Japan, last in startups, needs Masa the super angel

SoftBank's founder should use his next $100 billion fund differently

If Masayoshi Son is to set up another $100 billion Vision Fund, he should use it to tackle Japan’s low birth rate.

Not of humans – though it would be great if he could solve that problem. It’s the nation’s position dead last in global entrepreneurship that would be a better cause than pouring money into multibillion-dollar firms.

With a Global Entrepreneurial Spirit Index score of -0.95 last year, Japan ranked behind, well, everybody. Topping the list was Saudi Arabia at 0.87 points, with Indonesia, Vietnam and the US all in positive territory. India and Taiwan were among the other laggards.

I wrote