Iura says he makes it clear to investors at the forums and individually that they could easily lose their money. But he doesn't just give his picks and leave them to sink or swim either. He has assembled a team of eight business experts, including accountants, lawyers, and an auditor to coach the startups. Like the companies he funds, Iura runs his on a shoestring. His desk sits in the middle of eight others stuffed into cramped office space shared by the company's 11 staffers.
Government agencies donate their seminar rooms for forum meetings.
Lawyers and accountants who belong to the forum provide discounted services or sometimes work for stock options. The Japan chapter of the International Angel Investors Institute, which supports angel groups around the world, co-sponsors the meetings and offers separate courses on how to be an angel investor. Iura is also taking his investment model nationwide by organizing forums for bands of angels in Yokohama and Osaka. Still, veteran angel investors like Allen Miner, founder of the Japanese incubator SunBridge, reckons it will take years before grassroots efforts like Iura's turn Tokyo into a Far East Silicon Alley. The conditions still aren't conducive for investors or entrepreneurs.