以前『ガイアの夜明け』でも紹介されていたBSizeなど、大企業を飛び出して独立、成功している若い企業家達を紹介しています。
どの会社も、正にMinimizationの流れに合致したビジネスモデル。応援したいですね。
Sayonara to the corporate life By Michiyo Nakamoto
(http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3f296e72-22a6-11e2-b606-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Bs1krdhl)
Young and free: entrepreneurs such as Takuma Iwasa are increasingly following their own path
Takuma Iwasa had no qualms about leaving his job at Panasonic and setting up a consumer electronics company of his own, even though Japan’s once dominant manufacturers in the sector were starting to struggle.
“I was not worried at all,” says 34-year-old Mr Iwasa, who left Japan’s largest consumer electronics maker in 2007 to set up Cerevo, which stands for consumer electronics revolution, in Tokyo.
“I am the kind of person who needs to do something enjoyable and challenging, to make something out of nothing,” he says. With his mop of longish hair and trendy glasses, and surrounded in a corner of his office by a tangle of cables and boxes of electronics products, he is the very picture of an entrepreneur.
Mr Iwasa is representative of a small but growing band of young Japanese entrepreneurs who forgo the promise of a monthly pay cheque and the social standing bestowed by a big-name employer for the excitement and satisfaction of doing what they really want to do.
Such individuality and self-confidence have been rare in Japanese society, which has traditionally valued teamwork and conformity.
In his dark suit and slick tie, Naoki Endo could be mistaken for someone in the fashion industry. The 38-year-old says he did not know what he wanted to do when he left his consulting job at what was then Andersen Consulting in 2000.
“I wanted to do something that I could be passionate about,” he says.
That turned out to be beBit, a company that designs websites based on behavioural analysis, which he started in 2003.
Keita Yagi, who left Fujifilm to start BSize, in Odawara, halfway between Tokyo and Mount Fuji, has a mission to bring out well-designed yet functional consumer electronics products. While still in high school, the softly spoken Mr Yagi was inspired by what Steve Jobs was doing at Apple.
Mr Yagi, now 29, decided he wanted to start his own company because “I wanted to make things that were beautiful and would also change the world”. He made his first product batch in the back room of his home.
Embracing start-ups
Recent changes in Japan have made the country a more welcoming environment for young entrepreneurs
● The threat of redundancy and cost-cutting has made employment at large corporations less appealing.
● Following the tsunami there has been greater emphasis on doing good for society rather than seeking profits.
● The government is providing low-interest loans and loan guarantees to small businesses.
● The internet has lowered the costs of starting a small business, allowing start-ups to market and sell their goods without the need for expensive advertising contracts.
For Japan’s new breed of entrepreneurs, the personal satisfaction they derive from doing what they want is increasingly more important than the security of a job at a well-known company.
For some, in fact, working for a big company seems riskier than running their own business, since large Japanese companies train employees to be generalists who often have few skills to offer outside their immediate employment.
“Working for a big company may provide security in the short term but if the company goes bust you won’t have anything to fall back on. So there is greater security in developing the skills that will make you useful to any company, anywhere, at any time”, Mr Endo says.
Mr Iwasa had not planned to start his own business when he joined Panasonic. But when, inspired by the emergence of YouTube, he suggested his company develop a television that linked to the internet, his boss told him it was too early. It made him realise, he says, that while Panasonic was skilled at improving on existing technologies, it was not good at developing entirely new “genres” of product, which is what he wanted to do.
At Cerevo, where he heads a team of about 10 people, he has developed internet devices such as Live Shell, which enables users to live-stream video from their camcorders directly on to the web without using a PC.
Mr Iwasa has so far raised Y370m ($4.6m) from two rounds of venture capital funding. Japanese funds, including Inova, Kronos Fund, Inspire and Neostella Capital, have been his key investors.
Continuous cost-cutting and restructuring at big corporations have also made young Japanese more willing to set out on their own.
Mr Yagi will be joined next year by a high-school classmate who currently works at Panasonic: “He says it is no fun any more because he is constantly told to cut costs.”
After decades of wealth, people are less interested in materialistic things and have a greater desire to contribute to the wellbeing of society, says Mariko Tamura, secretary-general of the Japan Academic Society for Ventures and Entrepreneurs, a research association supporting the advancement of venture businesses.
The trend became pronounced after the tsunami last year, which brought home the importance of relationships and community solidarity. “There is definitely an increase in young people who want to contribute to society,” Ms Tamura says.
“People should work to make the world better. I feel very strongly that putting profits first destroys the world,” says Mr Endo.
He says that the world’s great entrepreneurs, from Henry Ford to Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, followed this view. “People who set up a company just for fun will give up easily but those who have a goal to create a better society will not,” he says.
Mr Yagi says he turned down investment from venture capitalists so as not to compromise his commitment to doing social good. “I want to contribute to society, so if someone tells me I have to put profits first, it would go against my philosophy,” he says.
Nevertheless, beBit has grown into a business with 78 full-time staff and more than 20 part-time workers. The company, whose customers include Sumitomo Mitsui bank, Honda and Nestlé, has capital of more than Y1bn and has opened its first overseas office in Taiwan.
Until recently, Japan was not an easy place for start-ups, because of a risk-averse financial sector and a culture that did not look kindly on failure. However, the government has become more supportive of start-ups, providing low-interest loans and loan guarantees. Mr Yagi set up Bsize with Y20m in funds from a government-affiliated financial institution.
But the biggest change is the spread of the internet and online services, which have lowered the barriers to doing business for small companies with limited funds.
Mr Iwasa notes that free access to online information and services, such as free calls on Skype and free marketing through Facebook, have made it far easier to start a business.
For example, by using social media it is possible for small companies to market their products without having to pay expensive advertisers.
“Facebook is really effective as a marketing tool because it spreads the word about a product globally and very rapidly,” agrees Mr Yagi, who only sells his products online.
“It used to be very difficult to build a brand but now, with the help of social media, we can compete even against big, established brands.”