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At D-POPS GROUP, our corporate mission is to multiply the number of growth companies (so-called “unicorn companies”) that will revolutionize society, and our core value is to grow and learn together through sincerity, humility, and gratitude. Ever since setting his goal last summer to “conquer all of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains while wearing our company’s iconic unicorn T-shirt”, Genta Sugihara, an advisor to our company, has continued climbing mountains across the country, reaching 56 summits as of writing this article. In this series, he reflects on the successes, failures, decisions, and lessons from his journey, drawing parallels to startup management and organizational leadership. As this challenge enters its second half, Mr. Sugihara has begun attempting mountains he lacked the strength to climb last year. Naturally, this includes an increasing number of peaks that are so hard, it makes you want to quit. During his time at a startup, there were also many difficult moments when he wanted to give up. He recognizes that if he had given up back then, his life would be completely different now. At the same time, he has learned firsthand that reckless action or a lack of caution can be fatal. In Part 5, we will look at the necessity of having both a persistent, unyielding spirit and a cautious, cowardly mindset in both business and mountaineering. 13. The Paper-Thin Line Between “I Can’t” and “Just One More Step”: Face Hardship with a Persistent Spirit This is bad...my head is burning. I feel nauseous. My legs have no strength left in them... My smartwatch shows my heart is racing at over 170 bpm. That is definitely not an optimal number. It was early August, on the day I challenged Mt. O-Asahi, the main peak of the Asahi Mountain Range in Yamagata Prefecture. Faced with a steep climb of about a kilometer to reach the summit, I collapsed at the final checkpoint on the trail. An hour earlier, I had gotten cramps in both of my thighs, and by the time I reached that spot, I was suffering from what appeared to be heatstroke, and my body refused to move anymore. This route, written in my mountain guidebook as an “advanced itinerary with extremely high physical difficulty”, was truly difficult. The temperature that day was extremely high all over Japan, and the weather was already hot and humid when I set out early in the morning. Immediately after starting, I was sweating buckets, and the rugged mountain path with extreme ascents and descents seemed to be endless. Four hours later, I found myself in the condition written above. A veteran climber passing by even suggested I descend, telling me, “The mountain isn’t going anywhere.” However, before deciding to retreat, I resolved to stay calm and do everything I could to help my body recover. To replenish my electrolyte levels, I washed down miso soup powder and a rice ball with water, cooled my head with a towel soaked in water from the spring, and lay down on the rocks to rest. After about 30 minutes, my body temperature and heart rate dropped, and I felt much better. When I collapsed, I felt weak and thought, “I can’t do it.” But as my physical condition returned, so did my willpower, and that thought transformed into, “One step at a time. Let’s just try a few more steps.” Of course, if my condition hadn’t improved, I should have retreated. Being persistent does not mean ignoring danger and pushing forward recklessly. (I will touch on this point again later). However, in this case, my condition improved with rest, and I was ready to move forward once again. After that, I took it one step at a time, eventually reaching the summit of this highly difficult Mt. O-Asahi. Overwhelmed by joy, a sense of accomplishment, and the relief of being freed from fear, I broke down in tears. (Despite leg cramps and symptoms resembling heatstroke, I managed to reach the summit after resting and recovering) What was I thinking as I dragged my heavy legs forward? “I’ve overcome numerous crises in my work before. Situations where I wanted to run away, or when I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’ and wanted to quit. Every single time, I pushed through with strong persistence, didn’t I? Compared to those struggles, I can manage this. This is where my adventurous spirit shines!” Once, when I was at a mobile phone company in its launch phase, I worked through endless all-nighters preparing for the release. Immediately after launch, a massive incident occurred where radio waves from the antennas completely stopped, forcing me to deal with a flood of complaints from the agencies I was in charge of. When Google only had about a 30% market share in Japan, I scrambled to negotiate business alliances with PC manufacturers and major portal sites to take market share away from what was Japan’s largest search portal at the time. Negotiation over conditions became fierce, and almost every week, I had to take things up to the executives over in the US while it was in the middle of the night here in Japan. If I had given up halfway or run away from those painful situations, I don’t think I would have the fulfilling life I have now. To the readers, especially the entrepreneurs taking on massive risks, I am sure you have faced countless hardships up to this point. In your memories, there are likely experiences where you think, “I’m so glad I didn’t give up then,” or “I am where I am today because I overcame that crisis.” There are countless startup companies out there in the world. Many of them try to launch products or services in growth areas or with business models that reflect the era, which inevitably leads to the birth of many similar companies. Yet, the startups that continue to grow and survive are exceptionally rare. What separates a successful startup from one that vanishes halfway? Management ability, business sense, fundraising skills, personal networks, luck…I believe there are many factors. But among them, a strong will to never give up—that is to say, the persistent spirit possessed by the CEO, the other executives, and every single worker—is one of the greatest factors determining a company’s success or failure. When faced with a difficult situation, everyone thinks “I can’t do this anymore” at some point. But is it really your limit? Or will the scenery you see, and the results you produce, change if you just take one more step? The line between “I can’t do it anymore” and “just one more step” is razor-thin. It is exactly when you face a crisis that the true value of your accumulated efforts and the underlying strength of your organization are tested. Instead of giving up easily, try taking just one more step forward with a persistent spirit. That single step might be the catalyst to overcome a massive wall, leading to your next stage of growth and ultimate success. 14. Be Bold and Adventurous, but Cautious: Do Not Be Ashamed of Cowardice In the previous section 13, I said to never give up and to push forward with a persistent spirit. However, there is something very important that may sound contradictory at first glance. Executives and business leaders need a bold, adventurous spirit to forge ahead. But at the same time, they must also be cowardly towards danger and careful enough to stop and think. The rainy sky suddenly burned bright red. Elevation: 2,400 meters. This was the sunset seen from Tsurugizawa Hut in Japan’s Northern Alps. Even the mountain hut staff said, “We’ve never seen a sunset this red before.” It was beautiful. But for some reason, that bizarre redness filled me with a sense of dread. I had been planning to climb Mt. Tsurugi (elevation 2,999m) the following day, known as one of the most difficult mountains in Japan. Since that morning, warnings regarding heavy rain, flooding, and landslides had been issued across Toyama Prefecture. By the time I arrived at Tateyama, intense rain was lashing down alongside severe thunderstorms. Still, believing the weather forecast that said, “The rain will stop tomorrow and turn to a cloudy sky,” I trekked through the heavy rain to reach the mountain hut. Resting in the hut before dinner, these thoughts were running through my head: “I’m going to climb this no matter what.”“Don't give up, it takes guts.”“Have a persistent spirit.” But then, I saw that bright red sunset. It was certainly magical and incredibly beautiful. But to me, it felt almost like a warning message from the mountain god: “There’s a difference between boldness and recklessness.”“Tomorrow is going to be a truly dangerous day.”“Make a prudent decision.” So, I chose to see that crimson sky as a red traffic light, telling me not to proceed. Ultimately, even when morning came, the sky did not clear to clouds as forecasted, and the rain continued to fall. Mt. Tsurugi is not a mountain where you simply walk up a trail. There are sections where you climb up rock walls, grab onto chains, and carefully traverse sheer drop-offs. If the rocks and chains are wet from rain continuing since the previous day, the level of danger increases dramatically. Given the situation, not a single climber staying at the hut attempted the summit. Taking the judgment of those around me into account, I made the decision to abandon the summit without hesitation. (In the center, Mt. Tsurugi is hidden by clouds. The rain didn’t stop the next morning, so I decided to cancel the climb.) What would my decision have been if the rain had stopped that morning? It still scares me a bit to think about it. Even if it wasn’t actively raining, the rocks would still have been wet from the heavy rain the day before. The rocks I grabbed by hand, the rocks I stepped on, and the chains I relied on would have all been slippery. If I had forced myself to climb anyway, thinking, “I came all this way,” or “I want to climb this no matter what,” and ended up in an accident, I might have been forced to abandon my 100 Famous Mountains challenge entirely. Once I descended and calmed down, the thought struck me again. There is a difference between being bold and adventurous and being reckless. And one more thought. It is precisely because we have this cowardice and fear of danger that we can connect to our next challenge. On Mt. O-Asahi, mentioned in the previous section, I confirmed that my condition had recovered through rest, and made the decision to take just one more step. On the other hand, here on Mt. Tsurugi, I assessed the situation and made the decision to retreat for the time being. There is courage in advancing, but there is also courage in retreating. I believe that calmly evaluating the right course of action is the true meaning of courage. I believe there are similar situations in business. Sudden headwinds can batter an industry due to legal revisions, technological innovation, or shifts in global affairs. If a CEO becomes stubborn in such moments, thinking, “This is the policy we decided on, so we’re seeing it through to the end,” and drives the entire company into a dangerous direction, it can lead to an irreversible disaster. The strategies and tactics that were right yesterday are not guaranteed to be right today. (Refer to Part 3 of this series.) That is precisely why business leaders need not only the boldness to move forward, but also the sensitivity to detect environmental changes and risks, and the cowardice to stop when they sense danger. (Refer to Part 4 of this series.) In fact, looking at the books and statements of exceptional business leaders, there is a school of thought that considers ‘cowardice’ to be a necessary trait for executives. Shoshi Arakawa, the former CEO of Bridgestone, titled his book Strength in Being a Cowardly Executive, and argued in it that timidity and fearfulness are actually tools for surviving