Innovating by Asking for Help – Eiko Hashiba

Startup founders know that going from zero to one means not only making mistakes, but also asking for help. Unfortunately, in Japan asking for help has traditionally been seen as a sign of weakness. In both professional and personal life you are expected to be either a confident leader or an obedient follower. Such attitudes tend to crush innovation and entrepreneurship. One startup founder thinks she has figured out how to bypass this social stigma via spot consulting, and Eiko's not the only one who thinks she's onto something. Her customer's include some of the most conservative companies in Japan and her backers include the Japanese government. We also talk about Eiko's transitions from housewife, to single mom, to MBA, to startup founder and her personal approach to taking risks and standing out from the crowd.