Originally published by Business Today: KOL Fan-Economy Pioneer Max Lu Expands into Japanese Real Estate, Opening a New Chapter for E-commerce and Property
Max Lu (呂元鐘) is a highly influential figure in Taiwan’s e-commerce and group-buying industries. He began his entrepreneurial journey in 2002 by sourcing products from Japan and later achieved successful exits involving the Ruentex and Hong Tai groups. Having consistently recognized shifts in the consumer market, he is now taking the fan economy to its fullest potential. His thinking goes beyond “product transactions” and focuses instead on “the connection between people and emotions.”
Lu proposes a new path: “The true value of an asset lies not in the property itself, but in the trust and emotional connection between people and place.” He is extending the power of the KOL fan economy from online products to offline assets and combining it with Japan’s real-estate market to create an entirely new model. His vision is to transform “the trust and emotion of the fan economy” into “the perceived value of cross-border assets.”
Trends and Market Opportunities: KOLs × Japanese Real Estate Create a New Investment Model
In recent years, the traffic dividend that once fueled e-commerce has gradually disappeared. Advertising costs continue to rise, short-form video and multiple platforms fragment consumer attention, and the sales impact of any single KOL is weakening. Entrepreneurs face the pressure of high costs and low conversion, while investors remain cautious about the return prospects of the e-commerce industry.
Lu notes that Taiwan’s group-buying e-commerce market is entering a new stage. In the past, a single livestream could generate thousands of orders. Today, fragmented traffic and rising advertising costs have made that kind of one-off surge difficult to sustain. Group buying is merely one form of “selling attention”; the core competitive advantages of the future will shift toward “trust” and “experience.” In other words, traffic is not the only scarce resource—the truly scarce resources are brands and experiences that consumers can trust over the long term.
For Lu, who began his career sourcing products from Japan, the Japanese market offers natural advantages. He understands Taiwanese consumers’ affinity for Japanese products, culture, and travel, and that structural trust has long been deeply rooted. Taiwan’s enduring connection with Japan means that cross-border consumption and investment in Japan are not short-lived trends, but a sustainable foundation for the market.
By extending an existing base of more than a million members and the KOL fan economy into Japanese hospitality and real estate, the model can not only serve strong, consistent consumer demand from Taiwan, but also transform “trust” into “assets.” Japan is therefore more than an investment destination—it is the most natural and sustainable cross-border stage for the logic of the fan economy.
Lu has created a new model of “diversified investment + KOL added value.” By using the fan economy and social reach that KOLs already possess, property no longer depends solely on rental returns; it can generate multiple forms of value and multiple revenue streams.
Reinventing the Fan Economy: Moving Beyond Traditional E-commerce to Amplify Influence and Returns
Traditional investment in Japanese real estate often requires tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars and concentrates capital in a single property. Earthquakes, fires, or poor operations can therefore expose investors to significant risk. Although Japan has become a popular investment destination in recent years, most operators still depend primarily on location and property conditions, leaving them with a single source of return. Lu’s model centers on “diversified investment + KOL added value.” The same amount of capital can be divided among multiple KOL-partnered properties, lowering concentration risk while using each KOL’s fan economy and social traffic to empower traditional property. Returns no longer come only from rent; they can also carry the value of influence, the experience economy, fan engagement, and brand traffic.
Here, the KOL’s role is redefined. Rather than serving merely as an endorser, the KOL becomes an “IP” that can turn a cold physical space into a branded asset with stories and emotional meaning. When people, place, KOLs, and fans come together, real estate becomes a “traffic-bearing asset,” allowing the property to transcend the limits of its physical value and the ceilings imposed by sale prices and rent.
This design lets investors participate at a lower threshold while gaining the dual benefits of diversified risk and amplified returns. Brands can also use spaces and cultural settings to build deeper emotional connections with consumers. This cross-sector model not only breaks away from the traditional real-estate investment framework, but also responds to a new generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking multiple forms of value.
An Entrepreneur’s View of the Future: Combining Technological Awareness with Twenty Years of Experience
Lu’s ability to extend the fan economy from e-commerce into real estate—and continually expand its influence—is no accident. It is supported by the technological sensitivity of his information-engineering background and by twenty years of market-tested entrepreneurial experience.
He knows that the key to an industry turning point is not to wait, but to see it in advance. While most operators still depend on isolated bursts of traffic, he is already considering how to turn “short-term attention” into “long-term assets.” This instinct for the market comes from his perceptive reading of AI, social platforms, and data, as well as his experience recognizing pivotal moments across multiple industry cycles.
For entrepreneurs, his thinking is a forward-looking reminder: do not chase only the traffic directly in front of you; consider how to build value that can stand the test of time. For investors, his model offers an answer to risk management: diversify allocations and create multiple returns. For brands, it points toward a cross-border blue ocean: a place is not merely a space, but a vessel for connections and culture. As Lu says, “The key to trends is not following them, but seeing them in advance; the key to breakthroughs is not recognition, but reconstructing value.”
This is more than a blue-ocean business opportunity in Japan. It is a new chapter in trust, experience, and the reinvention of value—a business built on lasting connections with no ceiling and no borders. The real key is not chasing a temporary traffic dividend, but recognizing deeper and longer-term trajectories of value. For investors, that means assets are about more than returns; for entrepreneurs, it represents an upgrade in thinking; and for brands, it creates influence that can cross national borders.