in an uncertain world. Similarly, when the global spread of COVID-19 began to throw markets into chaos, Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank Group, posted on X: “When facing a storm, it’s better to devote yourself to defense to the point where you’re laughed at for being a coward. I think that is true courage.” It’s the same, both for climbing Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains and for running a startup company. Courage is not simply thinking optimistically that things will work out and charging ahead boldly. Always prepare for the worst-case scenario (section 4 from Part 2), fear the possibility of risks and failures, and stop if you sense dangerous signs (sections 10 and 11 from Part 4). Then, when you determine you must still proceed, take a bold step forward. What is required of executives and leaders is not an “either/or” choice between being bold or cowardly. You must possess both of these contradictory traits, wielding the courage to advance and the courage to retreat depending on the situation, in order to sustain your challenge over the long term. 15. The Fallacy of “I’ve Come This Far, So…”: Have the Courage to Discard Sunk Costs If the rain had stopped on the morning of the planned climb, I might have thought, “Well, since I came all this way...” In truth, this very way of thinking is another massive factor that disrupts one’s ability to calmly make the decision to retreat. I had been planning that climb for months, booked my stay in two different mountain huts, and finally arrived in Toyama—far from my home—after taking multiple overnight buses, sinking a considerable amount of time and money into each step. Then, I hiked up to the mountain hut at an elevation of 2,400 meters in the pouring rain, carrying a heavy backpack. “I went through all this to reach this point. Am I really going to turn back with the summit right in front of me?” Such thoughts were going around inside my head. In economics and business administration, these costs that have already been paid and cannot be recovered are called ‘sunk costs’. While a veteran climber would see those poor conditions and easily make a judgment, an inexperienced climber like myself was hindered from making an immediate decision by my bold and adventurous spirit—which, at that moment, was actually a reckless sense of competition—along with the sunken cost fallacy. On the front lines of business management—especially at startup companies—there are many situations where sunk costs negatively affect your judgment. Deciding whether to retreat or pivot an unprofitable business. Deciding whether to release a new product or business even though a critical issue was discovered. Deciding whether to hire a highly capable candidate who has doubts regarding the company’s philosophy and values. During executive discussions at such moments, what happens when you focus too much on sunk costs, saying things like, “Since we’ve already invested this much,” “Since we’ve worked this hard,” or “Since we’ve spent so much time on this”? It can lead to irreversible management decisions such as failing to retreat from an unprofitable business and expanding losses; launching a new business or product while harboring potential issues; or hiring personnel who do not fit the organizational values, creating friction down the line. To avoid this, when making critical decisions, executives must be highly conscious of whether they are falling into the sunk cost trap, and make calm, rational judgments. Do not give up when you shouldn’t. But when you should give up, gracefully retreat without letting yourself be trapped by the time, money, and effort you have spent up to that point. I believe that being able to do both is the true essence of having a persistent spirit while wielding cautious judgment.     This concludes Part 5 of “Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains”. Over a year has passed since this challenge began. I chose to call this series “Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains”, but if you look behind the scenes, my true intention was to prove a point: “If I apply my startup management experience to mountaineering, even an amateur climber can conquer the 100 Famous Mountains in a short period.” So far, I believe that experience has been put to great use. The next installment is entitled “Learn from Failures and Continue to Grow”, and will explore what it means to continuously grow by gaining experience, accumulating training, and learning one step at a time. For those who have not yet read the previous articles in this series, please check them out here: Part 1: Define Your Summit, then PreparePart 2: Detailed Planning, Steady ExecutionPart 3: Strategy, Tactics, and ExecutionPart 4: Extend Your Antennae, Pay Attention to Your Vitals D-POPS GROUP Advisor Genta Sugihara August 2026:Mt. Gassan (#49), Mt. O-Asahi (#50), Mt. Zao (#51), Mt. Fuji - Kengamine (#52), Mt. Hakusan (#53), Mt. Yotei (#54)

“THE SALONS”: a Service that Supports the Independence of Beauty Professionals On July 30, 2026, we visited the Shinsaibashi and Umeda Chayamachi locations of “THE SALONS”, a chain of fully private beauty salon studios operated by our strategic capital and business alliance partner, The Salons Japan Inc. (website only in Japanese). ◆What is “THE SALONS”? “THE SALONS” is a salon studio rental structure that is new to Japan, where hair stylists and beauty professionals can open their own fully private salons with only a monthly payment. Its major features include the following points:・Operate your own salon with low risk: You can open your business with zero initial costs, allowing you to fulfill your dream of independence at your own timing without being constrained by capital.・Create a salon that is uniquely yours: Everything from the interior design to your working style is completely up to you. You can open a hair salon, a beauty treatment clinic, a nail salon, or whatever other beauty profession you want.・Extensive facilities and a support system for independence: Each salon studio is fully equipped with a full-flat back shampoo station, sink, lighting, and Wi-Fi. The monthly fee also includes utilities and the use of up to 300 rented towels. Furthermore, a comprehensive support system is in place, offering everything from financing consultations to support for opening a street-front location in the future. Unlike general semi-private shared salons (which only have contracts allowing for the use of a facility), a major appeal with THE SALONS is that their tenants are essentially leasing a fully-private storefront, which allows them to gain social credibility as independent salon owners. ◆THE SALONS Shinsaibashi Location THE SALONS Shinsaibashi is highly accessible, located just a 1-minute walk from Yotsubashi Station or a 4-minute walk from Shinsaibashi Station. From Shinsaibashi Station, you can walk through the CRYSTA Nagahori underground shopping mall and find it right outside North Exit 12. With various shops lining the underground mall, I felt it would be easy to enjoy one’s time if arriving early for an appointment! Since we visited on a weekday, many of their tenants’ salons were closed for their scheduled days off, but the location was fully booked as of the end of July! Perhaps because most of these fully private, independent salon studios are operated by a single hair stylist, I occasionally saw customers visiting with their children. The sense of familiarity that comes with seeing the same stylist must be enough to feel comfortable bringing your children along, so I felt this was another unique charm of THE SALONS. ◆THE SALONS Umeda Chayamachi Location THE SALONS Umeda Chayamachi is also in a very convenient location, just a 2-minute walk from Osaka-Umeda Station! Coloring and perm treatments tend to take a long time, and it is easy to get hungry while waiting. Having a Burger King in the same building is a reassuring perk in those moments. It is nice to be able to quickly satisfy your hunger while waiting or on your way home from a treatment. What struck me about the Umeda Chayamachi location was that the size of the salon studios and the angles of the windows differed from room to room, giving each salon within the same facility a completely distinct atmosphere. Because each studio has a different shape, you can find the perfect space for yourself in terms of natural lighting and a sense of openness! Sinks and shampooing stations are pre-installed in every room at THE SALONS. Since you can freely choose the rest of your furniture according to your own tastes, I thought it was a great perk to be able to enjoy designing a salon that reflects your personality without having to worry about plumbing, etc. We truly appreciated learning a lot of details about the Shinsaibashi and Umeda Chayamachi locations from The Salons Japan’s Ms. Akiyama, who showed us around and gave us the opportunity to take a photo of her with D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Sugihara, who also serves as a director for The Salons Japan. D-POPS GROUP is a collective of companies expanding their businesses by integrating “Real Business × Technology × Group Synergy”, aiming to realize a Venture Ecosystem that will continue to be needed by society even 100 years from now. We will continue to fully support The Salons Japan as a fellow partner in this Venture Ecosystem. D-POPS GROUP Brand Strategy Office, Haruka Kawaguchi

Life-Changing Experiences and a Valued Organizational Structure: opzt’s Future in Developing Trust In this final installment of a two-part interview, we asked President Akamatsu about his experiences as a musician, what made him decide to be an entrepreneur, his dedication to organization building, the entertainment business he launched after a serious illness, the background of the M&A with D-POPS GROUP, his resonance with realizing a Venture Ecosystem, his vision for five years from now, and a message for our readers. (This interview was conducted in August 2026.) This is the latter part of the interview. To read the first part, click the link below.https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/opzt-interview-first-part/ ◆Applying Experiences from His Band Member Days to Business Management Sugihara:Let’s step away from the business topics for a bit and talk more about you. I’ve heard you used to be a musician. Is that true? Akamatsu:Yes, it is true. I played the bass when I was younger and lived in a world completely different from corporate management. However, in a band, if only one person is skilled, the team doesn’t come together. I think there are actually quite a few similarities with managing a company. Everyone has their own personality and abilities. But in the sense of trying to build a single stage on which to perform, I feel corporate management is much the same. Sugihara:So you cultivated a sense of teamwork and balance over a long period in the field of music. Has your experience as a musician back then helped you in your role as CEO? Akamatsu:I suppose so, though it’s hard to say for sure. The sense of reading the audience’s reactions during a live performance and grasping what they want might be something I still utilize today. Sugihara:That makes sense. You definitely can’t do business with major corporations if you can’t read the room. ◆Creating a Company to Be Proud Of: The Background of opzt’s Founding Sugihara:You touched on this briefly earlier, but could you tell us again: what was the catalyst for starting opzt, and how do you feel now looking back on the 13 years since founding it? Akamatsu:My original motivation for starting a business wasn’t a grand plan to build a massive corporation. Rather, it was a somewhat modest ambition to run a business I alone was responsible