Naotaka Nishiyama wasn’t chasing comfort. On March 25, 2024, he boarded a flight from Tokyo to Bengaluru with nothing but a suitcase and an idea.
By the time he stepped into the pre-dawn buzz of India’s tech capital on March 26, he was a founder determined to build something new—on unfamiliar soil.
A year later, Nishiyama, the founder and CEO of Talendy, Japan, reflects on what it meant to drop into India’s chaos, ambition, and unpredictability—and stay. What he discovered wasn’t just about business. It was about rebuilding instincts, learning from hustle, and letting go of perfection.
“Exactly one year ago, I landed in India with just a suitcase — and a dream,” Nishiyama writes on LinkedIn.
He left Tokyo on March 25 and arrived in Bangalore on March 26, 2024. “As I stepped out of the airport pulling my suitcase, I found myself standing in a completely new world.”
As a Japanese startup founder in India, Nishiyama says he still gets surprised looks—from both Indians and Japanese. “There aren’t many Japanese people in India to begin with, and most of those living here are corporate expats from the automotive, electronics, or banking industries,” he notes.
Initial meetings are often met with assumptions. “‘Toyota?’ ‘Suzuki?’” people ask. He replies with a smile, “No, I run a company called Talendy.” What follows, usually, is curiosity—or encouragement.
“Every time someone said, ‘That’s interesting!’ or ‘Why India?’, my confidence and commitment grew a little stronger.”
Over the year, India became his teacher. He highlights three core lessons:
“Perfect is the enemy of progress.” People here find ways to keep moving forward, no matter how complex things get.
“Things rarely go as planned here — and that’s okay.” He’s learned to improvise and accept unpredictability.
“Working toward shared goals with people from different religions, languages, and cultures has greatly expanded my worldview.”
“Something inside me has definitely shifted this year,” he writes. “Instead of ‘challenging myself within stability,’ I’ve learned to ‘create value within change.’”
He closes with humility. “Of course, I’m still learning... But the people I’ve met in India — especially the incredible energy and ambition of the younger generation — keep me moving forward with the belief that we can create the future together.”