Paul McInerney's path to venture capital is unusual: born in Australia, he came to Japan through a Rotary exchange and later a government scholarship, earned a law degree from Kyoto University, worked on Japan's early internet businesses at Recruit (including co-founding the startup Golfport, where he first met future Incubate cofounder Tohru Akaura), and spent 18 years at McKinsey rising to Senior Partner before joining Incubate Fund. Beyond investing, he pushes Japanese founders to build global, bilingual teams from the start, and he's also a co-founder and board member of UWC ISAK Japan, reflecting a long-standing interest in education and community building.