Do what you love. Love what you do.

SmartNews SF had over 50 Japanese university students visit the office to learn about doing business at a US startup and learn about how to start their career. This trip is part of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded Kakehashi Project to promote greater understanding and opportunities between the US and Japan.

I’m always looking for a chance to practice my Japanese so I jumped at the chance. I tried to give as much of it in Japanese as I could but, as you can see, the slides are in English.

The main topics were:

1. SmartNews, how it works, why it’s interesting and why it’s a cool company.
2. My career, how I ended up at SmartNews, and what I learned along the way.
3. How to get a job at a US company, what tools to use, and how to use them.

Thank you Dennis, Jessica, Naoki, Chika, and Shunan for helping set up and handling the crowd and thank you Ken Funabashi from the Japan Consulate, Stacy Hughes, and Shimizu-san for giving SmartNews the opportunity.