Transactions Online

Robin Nakamura had joined a start-up in the City called Transactor, which was addressing on-line transactions. We set up a time and I brought Ichihashi-san along. The office was in an industrial building in the southern end of the City; we climbed the concrete stairs to meet the president, Ron. He, Robin, Noriyuki and I talked about the opportunities ahead.

“It’s just a matter of time before transactions become commonplace. The Internet is ripe for it. Banking is already electronic behind the scenes,” explained Ron. “We’re trying to bring it to the front of the stage.”

I wasn’t sure how Itochu would become involved in this, especially after my futile conversations with Kano-san on electronic bill payment. I promised to keep in touch.

On a subsequent phone call, I asked Robin how their presentation had gone back East. I heard Ron was pitching the company to American Express for investment or possible acquisition. “Not so well. When Ron made his presentation, the site was down.”

“Really? What went wrong?” I asked, hardly believing the timing of the failure.

“A construction worker pulled the plug on the server.” I could hear the lament in Robin’s voice. “It was my fault.”

“Yours? How’s that?”

“I’m the COO. The site is my responsibility.” I admired her acceptance of the problem, though I didn’t really see the culpability. If one were doing a trade show demo, sure: you gotta be there to set up and test. But who expects a construction worker to sabotage you at seven in the morning?

I met with Robin and Ron a few times thereafter. They showed me their progress and mentioned other investors. At one point, Robin asked me point blank. “Jim, is Itochu going to invest in Transactor?”

I hadn’t found any immediate interest within KV or CTC-F, the tech department focused on finance. I wished I had a better answer for Robin. Instead, all I could give her was an understandable gesture. I clenched my teeth, breathed in loudly, and said, “Could be difficult.”