for, and create a company that my employees and I could truly be proud of and satisfied with. I didn’t have some sort of grand vision. About 20 years ago, the HR industry was full of extremely exploitative, so-called “black companies”. While working in that environment, part of me felt a desire bubbling up to build a company that would value workers more and could respond more quickly and flexibly to clients. That was how I decided to start up opzt in 2013. Looking back over these 13 years, more than the company’s sales or scale, my strongest feeling is that we’ve somehow made it this far thanks to the connections and relationships we’ve built with people. Sugihara:It’s wonderful that your journey began not with a grand corporate scheme—which doesn’t always go well for entrepreneurs without a concrete plan—but from a genuine desire to provide everyone with an ideal workplace due to your personal experience. In my case, I joined my previous systems company intending to be an engineer, but as it turned out, it used to be a dispatch business back then. My boss would only show his face about once every six months, and I was constantly working at a client’s factory. In those days, we were just seen as unit prices. Even if I was highly evaluated on-site, it was never reflected in my salary at all. That was the era, wasn’t it? In the end, I quit three years later, ha ha. Akamatsu:That’s exactly how it was. In those times, dispatch staff weren’t allowed to take paid leave, and if we were short on people, we were told to go recruit strangers on the street. We were judged solely on numbers and told to push for more overtime. It really was an unreasonable era. Sugihara:Speaking of that, I get the impression that employees who joined around the time of your founding have stayed with you for a long time. Is there anything you prioritize or keep in mind regarding your people in terms of organization building and company management? Akamatsu:Honestly, I simply have nothing but gratitude towards them. I am truly thankful that many employees have stayed for so long. What I value is not looking at employees merely from the perspective of job titles or numbers. Everyone has things they are good at and things they struggle with; some excel at sales, while others are great at administration. Rather than forcing everyone into the same mold, I consciously try to create roles where each person can thrive. Also, rather than having only the founding members make decisions, I want to properly provide opportunities to newer employees and nurture the next generation of leaders and managers. While we’re intentionally preserving those values, at the same time we are trying to transition into an organization that operates according to systems rather than relying on specific individuals. ◆A Philosophy of Helping to Raise Up Executives Instead of Micromanaging Individual Branches Sugihara:I often meet with the team members of opzt’s Tokyo branch based in Shibuya Hikarie. Even when you aren’t there, they work incredibly earnestly and harmoniously. They maintain a bright, positive atmosphere, mixing seriousness with jokes as they manage their tasks. With offices scattered across Nagoya, Shikoku, and Kyushu, as you mentioned earlier, how do your staff and employees work so independently and reliably? Akamatsu:Well, the key is actually to not micromanage each branch. The clients and recruitment markets are completely different depending on the region, and we’ve learned in the past that simply forcing them to use the patterns that are successful at our headquarters doesn’t work. And I think a major reason the Tokyo team can operate autonomously is that the local members think for themselves, make decisions, and commit to the results. It feels less like managing a branch and more like helping branch managers to grow. Sugihara:That’s impressive. Everyone truly acts with a mindset like they’re also an executive, and seem driven to boost Tokyo’s performance. ◆Lessons from a Serious Illness: The Background Behind the Birth of the Entertainment Business “SELEBRO” Sugihara:On a different note, I understand you run an entertainment-related business separate from opzt, called “SELEBRO”. You launched this company after opzt, correct? Akamatsu:Yes, that’s right. Currently, through SELEBRO, we operate live music venues and nightclubs, manage artists, and do event planning for music festivals, etc. As for our business model, we are also heavily involved in entertainment tech, a blending of entertainment and technology. It’s separate from opzt, and while its headquarters is also in Osaka, they aren’t here in this building. My love for music and entertainment was one of my original reasons for founding it, but the biggest factor was being hospitalized for a condition called cerebral artery dissection. It happened around June or July of 2019, about six months after we joined D-POPS GROUP in December 2018. It was completely sudden; when I went to the hospital, I was told to be admitted immediately. It was a truly desperate situation, and I spent a month in a state where every day could have been my last. That experience profoundly changed my outlook on life by 180 degrees. Before that, I assumed I still had a long future ahead and I would live until I was 80 or 90. That baseless assumption was turned upside down. I had vaguely thought it would be nice to try my hand at the music business at some point in my long life, but after going through that hospitalization, I realized that rather than thinking I’ll just do it someday, it was better for me to be intentional about doing it so I wouldn’t die with regrets. When I put on that mindset, old connections of mine from the music world started getting back in contact with me, fantastic venues opened up, and opportunities like that kept coming to me. I figured now I had to do it. So I spoke properly with President Goto, telling him, “This is what I want to do.” He told me as long as I continued to run opzt properly, he was fine with it, making it clear he didn’t want me to do either half-heartedly. By the way, I recovered from my medical condition. Eventually, my body was able to heal without surgery, and I’m in good health now. I feel like I’m getting a second chance at life. I no longer postpone what I want to do until “someday”, because you never know when you’re going to die. ◆Respecting Our Company’s Individuality: Why We Chose D-POPS GROUP Sugihara:Thank you for telling us so much about your personal life. You really went through a difficult experience. Now, you joined D-POPS GROUP in 2018 through an M&A. Could you tell us about that process and why you chose D-POPS GROUP out of the many offers you likely received? Akamatsu:At the time, my company was in its fifth year and approaching a scale of about 1 billion yen. As we grew to a certain size, I started to realize that to proceed to the next phase, we needed management resources and expertise that we couldn’t get on our own. That was the starting point. Since we were growing steadily, we were receiving offers from various companies. The reason I chose D-POPS GROUP was that I was drawn to your CEO’s personality and your philosophies. You didn’t want to simply acquire a company; you wanted to grow together while firmly preserving my identity as a manager and my company’s individuality. I have many peers who have gone through M&As, and I’ve seen numerous cases where the management policy changes after joining a group, or the founding manager leaves the business. In contrast, D-POPS GROUP continues to let me run the company, allowing opzt to grow while respecting our culture and strengths. I really appreciate how they gently watch over us. I really decided not based on terms or conditions, but based on who would be managing the company alongside me and whether my employees could continue working positively after joining D-POPS GROUP. Sugihara:Just as you hoped back then, your 1-billion-yen company has kept growing over these past six years. Have you learned a lot from President Goto and D-POPS GROUP’s management study sessions while keeping your own structure intact? Akamatsu:Yes. Every day, I get to learn more about various aspects, I’m still receiving mentorship, and I feel like I am studying on a daily basis. ◆More and More Managers Emerging from the Group: Resonating with the Venture Ecosystem Sugihara:That’s wonderful. Finally, D-POPS GROUP has the slogan of “realizing a Venture Ecosystem”. Please tell us what aspects of this goal resonate with you, and if you’re doing anything to help build this Ecosystem. Akamatsu:I resonate with a lot of aspects, but most of all, with the philosophy that it’s not just about one company succeeding, but about new managers and new businesses emerging one after another from within the group. As a founding manager myself, my goal isn’t solely to make my company bigger. I want to create a cyclical environment where the next business leaders and managers emerge from among our employees, and they in turn create new companies and businesses. Even within opzt, we give each branch authority and discretion, having them run the branches with the mindset of managing a small company. I believe that circulating the talent, funds, and trust generated by those operations into the next business connects directly to realizing a Venture Ecosystem, so I also agree with that idea. Sugihara:It sounds like you are creating an ecosystem within opzt itself, too. Akamatsu:Yes. The scale is still small, but I think they share common elements. ◆Five Years from Now: A Company Supporting Corporate Growth with People and Technology Sugihara:Please tell us what opzt will look like in five years, or any specific goals you have. Akamatsu:In five years, as I mentioned earlier, I want us to be a company that doesn’t just dispatch talent, but supports corporate growth by combining people and technology. Our staffing business remains a major foundation, so while we will firmly maintain that, I want to increase our focus on AI, data, and the data center sectors, transforming into a highly specialized and profitable business structure. Beyond that, I want us to be a company where employees and staff can properly grow, where clients need us for a long time, and where we generate appropriate profits to invest in new businesses. ◆A Message to Our Readers Sugihara:Lastly, could you share a few words with our readers? Anything is fine. Akamatsu:opzt itself is still an immature company, and I believe technology, including AI, will continue to change at an incredible speed. However, as a company, we want to challenge ourselves with new things without being bound by past successes. If anyone looking for a job happens to read this article, I hope you won’t limit your potential based solely on your current experience. Even if you lack experience now, you can build a new career by learning and taking on challenges. To any corporations reading this, we want to be a partner who can think alongside you, not just in introducing talent, but also in organization building, operational improvement, and taking on new business ventures. If you have even the slightest interest, please feel free to reach out to us. Sugihara:Wonderful. Thank you very much! Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. opzt, Inc. Company President and CEO: Fuminori AkamatsuAddress: 5F Nomura Real Estate Building, 4-2-12 Honmachi, Chuo Ward, OsakaEstablished: September 10, 2013Website: https://opzt.net/

