Milana Kuzmanovic, a accomplice at WiL, was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her connection to Japan dates again to childhood, formed by experiences through the battle in her house nation.
“After I was a toddler, battle destroyed a lot of the infrastructure, and each day life was extraordinarily troublesome,” Kuzmanovic recollects. “Someday, I seen yellow buses working by means of town and realized that they had been offered by means of assist from the Japanese authorities. I used to be shocked. Our nation is small and never even near Japan geographically. There didn’t appear to be any direct profit for Japan. So why would they assist us? That query stayed with me.”
As her curiosity in Japan grew, Kuzmanovic selected Japanese historical past as her focus in highschool.
Drawn particularly to Saigo Takamori, a central determine in Japan’s Meiji Restoration, she wrote her commencement thesis on the interval. She later studied economics and East Asian research at college, and determined to pursue a profession in Japan that mixed each fields.
“The folks I met in Japan had been extremely sort, and so they helped me in so some ways,” she says. “Over time, I developed a powerful feeling that I wished to present one thing again to Japan sometime.”
That want ultimately led her to affix WiL in 2021. As we speak, Kuzmanovic splits her time between Silicon Valley and Tokyo. A lot of her work includes managing relationships with U.S. enterprise funds, whereas additionally supporting the event of Japan’s startup ecosystem.
“I genuinely hope to see extra formidable entrepreneurs develop in Japan,” she says. “One in every of Japan’s nice strengths is its means to execute. As soon as a choice is made, folks right here create a plan and carry it out steadily.”
She additionally factors to resilience as a defining nationwide trait. “Japan has confronted main hardships many instances and has at all times discovered a technique to recuperate. That resilience is deeply rooted in its historical past.”
From her vantage level, working throughout Japan and the US, Kuzmanovic speaks candidly about variations in startup tradition.
“Lots of the startups that grew quickly within the U.S. started with concepts that sounded ‘loopy’ in a great way,” she says. “Uber — getting right into a stranger’s automotive? Airbnb — staying in a stranger’s house? SpaceX — non-public firms launching rockets? All of those as soon as appeared unrealistic. What they shared was the braveness to dream.”
On the similar time, she stresses that Japan has its personal strengths. “Japan has many excellent entrepreneurs, and we’ve invested in a variety of firms right here,” Kuzmanovic says. “I’d wish to see extra daring, unconventional concepts, and a higher willingness to dream massive and take dangers with out being afraid of failure.”
One initiative aimed toward encouraging that mindset is the government-backed entrepreneur improvement program Sido Subsequent Innovator. Launched in 2015 by Japan’s Ministry of Economic system, Commerce and Trade and the Japan Exterior Commerce Group (JETRO), WiL has served as this system’s secretariat since its inception. From fiscal 2025, the initiative has operated because the Sido Subsequent Innovator Basis, providing hands-on enterprise improvement assist with enter from traders, entrepreneurs, and company executives.
“It’s a uncommon alternative the place anybody can be a part of, refine their concepts, and obtain recommendation,” Kuzmanovic says. “Prime contributors from the home program may participate in a Silicon Valley program. What I discover particularly inspiring is the tradition of giving again.
Graduates return as volunteers to mentor the subsequent technology. That spirit of passing worth ahead is one thing I discover deeply transferring and really attribute of Japan.”
Trying forward, Kuzmanovic sees sturdy potential for Japan in areas reminiscent of robotics, deep tech, and AI-driven innovation. She additionally believes interpersonal expertise will develop extra necessary as expertise advances.
“As AI develops, there’s concern that human-to-human communication might weaken,” she says. “Japan has a tradition of empathy and respect for others’ emotions, and folks listed here are expert at speaking with consciousness of one other particular person’s perspective. That’s one thing the world can be taught from Japan.”
Japan faces mounting social challenges, together with a declining birthrate and an growing old inhabitants. Nonetheless, Kuzmanovic believes the nation’s historical past of overcoming adversity presents cause for optimism.
“The core of my values is giving again,” she says. “I wish to go on what I’ve obtained, ideally in double, to the subsequent particular person. I nonetheless have rather a lot to be taught myself, however for the sake of the subsequent technology and the long run, I wish to preserve pushing myself.”
Translated by Anita De Michele | JStories
Prime photograph: Picture courtesy of Milana Kuzmanovic
Kuzmanovic earned her bachelor’s diploma from Wellesley Faculty in 2014 and an MBA from Northwestern College’s Kellogg Faculty of Administration in 2020. She started her profession as an analyst at Citigroup Securities Japan in 2014, later working as a analysis analyst on the IMF’s Institute for Capability Improvement. She joined McKinsey & Firm as a administration advisor in 2020 and have become a part of the World Innovation Lab in 2021. Her work focuses on investments in enterprise and progress funds and on driving strategic initiatives on the administration firm stage.
