From Waterford to Osaka: What Japan Taught Me About Entrepreneurship, Risk, and the Real Meaning of Community
By Liam Dunne, CEO and Co-founder, Klearcom
If you’d told the younger me, the teenager watching the EY Entrepreneur of the Year highlights on TV from the kitchen table, that someday I’d be pitching my company on a global stage at the World Expo in Osaka… I’d have asked what you were drinking.
But there I was last month, standing at the Irish Pavilion in front of an international crowd as a finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Ireland, pitching Klearcom. It was surreal. A full-circle, pinch-me moment. And it summed up everything the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 CEO Retreat in Japan was about: scale, ambition, and standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the boldest business minds Ireland has ever produced.
What Happens in Japan... Doesn't Stay in Japan.. It Changes You
I went over expecting insightful conversations and some fresh thinking. I came back with a bigger vision, a deeper sense of possibility, and a few battle-tested ideas I’m already putting into motion.
From the bright bustle of Tokyo to the serenity of Kyoto, this wasn’t just a week of scheduled talks and group dinners. It was a full-on Real-World MBA. SoftBank gave us a ringside view of what true scale looks like. Sony Honda Mobility? A masterclass in innovation when two legacy giants collide. Mark Matthews from Julius Baer had us all scribbling notes on macroeconomic trends, and Dennis O’Brien brought the house down with what I’d call hard-earned wisdom – no fluff, no sugar-coating, just straight-up lessons on resilience and execution.
One of the surprise highlights? The bus rides. Seriously. Every trip turned into an impromptu pitch session, with seasoned entrepreneurs like David Walsh, Harry Hughes, John Purdy, Kevin O’Loughlin, and Mark Roden asking the questions you usually avoid at board meetings. The kind of questions that leave a mark. It wasn’t always comfortable, but it was always valuable.
Why the Japanese Market Has Me Buzzing
Here’s what hit me hardest in Japan: they don’t wait for risk to be de-risked. In fact, they sprint toward it – whether it's scaling new tech, building infrastructure that links megacities by bullet train, or championing start-ups with the intent to lead, not just participate.
I was struck by the cultural similarities too. Relationships, trust, respect — those aren’t just niceties in Japan; they’re the bedrock of business. That resonated. And it’s probably why Klearcom has found itself in active discussions with three major Japanese companies. Watch this space. We’re exploring a local office. When you find a market that mirrors your values and stretches your ambition, you don’t sit on your hands.
A special shoutout to the WPP Tokyo team and the session on entering Japan. If you want to break into that market, start by listening to the people who live and breathe it. That session alone was worth the flight.
The Power of Community
Of course, the headline moments were only half the story. The real impact? The people. The spontaneous chats. The shared scars and dreams. The knowing nods when someone talked about that awful funding round, or that near-miss customer deal. These weren’t surface-level conversations. They were real, raw, and often hilarious.
Entrepreneurship is often romanticised. But the truth is, most of us have failed – more than once. I sure did. My first attempt at a CcaaS startup flopped. Then came two duds through the NDRC startup accelerator. Klearcom was the third swing. We started with a whiteboard, a laptop, and a problem no one else wanted to fix. Now we’re working with global brands like Pfizer and Mastercard to make sure voice experiences actually work — no excuses, no dropped calls.
And that journey, from whiteboard to World Expo, was made possible because of the community that backs and believes in entrepreneurs. EY doesn’t just celebrate that community. It raises the bar for what it can become.
One of many new and incredible experiences
As Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin put it so well, “I'm a longtime admirer of this programme that celebrates what’s best in the Irish entrepreneurial community… EY deserves great credit for profiling this sector and giving people the opportunity to showcase their talent, products and services.” He’s right. This programme matters.
Looking Ahead
To the 2025 EOY finalists — what a crew. You were the spark of this retreat. Every chat, every debate, every laugh on the bullet train made this trip unforgettable. To Roger Wallace, Frank O’Keeffe, and the EY Ireland team — thank you for curating a week that lit a fire under all of us.
And to my co-founders, Mark and Satish, and the Klearcom team, this is just the beginning. Japan has widened our lens and sharpened our ambition.
Let’s go bigger.