Building Trust with Major Corporations and Creating a Staffing Business that Develops Human Resources In this first installment of a two-part interview, we asked Fuminori Akamatsu, opzt, Inc.’s founder and CEO, about their business operations, how they build trust with major corporations, their expansion into the technology sector, human resource development, and their approach to the generative AI era. (This interview was conducted in August 2026.) ◆Introducing a Nationwide Business with 5 Locations, Centered on HR and Technology Sugihara: Currently, 26 group companies belong to D-POPS GROUP. Today, we are interviewing Mr. Fuminori Akamatsu, president of opzt, Inc., which joined the group in 2018. Thank you for your time! First of all, although it is posted on your website (available in Japanese only), could you give us an overview of your business in your own words? Akamatsu: Our core operations are centered around two main pillars: our HR business, which includes staffing, recruitment, and outsourcing; and our tech business, which handles the IT technology sector. Since our founding, we have provided HR services primarily for the telecommunications industry, focusing on administrative roles, call centers, and sales and promotional support. We currently operate out of five locations—Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Shikoku, and Fukuoka—with many team members working throughout Japan. Recently, we have been focusing not only on conventional HR services but also on the IT technology sector, rolling out highly specialized HR services for roles such as AI specialists, data scientists, and infrastructure engineers. Currently, we mainly provide System Engineering Services (SES) and operate on an outsourcing and contracting basis, but in the future, we hope to develop and release our own in-house products. Sugihara: By the way, could you tell us the origin of your company name? Akamatsu: It originally came from the desire for our company to be our clients’ first choice. However, the word “choice” itself implies picking from a variety of options, whereas “opt” carries the nuance of proactively selecting something, so we embedded our desire to become that kind of company into the name. Since there was already a famous company called Opt, we wanted to avoid using the same spelling. We added ‘z’, the last letter of the alphabet, to make a new word which we gave the meaning of “the ultimate, best company”. Sugihara: So you drew inspiration from English and coined a new word to make your company’s name. About how many employees do you have in terms of the scale of your staffing? Akamatsu: Including both our headquarters staff as well as all of our dispatch employees, there are currently about 550 people registered with our company. ◆Building Trust from Year Two: Forging Bonds with NTT Sugihara: You have a very large pool of talent. How do you go about connecting with the clients where you dispatch your employees? I’ve heard before that you have many clients related to NTT. How did you manage to get your company involved with such a massive corporation? Akamatsu: A major factor is that when I was working as a corporate employee, I was given a lot of responsibility within NTT Group. Even though I was really just a young kid at the time, various key figures took me under their wing, allowing me to build not only business relationships but also deep interpersonal trust. Later, when I decided to start my own business, an NTT executive who had been a great mentor to me said, “If you’re going independent, I want to support you,” and offered to help me as an advisor. While that’s not the only reason, when I launched my business, former colleagues and other excellent individuals within NTT helped me out in various capacities. Because many of these individuals had long-standing trust, networks, and lots of personal connections with major companies like NTT, leveraging those connections to establish business deals became our starting point. And then, truly miraculously, we were able to sign a contract with NTT at the very early stage of our second year in business. Given that we didn’t have a Teikoku Databank rating at the time and weren’t yet the kind of company that they would typically even look at, I think our dealing with NTT was quite the exception. Sugihara: I believe your clients include other major corporations besides NTT. Many startups struggle to establish working relationships, so how did you and your management team pave the way for that? Akamatsu: We were truly fortunate to do business with a massive company like NTT in our second year, as it allowed us to learn through trial and error the difficulties of working with large corporations (things like information management, compliance, and talent quality). Because we were able to build a certain level of trust with NTT and establish an organizational framework for engaging with major companies, we were able to apply that to other large corporations, which helped us to get up and running relatively quickly. As has been the case for a while, rather than sales strategies that simply win contracts, we value strategies that focus on how long we can sustain those contracts. I believe our ongoing transactions with major companies like NTT and Docomo are the result of gradually building things up, one step at a time. Sugihara: What do you specifically pay attention to in order to maintain business with major corporations, or what do you think is the reason you enjoy such favor with your mentors? Akamatsu: I truly believe it’s the accumulation of consistently keeping small promises. It’s about trust—ensuring that the quality of our talent, compliance, and information management are solid, as I mentioned earlier. When a problem occurs on-site, we don’t hide it; we report it immediately and communicate how we will improve as a company. The larger the company, the more they scrutinize these aspects. So, we immediately and thoroughly address each issue. Our employees also strictly adhere to this principle, and I think the accumulation of all these efforts is what makes us stand out. We started from nothing, and while our initial entry point may have been personal connections, I don’t believe business relationships last this long purely on personal ties. It’s all about the cumulative effort. ◆From Routine Tasks to Highly Specialized Fields: Differentiating Their Business in the Era of AI Sugihara: I have the impression that your services have pivoted over these past 13 years. In particular, you recently started a tech-related staffing business. How are you differentiating yourselves in that area? Akamatsu: We didn’t originally set out with a conscious decision to pivot. Rather, as we kept our eyes on the HR market, we realized that routine and standardized tasks would inevitably become automated by AI. At the same time, we saw market movement showing an increased demand for talent capable of utilizing AI, such as data scientists and professionals in the AI and data fields. Our company realized about three or four years ago that if we just continued our traditional HR services, we would definitely be weeded out, so we knew we had to focus on high-growth sectors. However, we felt there was no point in doing the same thing as conventional SES companies. Therefore, we are specifically focusing on areas that directly tie into a company’s competitiveness moving forward, such as AI and data engineers, data scientists, and talent within the infrastructure field who can support data centers. Additionally, rather than only hiring individuals who already possess high skills, we are running a parallel initiative where we hire high-potential individuals with no prior experience, educate them, and develop them into specialized professionals while they gain practical experience. I believe combining the know-how we’ve cultivated in the staffing industry with specialized expertise in the technology sector is our unique point of differentiation that other companies don’t have. Sugihara: Your focus on the data center field, as you just mentioned, is definitely the right move. I’ve seen news from the US where, despite an increase in IT engineer layoffs, the demand for electricians is surging, to the point where even certified public accountants are quitting to become electricians or plumbers. I simply thought it was about having a tangible trade, but it turns out these jobs are related to data center construction. I hear there is a severe labor shortage, and while Japanese manufacturers are profiting from semiconductors and servers, there's also an ultimate demand for the people who actually install them. Akamatsu: That’s exactly right. In Osaka, in particular, data centers are rapidly increasing as backups for ones running in Tokyo. They are currently being built at a rapid pace with the idea that even if Tokyo falls, data can be protected in Osaka. Because these facilities require 24-hour monitoring and are often located in remote areas, telecommunications carriers are constantly struggling with labor shortages. We decided we wanted to tackle this head-on and are putting significant effort into it. I may use AI quite a bit myself, but people really are starting to use AI more and more. ◆Hiring Strategies and Educational Programs to Become Clients’ First Choice Sugihara: Now, I’d like to ask about acquiring the talent you actually dispatch to the clients receiving these services. I’ve heard of companies even within our own group that are struggling with recruitment. With costs rising and a shrinking talent pool to begin with, how is opzt tackling this? Akamatsu: Not to say it’s going perfectly well for us either, but we make a point not to rely on just one recruitment method. Our defining characteristic is that we use a mix of multiple recruitment channels—job boards, recruitment agencies, referrals, social media, and hiring events—depending on the job role and region. More important than that is becoming a company that applicants actively choose. Today’s job seekers look closely not only at the salary and job description, but also at what kind of experiences they will gain after joining, how it will lead to their future career, and how the company will treat them. Because of this, we make sure not to just say the good things, but to honestly explain everything: the job content, workplace environment, and expected roles. We place more emphasis on ensuring that the people who join us can thrive and work with us for a long time, rather than just focusing on the sheer number of hires. Sugihara: That’s wonderful. You mentioned that when people join opzt, you don’t necessarily just hire those who already possess high skills, but you also have programs to educate your employees. Could you elaborate on that? Can someone with no background in technology really become the kind of talent dispatched to that sector? Akamatsu: As part of our fundamental training, in addition to basic education on business etiquette, information security, and compliance, we conduct training tailored to each assignment. Especially in the tech sector, we don’t just have them learn online; we prioritize getting them to a point where they can use what they’ve learned in actual practice. We do this by creating assignments for them to present, supporting their acquisition of certifications, and pairing this with follow-up support from senior engineers. Furthermore, we believe that the ability to report, communicate, ask for help, and to understand a client’s intent is just as crucial as technical skill. So, we adjust our programs for each individual to cover these areas as well. Our goal is to develop talent that makes clients say, “I want to request this person for the job again.” ◆The Era of AI Agents: Stormy Seas or Smooth Sailing? Sugihara: Now, for this kind of staffing business—especially within the tech talent sector you’re focusing on—generative AI, and more recently, agentic AI, is a point of concern. Do you view this trend as a tough situation, or an opportunity? What countermeasures or approaches are you taking? Akamatsu: I think it’s