Due to the high chance of rain, we'll be hosting this at the inside portion of the restaurant. As such, the menu has changed (see this in Japanese), but there should still be plenty of good food, company, and beer.

This event is for members of the TokyoDev Discord. If you're not already a member of the Discord, please join it and say hi via the #introduce-yourself channel.

Summer is upon us, and so for our next meetup, we’ll be doing a summer tradition: an outdoor BBQ at a beer garden.

We’ll host it at Schmatz bbq prost in Ikebukuro, where we’ve managed to secure a whopping 50% off the normal price thanks to our sponsor WAY Equity Partners. For just ¥3,000, you’ll have the standard course, which includes:

• Edamame
• Tortilla Chips and Guacamole
• Assorted vegetables
• Chicken thighs
• Pork spare ribs
• Sausages
• A taco set
• Beef loin
• All-you-can-drink Helles beer and other alcoholic and soft drinks

There’s quite an interesting connection between our sponsor and the restaurant. The German restaurant chain Schmatz was founded by Marc Luetten and Christopher Ax in 2014. Then in August 2023, Christopher Ax founded WAY Equity Partners, combining his first hand experience with entrepreneurship in Japan, with his previous experience in technology and venture capital.

So when we were considering venues and I stumbled across Schmatz’s beer garden, I reached out to WAY if we could do some collaboration, and was blown away by their generous offer.

WAY identifies existing gaps in the market that have the potential for large-scale business growth, validates them, and then finds co-founders (Founding Partners) for the business: typically a CEO with some relevant domain knowledge, and a CTO who brings technical expertise. They then supply the company with a substantial initial investment that will allow them to hire a team and pay themselves decent salaries. If things go well, they also have access to more capital.

This makes them a great opportunity for someone who wants to be an entrepreneur but isn’t quite in a position to take on the huge personal risk involved with going the traditional venture route.

If you have held a key technical role in an early-stage startup, such as a product manager, full stack developer, technical lead, or founder, check out their Founding Partner (Tech) position.

Notes

• Please respect the space and remember that your behaviour reflects on TokyoDev.
• The community rules of the Discord server apply (see #rules).
• Being drunk is not an excuse for breaking our rules. Please avoid excessive intoxication.
• Schmatz may be able to provide some flexibility for dietary restrictions so please tell us about them as part of your registration.
• In principle, your registration is non-refundable. However, if you let us know early enough that you won’t be able to attend, we may be able to issue one.