Q&A with Teppei Tsutsui: Space Traveling, Favorite Startup Pitch, and How an Earthquake Pushed Me to Start GFR

The GFR team is passionate about fostering startup innovations. They're also much more than that. That's why we will be producing a series of Q&A blogs with each of our team members to show you a different side of them.

For the first Q&A of our series, Teppei Tsutsui, General Partner, tells stories about his work as a venture capitalist, his life before GFR Fund, and his passion from high school.

What’s the funniest or most memorable thing that’s happened during a pitch meeting?

Definitely our first meeting with Tovala, a company that sells a smart oven and offers fresh meal kits. 

When the founders came to our SF office for the pitch, the first thing they did was set up an oven and put their meal kit inside. And the oven started cooking. The cooking took about 30 minutes. While waiting, they went through the pitch deck, and I asked some questions, etc. 

30 minutes later, the food was ready. It was chicken gratin. We had the meal together, and the food was delicious. Our team decided to invest right away. 

What are some of the questions you always ask during a startup pitch?

“Why are you doing this” is a question I always ask founders. A startup journey typically ends when a founder gives up. I want to understand if the founder has a compelling reason, usually something internal and personal, to start their project and continue to drive the team forward. 

Can you share a time when you realized you were wrong about something in your professional career? How did it change your perspective?

When there was a huge earthquake occurred in Japan in March 2011, I was working for an investment bank in Tokyo. It was a Friday, right after lunchtime, when it happened. I was working on an investment project in India for our client and we needed to close the deal and announce it as soon as possible despite the earthquake. 

So instead of heading home or seeking shelter — like most people would do in that situation — I made a phone call to my wife, made sure the family was safe, and headed to the client’s office. We worked 48 hours over the weekend to finalize the project and sign the contract. 

We were able to announce the investment on the next Monday (see this article). While the client was very pleased, it got me thinking about whether this was something I wanted to continue doing. Eventually, I decided to quit and joined a gaming company to start investing in startups. 

I always had a plan to jump into the startup investment world since college, and it was the earthquake that pushed me to make the decision earlier rather than later. I’m glad I made the change because joining GREE eventually led me to relocate to the Bay Area and start GFR Fund. 

If you weren’t in venture capital, what completely different career would you have pursued?

I was born and raised in Tokyo, but spending my high school days in the US gave me a very different perspective and made me think that I should contribute to the world, not to a specific country.

When I was in high school, my dream job was either an astronaut or working for the United Nations. After I learned that it would take lots of time, training, and luck to become an astronaut, I chose the latter and went to college to study international relations.

I somehow ended up going into the business world after college and that led me to an investment career. But If I could go back to my high school years again, I’d definitely try to pursue my astronomy dream again. 

Teppei when attending a high school in Iowa

If you could have dinner with any historical figures (living or dead), who would they be and why?

As you can probably guess from my astronomy dream, I’ve always been interested in space and physics. 

So I’d love to have dinner with Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, both physicists from the early 1900s and Nobel Prize laureates. They were considered to be two of the greatest physicists in human history. Bohr contributed to the quantum theory, which Einstein didn’t believe until he died. I’d love to join them for dinner and listen to their discussion and argument around atomic structure, quantum mechanics, etc. 

What’s a futuristic invention you’d love to see in your lifetime, and how do you think it would impact society?

I’d love to see those inventions that would bring more peace to humanity. A liquid that can turn anything into something edible so that there would be an infinite amount of food for everyone. A pill that can cure any type of disease so that we can stay healthy longer. A headset that allows humans to speak with animals, insects, and plants so that we can all work together to keep the earth clean, etc. 

If you're an investor or LP looking for partnership opportunities, reach out to us at hello@gfrfund.com. For startups, please pitch to us by filling out this form. We'd love to hear from you!