definitely a storm and a critical situation, but more than that, I consider it a massive opportunity. As I mentioned earlier, standardized and routine tasks are increasingly being replaced by AI, and I can already feel that replacement happening in reality. However, if we just continue with the same kind of HR services we’ve offered up to now, I believe our company will undoubtedly disappear. On the other hand, I can feel a steady, upward trend in the demand for talent who can utilize data, talent who can implement AI into businesses, and talent with the level of communication and interpersonal skills that AI cannot replace. In that sense, if opzt itself can change and ride this wave, I believe we could be catching a very massive wave indeed. At our company, we are trying to develop talent capable of using AI even in non-engineering roles like administration, management, and recruitment, beyond just AI specialists and data scientists. By educating people to be on the side that uses AI rather than being used by it, I hope to create a differentiation strategy not found elsewhere. ◆Three New Initiatives for Further Growth Sugihara: Thank you. Are there any specific new initiatives you are currently working on for the further growth of your business? Akamatsu: There are three main things. First, as we discussed earlier, we are prioritizing the growth of our AI and data business, as well as the infrastructure sector surrounding data centers. Second, instead of dispatching individuals one by one, we are steadily increasing contracts with higher added value through outsourcing, where we provide support as a team. Third, even within our existing HR services, we are utilizing AI to enhance productivity in tasks such as recruitment, interviews, and staff follow-ups. Sugihara: Are there clients who need an entire team to be dispatched? Akamatsu: There actually are. Right now, engineers with those specific skills are either no longer available, or their rates have become expensive. So, we are seeing an increase in cases where we form and dispatch a team combining experienced professionals with the young talent we are training. As they grow, we add the next wave of new staff to the team, creating a cycle of continuous on-site training. Sugihara: I see, the younger members gain experience working alongside their mentors on the same job and in the same field with the same client, building their skills to eventually become leaders themselves. Akamatsu: Right. Our clients are also unable to train such talent themselves, so there is a strong demand to outsource the whole process to us. While this system can make things difficult sometimes, it allows our company to bring in inexperienced individuals, so we have recently been proposing to send whole teams to client companies quite often. Sugihara: Indeed, while sending someone individually helps that specific person build skills and experience, it raises the question of whether know-how is accumulating within the company itself. Usually, that person would have to come back and act as an instructor for internal training. But that training time doesn’t translate to revenue right away. Instead of making them just play the role of a teacher, they are essentially providing on-the-job training for younger members while both are getting paid by the client, and they themselves learn something through that, as well. Akamatsu: Exactly. So we are rapidly expanding this method right now. Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. opzt, Inc. Company President and CEO: Fuminori Akamatsu Address: 5F Nomura Real Estate Building, 4-2-12 Honmachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka Established: September 10, 2013 Website: https://opzt.net/ In the second part of the interview, we discuss: ・President Akamatsu’s experience as a musician and how he applies it to business management ・The catalyst for founding opzt, its 13-year trajectory, and organization building ・“SELEBRO”, the entertainment business he launched after a serious illness ・The story of joining D-POPS GROUP and his resonance with realizing a Venture Ecosystem ・opzt’s 5-year vision and a message for the readers ・And other topics Be sure to check it out here: https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/opzt-interview-latter-part/

At D-POPS GROUP, our corporate mission is to multiply the number of growth companies (so-called “unicorn companies”) that will revolutionize society, and our core value is to grow and learn together through sincerity, humility, and gratitude. Ever since setting his goal last summer to “conquer all of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains while wearing our company’s iconic unicorn T-shirt”, Genta Sugihara, an advisor to our company, has continued climbing mountains across the country, reaching 53 summits as of writing this article. In this series, he reflects on the successes, failures, decisions, and lessons from his journey, drawing parallels to startup management and organizational leadership. In the mountains, accidents can happen even with perfect planning and gear. Often, they occur when signs of change are missed and decisions are delayed. In this 4th installment, we will explore the importance of detecting external and internal changes and translating them into appropriate decisions—a principle that applies directly to startup management. 10. Extend Your Antennae: Be Sensitive to Changes in the External Environment Unlike indoor sports like basketball or table tennis, mountaineering is heavily influenced by the weather, and your opponent is nature itself. During the planning stage, it is obvious that a climb should be postponed if there are forecasts for typhoons, severe winds, or lightning. However, even after clearing the forecast stage and beginning the climb, mountain weather is highly changeable, and you cannot let your guard down. In deep mountain forests, you may encounter not only bears—which have been a hot topic recently—but also wild boars, bees, and leeches. On rocky mountains, you might face sudden rockfalls. While it is essential to deal with these appropriately when they happen, you should ideally sense them in advance as much as possible. Your skin feeling a sudden change in temperature; a rustling sound in the grass; strange movements in the trees; the sound of pebbles rolling down from above: all of the above could be the precursors to a major impending crisis. I myself once experienced this. Despite a sunny forecast, a thick fog suddenly rolled in, and all I could see was white. As a result, I lost the trail, but kept walking for another 30 minutes. Upon later reflection, I should have checked my current location with GPS much earlier, the moment visibility started to drop. Another time, while walking along a mountain path thick with bamboo grass, the grass suddenly rustled wildly. I thought, “Am I finally going to encounter a bear?” I braced myself, stopped in my tracks, and mentally prepared myself to react. Instead, a large deer emerged from the bushes, but that moment reinforced the importance of noticing small external changes. A rocky path with poor visibility due to fog (left); a monkey that followed me (center); a deer that suddenly appeared (right) As you can see, you must constantly keep your antennae extended toward your surroundings while climbing. Preventing accidents on the mountain depends on whether or not you can maintain high sensitivity, objectively accept the changes you detect, and make appropriate decisions. This can be directly compared to startup management. If indoor sports are like the classroom lectures you get at a business school, outdoor sports affected by external environments are like actual business operations, and mountaineering—which is totally affected by nature—is the closest equivalent to managing a startup. The impact of the external environment on a company—changes in market conditions, the emergence of new technologies, legal revisions—is too extensive to measure. It is no exaggeration to say that every company operates amid shifting external environments. Customers sounding less excited; usage rates starting to decline; salespersons all asking the same question: these small changes often appear before massive market shifts. If even a large corporation can be affected, then for a startup company, these changes can be so severe that they may threaten the company’s very survival. Recent examples include the rapid spread of AI agents, the expanding power of global platforms, and changes in investor policies due to rising interest rates. A startup’s management team must sensitively detect these changes, proactively revise strategies and plans, and take appropriate action. In some cases, they must be bold enough to turn a crisis into an opportunity. This requires immense resolve and the ability to execute. Crises may seem to happen suddenly, but in most cases, they give off small warning signs beforehand. Whether in mountaineering or management, the ability to notice those signs separates those who survive from those who do not. 11. Pay Attention to Your Vitals: Notice Changes in the Internal Environment Just as important as keeping an eye on the external environment is noticing changes in your internal environment. In mountaineering, “internal environment” refers to your own physical condition if climbing solo, or the conditions and changing biodata of each individual member if climbing in a group. While climbing, you must be able to detect the various signals your body sends. For recording biodata, it has recently become possible to use hiking apps and smartwatches to check walking pace, monitor heart rate on the move, and measure blood oxygen levels during breaks. At the same time, you must also be sensitive to changes that these sorts of devices cannot measure, such as the condition of your knee and lower back joints, muscle fatigue, and how much you’re sweating. Changes that cannot be measured by digital devices must be captured by your own physical senses. In my case, shortly after I started climbing and my knees were weaker than they are now, there was one time when I felt, “If I keep climbing like this, I won’t be able to make it back down.” I mustered the courage to turn back midway. Looking back, that was a far better decision than pushing forward and becoming stranded. Normal climbing conditions (left); abnormal heart rate (center); blood oxygen level at 2,700m altitude (right) In startup management, it is obviously important for the CEO to manage their own physical health, but on the other hand, it is equally vital to sense subtle changes in the company’s internal environment. Casual conversations and greetings have decreased; the office is starting to look untidy; bottom-up information flow has stopped; unexcused absences or resignations with unclear reasons are increasing: all of these are warning signs seen before a company starts to decline. A business leader must possess not only a strong business sense, but also be able to detect these internal shifts. Without keeping a finger on the pulse of the company, the CEO may be full of energy, highly motivated, and charging forward, only to look back at some point and realize no one is following, or that everyone else is too exhausted to perform. A leader must not only look forward but also have the bandwidth to survey the entire organization and not miss minor anomalies. Organizations do not collapse suddenly; they crumble as a result of small, accumulated tears in the fabric. 