If you’re more than 12 months behind, you’re probably never going to catch up

Thom Pace. Entrepreneur, Build and Musician.

Ten years running an English school in Tokyo, then, from 2020, a consulting service provider and a supporter of other entrepreneurs there. He is now splitting his time between Japan and the US. His answers are his own words, lightly tidied from the transcript.

Give us your 15 second intro and what you’re working on.

“Hey, I’m Thom Pace. I’m a builder, I’m a creator, and I am also well connected and entrenched in Japan. So talk to me if you want to hear more.

Top two priorities right now are modernising my website portfolio, and getting the infrastructure in America up to the same level as the infrastructure in Japan.”

What were you doing before this, and what finally made you start?

“The main project was me being an English teacher and running a school in Meidai [Matt to confirm spelling], and we signed up, I think, over 300, 400 students over 10 years. But I transitioned to be more of a consulting service provider, and also a supporter of other entrepreneurs in Tokyo. So that started in 2020.”

Are you avoiding AI, somewhat into AI, or all in on AI?

“I guess I’m in between, but I’m definitely leaning towards all in. Especially recently, in terms of being able to use Claude and ChatGPT and to have them work with each other, through me to some extent, and try to find the strengths of each one. The economic models are different for each of those, so I can use one efficiently for this and another efficiently for that.

Being able to generate content and websites, primarily, since that’s been my main task for years. I was a web developer all the way from Front Page to Dreamweaver to WordPress. So being able to go back and really control the tech, but using AI. AI is going back and doing the basic HTML coding and the indexing and just uploading files, which was pretty similar to using FTP back in the day. The technology is really simple and you can control the route. However, it’s a lot easier because you’re using AI to actually do the work, except that final staging sometimes.

For me the issue is, what about the handcrafted style, or at least the high quality which requires more human touch? Everything’s going to require a tool, but what kind of tools, and how automated those tools are versus how curated and individualised, especially with illustrations that are copyright protected, so the true creatives can shine. That value on top of the technology, the AI automation. Of course it’s going to work properly, but does it look interesting? Right now I’m still working on, does it work properly.

Talking to a lot of folks in the US as well, they’re not where I am. Is it six months behind or 12 months behind, I don’t know, but it feels like if you’re more than 12 months behind you’re probably never going to catch up. It’s just not in the cards. That’s the hard truth. Some people aren’t going to use it, they won’t be proficient, they’ll be users of whatever is created by it. So I’d like to find folks who are interested to learn and to use, to do something, to build, create. That’s my mission. So I suppose I have to be all in, because if I’m going to be talking about how others should at least be somewhere in between, I need to be ahead of that. So I’m all in.”

What’s the hardest part for founders in the early days?

“I’m not on the tech side myself, however I have used it and seen folks who have. Is it the MVP, or getting the traction, getting people to use the product and say that was a good experience? I would use that again, I would recommend that. Not a perfect version, still glitches, but basically, I approve.

To get to that point the development has to be developed, and that takes time and effort and sometimes cost. So how long does it take to get to the point where you have people say yes, there’s some validation, so let’s go ahead and put full development?

At least when I was developing an app, the reviews were all not good. And so of course the tendency was, cancelled. But if you cancel, you’ve lost everything you developed. So you’re like, okay, well, let’s take some of the feedback and let’s do another round, here’s a budget.

Being able to get to the point where the product is ready enough, and then the development cost, and you survive, because that’s usually your time and your cost, which means you have already quit your job, or it’s before a job, or you’re still working full-time. Whatever that situation, all of them was a challenge for the founder. So balancing all those things out. The developing side, getting the traction, financial stability, patience and motivation, determination, perseverance.”

Where can people usually find you?

“Usually online, LinkedIn, I usually reply there. And then after that, connecting through either WhatsApp or LINE as a more direct communication method. And then of course I like to use Zoom and Google Meet for these video conversations. I think they’re really important to keep contact as we become more distant. And now I’m in America, I feel even more distant.

We’ve got to keep in touch, at least once a week, and keep that. I won’t say motivation, but when you become familiar you’re in that workflow, and as soon as you stop that cadence, whether it’s in a band or at a job or in a collaboration. So I think that’s the main thing. Let’s keep in contact.

You can find me at Thom Pace, T H O M P A C E, and you’ll see me there.”

What’s one thing people find surprising about you?

“Surprisingly, a lot of people are surprised that I play in a band as a bassist and a singer. For me, and people who know me for a long time, they know me as that. But people who just meet me, when I do tell them, they say oh, that’s interesting. So that’s the biggest surprise.

I’m usually around What the Dickens in Ebisu”

How can you help others, and what do you need help with?

“If you do want to start a business in Japan, I know there’s a lot of different ways to do that, and I’d like to share some options that are currently available under the changing conditions. If you want to move to Japan, live there, run a business, it’s possible. I can help people with that.

What do I need? Other than funding, which would help with marketing and human resources, stability. Other than that, support with the IT side. Yes, I do have partners there, but it is such a big need, and the more people you have who are IT savvy to help, especially since I’m trying to train other people. I need people who know, and who don’t mind sharing knowledge with others. I think that would be the biggest need I have right now.”

If you want to connect with Thom you can find him on LinkedIn.

Ecosystem Profile is part of Global Day Zero, the weekly newsletter for people with fifteen years in an industry who are building their first product. Read this week’s issue or take the Day Zero Readiness Scorecard.