Sam Mokhtary
Promoter, Entrepreneur, Problem Solver
“The travesty of life is that you only get one; that’s why I want to live as many lives as I can.”
Trained neuroscientist, VC-backed tech-entrepreneur, concert promoter, sales lead, web developer and Japan specialist; there isn’t much I can’t turn my hand to.
Being highly specialised in one area may be the safe bet, but it’s not a lot of fun.
For breadth of knowledge and know-how, it’s Sam.
Alive: A Japanese crowdfunding company for live music, that helps artists break Japan. I founded and operated the company.
asQme: VC backed startup that let fans interview their heroes! Featuring; Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Anthrax and many more. I co-founded and managed the business for 3 years.
Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers: The Last Tour - A photobook about friend and late pop idol Les McKeown who I promoted for several years. I am crowdfunding and curating the book.
Tokyo Indie: A popular dual language blog featuring the latest goings on in the Tokyo art and music scenes. I founded the blog in 2009 and ran it for several years.
Yuno Analytics: Social media analytics company giving insights into major brands like Kit Kat. I performed big data analysis, using skills I picked up in my neuroscience research.
Creative Social: A meeting of some of the world’s top creative directors. I put together the conference, with guest speakers including Masuhiro Yamamoto, Marty Friedman and Shukou Tsuchiya.
RIKEN Brain Science Institute: Japan’s leading research science facility. I worked in the lab of Justin Gardner, researching the representation of bias in the human visual system using fMRI.
Daiwa Scholarship: A highly competitive scholarship programme, that took me to Japan for 19 months of study, internship and cultural immersion.
About
Since graduating from University College London, top of my class in Neuroscience in 2008, I moved to Tokyo on the highly-sought after Daiwa Scholarship. So began my love affair with Japan, that has seen me bootstrap multiple 7-figure revenue businesses, found a VC-backed startup featuring some of the world’s biggest stars, work with the advertising industry’s top creative talent and produce thousands of concerts for many happy Japanese fans. Peppered with stints in New York and London, life continues to excite, and make me hungrily ask “What’s next!?”