12. Stay Calm Especially in Emergencies: Assess the Situation and Make the Best Move So, what should you do when your extended antennas pick up information or you detect something wrong going on inside you? In both mountaineering and business management, the worse the news and the more dangerous the signal, the more important it is to stay calm. In mountaineering, you face emergencies born from shifts in both external and internal environments, such as taking the wrong path in thick fog; a sudden downpour; a sprain or bruise on a rocky stretch; or muscle cramps from fatigue. In startup management, you receive similarly diverse danger signals: dramatic shifts in customer needs due to the spread of AI; the announcement of a merger between competitors; changes in relevant laws; the sudden resignation of a key executive; or a customer data leak. In such moments, you must absolutely not panic. You are required to maintain your composure, make a careful yet appropriate judgment, and act rapidly based on that decision. Panicking and running around aimlessly can lead you further in the wrong direction, waste precious energy, or make an injury worse. When a crisis occurs, the first thing to do is calm down, gather information, grasp and then assess the situation. Next, assuming the worst-case scenario, figure out how to keep your business afloat or safely get back down the mountain. Also, once you decide which action to take, move quickly. You have to think deeply, but if you continue to have second thoughts after making a decision, your response will be too late. I myself once slipped and fell while descending a snowy valley on Mount Gassan. For a moment, my mind went completely blank. However, I quickly regained my composure, crawled to a stable spot, took off my socks, and checked the injured area. Instead of panicking and hastily trying to walk, I assessed my physical condition, calmly determined that I should not continue to climb, and took a solid rest before beginning my descent. Additionally, on Mt. Kuju, after a successful summit, I was feeling fatigued on the way back down. Combined with poor visibility from fog and a bushy trail that is easy to miss even on a clear day, I repeatedly took the wrong trail. In each instance, I followed the fundamental principle: stop, check my current location, and turn back to the point where I made the mistake. Thanks to this, I avoided any serious trouble. In both cases, if I had panicked and acted recklessly, I might have made the situation much worse. Bushy trails on Mt. Kuju where I lost my way twice These principles are identical in mountaineering and startup management. When you face a critical crossroads or sense danger, that is exactly when you must respond calmly, determine the best course of action, and execute it. Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains include many types of peaks, each hiding its own unique dangers. The natural environment changes by the season and the day, just as your own physical condition fluctuates daily. In the case of startup management, as well, the market, competitors, customers, and internal team members are also changing every single day. Extend your antennas. Pay attention to your vitals. When you detect danger, do not panic; assess the situation calmly. Once you have thought it through and decided on your course of action, rapidly execute the best possible move. These habits form the foundation for a startup company to survive and achieve exponential growth.     This concludes Part 4 of “Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains”. More than a year has passed since I began this challenge. In the beginning, I started serious mountaineering with some hesitation, but now it’s become something I have the bandwidth to enjoy, appreciating every route and landscape. At the same time, the mountains that I face are gradually becoming steeper, increasing the risk of injury and accidents. Keeping my antennae extended, paying attention to my vitals, and maintaining an unrelenting spirit, I aim to continue this series while tackling each peak one by one. The next installment is entitled “Balancing Persistence and Caution”, and will emphasize the importance of having a spirit that never gives up while still being careful. D-POPS GROUP Advisor Genta Sugihara July 2026: Mt. Norikura (#43), Mt. Aizu-Komagatake (#44), Mt. Hiuchigatake (#45), Mt. Senjogatake (#46), Mt. Ontake (#47), Yatsugatake’s Mt. Akadake (#48)

A Future That Connects What People Bought and Where They Went On April 14, 2026, a press release was published. Payke, Inc., which operates the shopping app “Payke” for inbound tourists to Japan, and LocationAI Inc., which provides a platform for analyzing location-based big data, announced the launch of a business alliance centered on data integration. Press Release: “Collaboration with the shopping app ‘Payke’ for inbound tourists to Japan.” (Article available in Japanese only.) The core of this partnership is combining LocationAI’s mobility data (where they went) with Payke’s purchasing and interest data (what they were interested in and what they bought). Travelers' behaviors, previously seen as isolated dots, will now emerge as a single connected story of “where they went, what they were interested in, and what they bought.” So, how did these two companies meet and reach a business alliance in just about half a year? And how will this combination change the future of Japan’s inbound market and tourism? We spoke with them about everything from the characteristics of their services and the background of their partnership, to the future they envision. First, please tell us about each of your respective services. What kind of service does Payke provide? Payke: Payke is a shopping support service designed to eliminate the moments of confusion that foreign tourists face when shopping in Japan. When visitors from overseas pick up a product, if the packaging is only in Japanese, they might not fully understand its intended application, how to use it, its key features, or its ingredients. To solve this, the Payke app allows users to simply scan a product’s barcode with their smartphone to view basic information, usage instructions, and features in multiple languages. Rather than just translating the text on the package, our unique strength lies in delivering the essential information travelers need to choose a product, drawing from our proprietary product database. In addition to the app, we also offer a “Payke Tablet” that can be installed at retail storefronts. Because travelers can scan barcodes on the tablet themselves and check product information in their native language, stores can convey the appeal of their products without having to constantly employ multilingual staff. Does Payke have strengths not only in translation and product guidance, but also in data? Payke: That’s right. The data we accumulate doesn’t only show what was ultimately sold. Through our app and tablets, we can also capture pre-purchase interest and consideration behaviors, such as: ・Which products were scanned ・Which products were compared against each other ・The nationalities and age groups of the people who showed interest Standard sales data only reveals the products that were finally purchased. Scan data, on the other hand, reveals products that garnered interest but weren’t bought, as well as products that were compared with each other within the store. In short, we can get closer to seeing how customers think—something you cannot grasp from sales figures alone. We want to understand not just what sold, but why they were interested and why they chose it, and connect that to the next strategies for manufacturers and retail companies. Value only becomes value when it is conveyed Payke is not merely a service that displays foreign languages. When a product that might otherwise have been selected and purchased are returned to the shelf due to a lack of information, that represents a lost opportunity. We can reduce such losses by properly conveying the true value of Japanese products to travelers. No matter how excellent a product or service is, it will never be chosen if its value is not understood by the consumer. Payke’s business demonstrates, in a management sense, the importance of both creating value and enabling value to be conveyed. What kind of service does LocationAI provide? LocationAI: We provide a service that analyzes location-based big data using AI to visualize and analyze the flow of people in the real world. With the “Location AI Platform®”, we can analyze where people came from, where they stayed, and where they went afterward. This is utilized across a wide range of fields, including trade area analysis, store opening planning, tourist destination analysis, event analysis, and ad delivery. For example, you can find out what countries tourists come from, what places they stopped by before and after their visit, and how the flow of people changes throughout each day and week. These insights can be captured based on actual human movement. We are supporting the decision-making of companies and local governments by turning areas that were previously judged on experience and intuition into fact-based insights grounded in location information. How does mobility data affect the decisions of companies and local governments? LocationAI: For instance, when opening a new store, candidate sites were traditionally chosen based on the surrounding population, the number of passengers at a station, or the instincts of the person in charge. However, even when comparing areas with the same population size, the actual demographics, time of day, and directions from which people visit are entirely different. The same is true for tourist destinations. Looking only at the number of visitors doesn’t tell you where those travelers came from, or what places they visited before and after the destination. By capturing actual movement, initiatives like attracting travelers, measuring advertising effectiveness, opening stores, and promoting sightseeing excursions can be planned based on facts rather than guesswork. We place great importance not just on possessing data, but on providing it in a state that our clients can actually use for analysis and decision-making. What was Payke’s impression when seeing LocationAI’s service for the first time? Payke: The moment they actually showed us their management screen during a meeting left a strong impression on me. Mobility data was visualized on a map, and by switching the area or time period, the movements of inbound tourists instantly appeared right before our eyes. There is a vast distance between providing data and putting that data into a format that anyone can use. LocationAI has been perfecting the formatting of data at a very high level as their product. Furthermore, the engineering teams from both our companies were able to decide on the methods for data integration at an incredibly fast pace. So, I was amazed not only by the quality of their product, but also by their speed of decision-making and execution. The value of data is determined not by its volume, but by how actionable it is What executives need is not just massive numbers by themselves. It is knowing what should be done next as a result of looking at those numbers. LocationAI’s strength lies in turning data into action, rather than letting it stay as mere information. Or, in other words, their strength is transforming location-based big data—which only experts used to be able to handle—into a format that executives and storefront staff can use for decision-making. How did the two companies meet? Which company took the first move to make this business alliance? Payke: To be honest, I don’t really get the sense that either one of us took the first move. What really got us talking was D-POPS GROUP’s “Venture Ecosystem Summit” held in October 2025. Greeting each other at the venue was our first point of contact. LocationAI had heard about our business in advance from D-POPS GROUP, and right then and there, we had a lively conversation