Working frantically at venture company has led to entrepreneurship

―Was it always your aim to become an investor?

No, not at all. After graduating, I took a job with a major foreign enterprise, but I took an interest in pursuing new challenges rather than becoming a stable businessman. At that time, I was introduced to the top management of a one-year old venture company called Xavel (now BRANDING, Inc.) by an acquaintance, and that led to a career change. I was manager of the Systems, Advertising and Contents departments and was extremely busy, even spending the night at the company [laughing]. I was there for five years, from 2000 to 2004 and was very busy every day, but at the same time, it was lots of fun.

At Xavel I was involved in many things, including launching a trend-setting website for girls called “girlswalker.com” and event planning at the Kobe Collection, one of Japan’s largest fashion shows. At the Kobe Collection, I rolled out a project that combined the real and virtual worlds, allowing customers to purchase the clothing worn by models online in real time. It attracted attention as the first undertaking of its kind in Japan. Over those four years, in the process of creating hit products, I learned the importance of putting yourself completely in the user’s shoes as you develop products.

―After that, you launched your own company, right?

Yes. After Xavel, I launched several websites and products myself based on my experience and transferred the businesses after achieving a certain degree of success. Ultimately, I established DBS, and I am currently engaging in activities based out of Singapore and Tokyo.

―How did you end up starting an overseas business?

I enjoy traveling, and since 2000 I’ve been making my way around Asia. As I visited various countries, I got the sense that there is great opportunity for business in Asia. Whenever I would eat at popular restaurants, I’d end up analyzing things like cost, number of seats, unit prices, turnaround and sales. As is to be expected, there are still many rough edges to be worked out. So I began wanting to try various things in Asia where the quality of service hasn’t caught up with the high demand. That led to launching a web service in Singapore.

―Was there a particular reason you chose Singapore?

In part because it’s a financial country, Singapore is characterized by the convergence of people, things and money. Especially for a company such as ours that is engaged primarily in consulting and investing, the gathering of people is a key point. There are many success stories, and you routinely encounter people in Singapore that you would rarely run into in Japan. Also, more and more of the Japanese companies I work with in my consulting business are setting up operations overseas, so one of the major appeals of Singapore is the geographical advantage it offers as a base from which to provide local support in Asian countries.