My Life Radically Changed After Speaking at Weekly Lightning Talks for a Year

As a “Clinging to the Edge Unexperienced Engineer Turned Entrepreneur,” I challenged myself to participate in weekly Lightning Talks (LT) for a year. The changes this endeavor brought about far surpassed any improvement in my technical skills.

Honestly, at first, I was on the verge of tears thinking, “Am I really going to present again this week…?” But now, I’ve reached a point where I can’t imagine life without LT presentations. It’s amazing how much people can change.

Background of the Challenge

Facing My ASD Traits

I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as an adult. Communication difficulties have always been a significant challenge in my life.

However, precisely because of this, I decided to take on the activity I found most daunting: “speaking in front of people.” If you avoid things you’re bad at, you’ll stay bad at them forever.

The Path to Entrepreneurship

My journey has been a transformation from music to engineering, and then to entrepreneurship. Throughout this, I developed a strong desire for “communication without misunderstanding.”

Just four years ago, I had never written a line of code. But now, I’m not only running a company but also coding. Life is unpredictable.

The Year’s Trajectory

First Quarter: Confronting Fear

# Initial Challenges
- Fear of public speaking
- Insufficient ability to organize technical content
- Seeking ways to engage with the community

Second Quarter: Forming Habits

Preparing for weekly LT talks became a part of my daily routine, creating a rhythm for my learning.

I started experiencing a strange symptom: “feeling restless on Fridays.” I call this LT dependency.

Third Quarter: Connecting with the Community

// Expansion of Community Activities
const communityActivities = [
  'Tech meetup presentations',
  'Online community contributions',
  'Mentoring junior developers',
  'Open source contributions'
];

Fourth Quarter: Transforming into a New Self

By this point, I had become someone who couldn’t live without LT presentations. This was truly the moment my life went off the rails (in a good way!).

Achieved Results

• Technical Skills: My understanding deepened to a level where I could explain it (from “it works somehow” to “I can explain why it works”).
• Communication Skills: Acquired structured speaking methods (no more rambling presentations).
• Network: Connected with engineers nationwide (gained a large number of LT peers).
• Confidence: Overcame my fear of public speaking (nothing scares me anymore).

Elevating to Cor.Inc.’s Mission

This experience directly led to our company’s mission: “Achieving ‘communication without misunderstanding’ through AI technology.”

This was the moment my personal challenges transformed into a passion for solving societal issues.

The realization that “if I’m struggling with this, others must be too” sparked my sense of purpose as an entrepreneur.

I’m happy to discuss the value of taking on challenges in more detail. Please feel free to contact me through Contact.

To you who think, “LT presentations are impossible…”, don’t worry. Everyone feels that way at first. But after a year, you’ll wonder, “How did I even live without LT presentations?” It’s truly不思議 (fushigi - mysterious/amazing).