during which collaborative efforts were suggested. The very next day, LocationAI invited us to have a discussion, and in our first meeting, both parties felt the necessity of working together. Rather than saying one reached out to the other first, I think it’s more accurate to say that we were destined to meet through our mutual connection with D-POPS GROUP. LocationAI: We had been thinking about strengthening our analysis of inbound travelers and our ad delivery, so we actively reached out as well. Ever since we heard about Payke from D-POPS GROUP, we sensed the potential for collaboration. At our first meeting, we were convinced that by integrating our mobility data with Payke’s data, we could provide a service with even higher added value. Why did you both feel the “necessity of working together” during that first meeting? Payke: Because we realized that our data sets perfectly mirror each other. We at Payke possess purchasing and interest data that show what inbound tourists were interested in and what they bought. However, we couldn’t see where they had visited before coming to the store, and where they went after making a purchase. On the other hand, LocationAI has data that show exactly where people were moving, but they couldn’t see what they bought at those places. The parts we each couldn’t see fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces. The moment this structure became clear, the discussion shifted from “Should we do this or not?” to “Where do we start?” LocationAI: We felt exactly the same way. In addition to data tied to purchasing behavior, Payke possesses highly reliable data regarding nationalities and age groups. We could now understand traveler interests and purchasing behaviors that couldn’t be grasped solely through movement data. For us too, it was a combination that would vastly enhance the accuracy and value of our service. Why did you choose each other’s companies over any others? Payke: There are two main reasons. The first is the foundation of trust, stemming from the fact that we both have received investment from D-POPS GROUP. Data integration is a highly sensitive undertaking that comes with responsibility toward each other’s users and clients. That is exactly why being a trustworthy partner was more important than anything else. Sharing the same views on management and attitude toward growth under the same shareholder greatly influenced both the speed of negotiations and the quality of our discussions. The second reason is technical capability and the scale of data. No other potential partner had a high-quality platform that can both analyze location-based big data with AI and visualize it so anyone can use it, and also possessed data on a global scale. LocationAI: It was the fact that Payke possessed data tied to purchasing behavior, along with accurate nationality and age information. Additionally, rather than just developing a service, their platform has been introduced to many distribution and retail businesses and is actually being used by travelers, which was a huge draw. The fact that their data is not just large in volume, but reliable data based on actual purchasing behavior, was something we valued highly. Strong companies acknowledge their blind spots People in businesses are used to talking about their strengths. On the other hand, when a company acknowledges the areas it cannot see on its own, that opens up the possibility for huge improvements. Rather than trying to do everything in-house, they connect with companies that have different strengths. Instead of hiding their weaknesses, they turn them into possibilities through the strengths of other companies. Innovation doesn’t only refer to creating new technology from nothing. It is also about connecting already existing, outstanding values in a new, meaningful way. What changes will emerge from the intersection of purchasing data and mobility data? Payke: A single purchase is just one scene in a journey. A tourist’s day is a continuous sequence of moving, sightseeing, eating, shopping, and lodging. Traditional purchasing data only captured a single moment within that. By overlaying it with mobility data, purchases that were just dots will now become visible as a line—a connected story. For example, let’s say a group from Taiwan buys cosmetics at a drugstore. What areas did they tour before that, and what town did they move to afterward? You will be able to understand not just what was bought, but the context of why that product was bought in that location. This is a world we could never have reached with purchasing data alone. LocationAI: By analyzing purchasing behavior and visited locations together, we can understand travelers’ tastes, preferences, and interests much more deeply. Furthermore, we can deliver ads based on that understanding. By knowing not just where people visited, but what they were interested in and what they bought, we will be able to deliver information and experiences better suited to the traveler. Can you also prompt their next actions, in addition to analyzing them? Payke: Yes. We don’t want to stop at simply making behavior visible. Through Payke’s surveys, we can directly ask the ‘why’ behind their actions. Moreover, through information delivery linked to location data, we can also encourage customers’ next actions. We engage with them at those locations based on the behaviors we understand. The interesting part of this collaboration is that in one go, we’re able to see what people are doing and influence their next actions. How will this partnership change tourism in Japan? Where else can it be utilized, besides manufacturers and retailers? Payke: We believe local governments, destination management organizations (DMOs), and tourism operators are clear targets. If they know where inbound tourists came from, where they toured, and where and what they consumed, they can utilize this to promote excursions within the region and even implement measures to prevent over-tourism in certain spots. It becomes data that can be used directly for regional decision-making, such as refining tourism content. Additionally, any company that wants to understand inbound movement and consumption—airports, railways, transportation operators, commercial facilities, developers, etc.—can be a target. LocationAI: It can also be utilized by local governments, travel agencies, consulting firms, and advertising agencies. Because they will be able to develop methods of attracting tourism based on actual human movement, more evidence-based tourism marketing becomes possible. What possibilities does this hold for regional revitalization? LocationAI: For travelers on long-term stays without fixed itineraries, we will be able to suggest visits to other regions, rather than just famous tourist destinations like Kyoto. By understanding their interests and behaviors, and delivering new destinations tailored to them, we believe we can connect this to regional excursions. Payke: It’s not that rural areas lack charm, but in most cases, that charm simply hasn’t reached the traveler. By gathering information about a person’s purchases and movement together, we can understand what kinds of experiences and products he or she is interested in. We will then be able to deliver regional products, culture, food, scenery, and experiences that match those interests, at precisely the right timing. Data will shape the future of regions What is born from this partnership is not just improved advertising accuracy. It is about suggesting new destinations tailored to each individual’s interests, rather than forcing travelers to move away from famous tourist spots. As a result, the traveler’s experience is enriched, and new people and purchases stream into regional areas. Data meant to increase corporate sales transforms into data that shapes every region’s future. That is how this partnership can contribute to society. Please tell us about the results of the partnership and your future goals. After announcing this partnership, what kind of reactions did you receive internally and in the marketplace? LocationAI: The appeal of our service has increased as the volume of data grew, and we became able to perform analysis and ad delivery based on first-party data. We have also received comments from existing clients saying that the reliability of our analysis and delivery has increased. This has also led to an increase in new inquiries. Payke: Internally, our data, advertising, and sales teams have each started linking this to concrete proposals, thinking, “We can use this for that project.” After the announcement, we saw an increase in consultations from existing clients asking, “Can you add mobility data to your analysis?” as well as inquiries from advertising companies and agencies. In particular, we are seeing more demand from areas where we used to have difficulty creating touchpoints as a single company, such as local governments, airports, and transportation-related entities. By what metrics do you judge if this partnership is a success? Payke: We are thinking about it in three stages. The first is the number of joint proposals and joint projects with manufacturers, retailers, local governments, etc. The second is the number of companies continuously using our analysis and advertising menus utilizing the integrated data. And the final stage would be for our integration of inbound purchase data and mobility data from both our companies to be referenced as an industry standard. Our most important metric is not the success of a one-off campaign, but whether the number of projects born from this partnership continues to grow. LocationAI: As for our company, we consider the important metrics to be an increase in inbound-related inquiries, the creation of new services utilizing this partnership, and ultimately, whether this leads to higher revenue. Do you have any expectations for D-POPS GROUP going forward? Payke: This partnership began from a single greeting exchanged at the Summit venue. First and foremost, I am grateful that you created a place where portfolio companies could actually meet and spark synergy. I believe there are many companies within D-POPS GROUP’s ecosystem that possess technologies and assets we haven’t yet encountered. I hope you continue to be the starting point for multiplications that will birth additional collaborations like the one between Payke and LocationAI. After all, we also want the example of our partnership to contribute to the entire ecosystem. LocationAI: We hope you will continue to actively promote alliances with portfolio companies that generate synergy, just like this one. We also want to proceed with flexible collaborations with various companies in areas such as mobility data analysis and advertising. Finally, please give a message to the companies reading this article. Payke: With this partnership, the way we perceive inbound tourism will change from 1-dimensional dots to 2-dimensional lines and shapes. Up until now, data focused primarily on the moment a product was sold, but now we can capture the action before and after that moment—where they came from, where they went in an area, and where they headed afterward. Manufacturers, retailers, local governments, and tourism operators facing the inbound tourist market will be able to make decisions based on the integrated facts of purchasing and mobility, rather than having to rely on intuition or fragmented data. There is no need to start with a massive project. You can start small, analyzing a single product or a single area. If you feel the desire to understand the true picture of inbound tourism, please consult with us. LocationAI: Based on our mobility data analytics, we look to pursue flexible alliances in fields such as data analysis and advertising. By combining different data—such as purchasing data, mobility data, and customer data—we can bring out new value that was not previously visible. If your company is interested in collaboration, please reach out to us. Editor’s Note Payke and LocationAI did not simply compensate for what the other lacked. They had each spent a long time refining their individual strengths, and when they brought those strengths together, it produced something that neither company could have created alone. This partnership is an initiative that evolves inbound marketing, and at the same time, it is a management case study demonstrating how companies should connect and create new value in society. The era of trying to handle everything entirely in-house may already be over. Honestly acknowledging that there are areas you cannot see on your own, and joining hands with companies possessing different strengths; combining each other’s customers, technology, data, and knowledge; doing these things results in something closer to multiplication than simple addition. This is what our company means by a “Venture Ecosystem”. What is the “Venture Ecosystem” that D-POPS GROUP is aiming for? To be honest, I feel that the catalyst for major change is more often a simple encounter than a meticulously planned business strategy. The moment you feel, “It would be interesting to team up with this person,” take that first step. After taking enough of those small steps, you may very well set the standard for an industry in a few years. Moving forward, I hope to continue seeing more of that. D-POPS GROUP Advisor So Sato

