katakana Essentials: Adapting Global Words to Japanese lesson is a great next step.

To understand more about tech vocabulary, explore our Basic Vocabulary Building: Embracing Words Without Latin Ties.

Want to strengthen your foundation? Check out Reading and Writing in Japanese II: Hiragana and Katakana.

In the age of 生成AI (seisei AI), building something is no longer enough. The real question is: What unique asset do you have—and how will you amplify it?

これからもよろしくお願いします。 Kore kara mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.