Do the Interesting thing! Taichi Fujimoto at TEDxUWestminster
The speaker, Taoto, argues that human value must shift from financial gain to social connection, defining "interesting things" as the process of collaborative action with like-minded people. He learned this after observing the work culture in Japan and found that the most critical element for pursuing passions is not money, but the community and process of working together. He pivoted his company from a crowdfunding platform to building a community that facilitates collaborative, passion-driven projects for diverse individuals.
## Speakers & Context
- Taoto — speaker; discusses his personal journey toward a new value system centered on social connection and personal passion.
- Early life passion: Doing interesting, sometimes crazy things with friends.
- Professional context: Influenced by experiences with Japanese corporate culture (no holidays, 40 years post-graduation work commitment) and observing European freedom.
- Education: Moved to the UK in 2009; studied International Planning and Sustainable Development at Westminster University to design happy cities.
## Theses & Positions
- The "interesting things" should become the new value for happiness and life.
- The ultimate goal is to shift human value from a focus on *Financial* success/profit to a focus on *Social* capital and mutual happiness.
- The *process* of doing something collaboratively with like-minded people is more important than the final *object* created.
- The fundamental constraint preventing people from pursuing passions is wrongly perceived as lacking *money*; the true priority is the *people* themselves.
- True happiness is not contingent on employment by large corporations (Google, Facebook, Apple).
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Interesting things:** Defined as "a process of doing something with like-minded people than the object we create."
- **Social Capital:** The core value the speaker advocates for developing.
- **Utopia:** A personal pursuit of a better life standard, initially influenced by observing European culture compared to Japan.
- **Bottom-up system:** A preferred system where "anyone can decide any kind of the lifestyle but for themselves."
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Shift in value:** Challenging society to change valuation from financial metrics to social well-being.
- **Utopia Creation:** The initial process involved researching what is needed for happiness and connecting people with skills, dreams, and purpose.
- **Platform development:** Initially attempted to create a crowdfunding platform to democratize money for passions, similar to Kickstarter/Indiegogo.
- **Pivot:** Recognizing that money was not the main constraint, the mechanism shifted from *providing money* to *building community* for collaboration.
- **Community function:** The new model facilitates collaboration among students, entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists, designers, or established business people for passion-driven work outside formal employment.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Childhood:** Engaging in fun/risky activities with friends.
- **Pre-2009:** Life influenced by Japanese corporate culture demands (no holidays, working 40 years post-graduation).
- **2009:** "Jailbreak" to the UK; began studying International Planning and Sustainable Development.
- **Post-education:** Launched the concept of Utopia/Social Enterprise.
- **February 2012:** Launch of the crowdfunding platform, which ultimately failed in its initial scope.
- **Post-failure:** Pivoted to building a community infrastructure rather than a financial platform.
## Named Entities
- **Westminster University** — Institution where the speaker studied International Planning and Sustainable Development.
- **Japan** — Culture cited as having oppressive work structures (no holidays, long commitment).
- **UK** — Location where the speaker moved to study.
## Numbers & Data
- Year of interest in leaving Japan structure: **During adult life**.
- Crowdfunding launch date: **February 2012**.
- Work commitment post-graduation in Japan: **40 years**.
## Examples & Cases
- **Japan Work Culture:** Example of mandatory, non-optional work structure ("no holiday," "no day off").
- **Initial Idea Limitation:** Many people stating they "don't have the money" to realize their dreams.
- **Successful Community Function:** The community is designed to be inclusive of *all* types of people: students, entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists, designers, or established business people.
- **Contrast to corporate models:** Questioning the necessity of being employed by "Google," "Facebook," or "Apple."
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Crowdfunding platform:** Initial digital product attempt, similar to Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
- **Web development company:** The former functional structure of the company.
## References Cited
- None explicitly cited (only mention of comparing to external models like Kickstarter/Indiegogo).
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The initial assumption that *money* was the key missing resource for executing dreams proved false during later interviews.
- The initial model of a crowdfunding platform failed because it couldn't overcome the belief that money was the primary barrier.
## Methodology
- Personal narrative development, moving from lived experience (Japan) to academic study (UK planning) to community theory.
- Iterative validation process: (1) Asking friends/teachers, (2) Launching a financial tool, (3) Interviewing experienced entrepreneurs.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The world should aim to shift its value system from financial accumulation to social richness and mutual happiness.
- The actionable recommendation is to join the community to collaborate and pursue "interesting things" in a collaborative manner.
## Implications & Consequences
- Social capital and community collaboration can serve as a force for profound societal change, independent of established financial models or corporate employment structures.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"i'm talking about my companies and i'm talking about the my personal story how i came up with the utopian ideas"*
- *"interest things is a process of doing something with like-minded people than the object we create"*
- *"i'm challenging through my life to change the value from Financial to the social"*
- *"we need to sort of encourage each others to have the mutual happiness"*
- *"I jailbreak in 2009"*
- *"we really radically to change the systems from top down to the bottom up"*
- *"I have the dream many people say I want to do something I want to do something blah blah blah but i couldn't see a lot of the people who actually execute to do the inter things"*
- *"it really surprised me actually money isn't the problem and money isn't the most important things to encourage to enourage the people to start doing the interest things"*
- *"people is the most important factor to to encourage the people start doing the inter things"*
- *"i can Str strongly say no because i have the many many friends who are very happy even though they are un employe"*
- *"we are not aiming to create the new Instagrams to be bought by the Facebook but we are aiming to Pro provides opportunity for anyone to experiences to educate to inspire to encourage and also most importantly to enjoy together to make something"*