Learning the Origins of Management: “A Company is a Public Entity” On July 29, 2026, Mr. Sugihara and Ms. Kawaguchi from D-POPS GROUP’s Brand Strategy Office visited the Konosuke Matsushita Museum located inside of the Panasonic Museum in Kadoma City, Osaka. [The Konosuke Matsushita Museum within the Panasonic Museum] Here, you can trace the 94-year path of Konosuke Matsushita and find out how he overcame numerous hardships to develop his own way to live and think. By walking the museum route, visitors can learn about his views on management and humanity through exhibits, books, and even videos. *In addition to the Konosuke Matsushita Museum, the Panasonic Museum complex includes the Hall of Manufacturing Ingenuity, where visitors can experience the progression of the company’s retail appliances throughout its history. This is a link to the museum’s official website. [About Konosuke Matsushita] The founder of Panasonic (formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.), Matsushita is an industrialist who represented Japan on the world stage. Often called the “God of Business Management”, he grew a small factory that started with just three people into a global electronics manufacturer in a single generation. As a management philosopher, he left behind numerous writings. He also contributed deeply to the development of Japanese industry and society by establishing the PHP Institute, a publishing and research organization, and the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management (MIGM), designed to raise up leaders for the next generation. At the root of all his activities was a strong belief that companies are tools for society. Reason for Our Visit: Seeking the Origins of Our Group Philosophy We visited the Panasonic Museum in order to better understand the entrepreneurial origins of D-POPS GROUP’s President and CEO Kazuhiro Goto. D-POPS GROUP Philosophy [Companies are Tools for Society] Konosuke Matsushita built Panasonic (formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial) into a global corporation in one generation, and earned the title “God of Business Management” through nurturing future generations (such as via The Matsushita Institute of Government and Management) and sharing his philosophy (through the PHP Institute). The biggest catalyst for our President Goto deciding to start a business at age 25 was encountering Matsushita’s books during his student days, which left a profound impact on him. It was then that he first learned how to contribute to society through managing a business. Even today, when President Goto visits Osaka, he finds time to visit this museum, and each time he returns to Matsushita’s philosophy. To gain a deeper understanding of the core thoughts that form the root of D-POPS GROUP, we felt it was necessary to learn the teachings of Konosuke Matsushita, the origin of that root. This led to our visit. The Origins of Challenge and Passion Seen in the “National Lamp” Particularly eye-catching among the exhibits is the cannonball-shaped bicycle headlight (“National Lamp”), which became the cornerstone of the Panasonic brand. At the time, bicycle headlights mainly used candles or oil, which were prone to blowing out and inherently dangerous. Matsushita persistently pursued the development of a cheap, safe, and long-lasting headlight. He successfully created an innovative product that extended battery life—previously lasting only a few hours—to over 10 hours. Initially, wholesalers wouldn’t even consider it, so he implemented a bold demonstration strategy: leaving the headlights turned on at retail stores. The high quality generated positive word-of-mouth, leading to an explosive hit. This exhibit shows the starting point of the “National” brand, and when looking at it, one can feel the spirit of Matsushita’s management—paving the way through unyielding ingenuity. Throughout the museum, numerous anecdotes such as the ones pictured above offer a small window into the life journey of Konosuke Matsushita. Although he is known as the “God of Business Management”, the exhibits do not make Matsushita seem like a far-off, extraordinary being, but rather depict him as a person just like us, who continually faced the challenges right in front of him. It made us realize that consistently holding onto the core principle that “a company is a public entity” regardless of the situation, always making choices for the benefit of society, and earnestly pushing ahead are exactly what led to his great achievements. Quotes by Konosuke Matsushita that Left an Impression Matsushita left behind many profound words. Here are just a few of them. Companies are Tools for Society Common wisdom suggests that the whole purpose of the enterprise is to make a profit. I will discuss my views about profit elsewhere, but certainly making a profit is an essential part of sound business activities. However, profit is not the ultimate business goal. There must be no mistaking the fact that the fundamental goal is for the enterprise to contribute to society through its business, and that profit is important insofar as it allows the enterprise fulfill its fundamental mission. Seen in this light, a company is a public entity, and management should be considered a public, not a private, concern. Therefore, even the owner of a private enterprise must not think from a personal standpoint, but must always think and make judgments from the perspective of whether or not something will benefit society. ※Quoted from Practical Management Philosophy Good Times are Good, Bad Times are Even Better During prosperous times, even if you haven’t learned enough, or if your customer service skills are insufficient, you’ll still be able to get business. So the quality of your business management won’t be looked at too closely. However, when a recession hits, buyers have to think carefully before purchasing something. At that point, they look closely at the products, the management, and the business owners, before deciding whether to go through with their purchase. Therefore, a company or store where excellent people are nurtured under excellent management will obviously do fine in a good economy, but they will stand out even more in a bad economy. As a business person, I believe one must always keep this in mind every day. ※Quoted from The Paths are Infinite There Are Infinite Paths I believe that we as humans must never forget the attitude of always undertaking what needs to be done while constantly bringing forth new things. As long as each of us maintains that mindset in our daily lives and work, there will naturally be a difference between our situation a year ago and today, and a year or five years from now, there will be even newer ways of living and proceeding with work, leading to great progress and improvement for both the individual and the business. The important thing, I believe, is the posture of feeling this strongly and tackling matters with enthusiasm. If you do so, you truly get the feeling that ‘the paths are infinite’. ※Quoted from The Paths are Infinite The Panasonic Museum is located on the premises of Panasonic’s headquarters and can be toured for free (photography is also permitted except in a few specific areas). Even during the weekday morning of our visit, many people who looked like business professionals were quietly observing. The very fact that it is open as a place of learning not only for Panasonic’s own employees but for all working people feels like a wonderful social contribution that truly embodies the idea that “a company is a public entity”. D-POPS GROUP is a collective of companies that integrates actual businesses and technology together, a concept that we denote as “Real World x Technology x Synergy”. We aim to create a Venture Ecosystem that will continue to be indispensable to society even 100 years from now. We at D-POPS GROUP will also engrave the idea that “a company is a public entity” in our hearts, and continue to contribute to the betterment of society through our businesses. This museum is a wonderful facility, and we highly recommend visiting at least once, not only for those involved in corporate management, but for all working professionals facing work every day. D-POPS GROUP Brand Strategy Office, Haruka Kawaguchi

D-POPS GROUP participated in the 18th EO Venture Cup Futsal Tournament (Men’s Division and “Enjoy” Division) held on Saturday, June 13, 2026. Over 60 teams participated in the event, creating a thrilling atmosphere! It was incredible to see everyone, from CEOs to employees, giving it their all on the field. There was a true sense of unity between both the players and the cheer squad, who were all shouting together in a show of competitive spirit! Together with the colleagues who came out to support us, we were able to create an unforgettable level of excitement. ◆Match Results Men’s Division Group Stage: 3 Wins, 1 Draw, 2 Losses / 7 Points – 3rd Place in the Preliminary League “Enjoy” Division Group Stage: 2 Wins, 3 Draws, 1 Loss / 7 Points – 3rd Place in the Preliminary League Both teams narrowly missed out and finished in 3rd place. It was a frustrating result, but we vowed to settle the score next year! ◆The Teams Participating companies included a star-studded lineup from our group companies and investment portfolio companies: D-POPS, GOOD CREW, A&K.com, EXEED, and BLUEISH. ◆Participant Impressions Men’s Division Captain Kizuku Tsuda, Store Manager, D-POPS Corp. “I couldn’t participate last year due to poor health, so this was my first time joining the event. Because we entered both the Men’s and “Enjoy” divisions, we had a large turnout from D-POPS GROUP, and both the matches and the cheering sections were incredibly lively! Unfortunately, we were knocked out in the preliminary league, but I am thrilled that I could connect with people from other group companies whom I don’t normally get to interact with, and that we could enjoy futsal as a team all day long. I want to participate again next year and expand the D-POPS GROUP circle even further! We sincerely look forward to everyone’s participation!” Enjoy Division Captain Kenta Ishida, HR Department & Compliance Promotion Office, A&K.com Co., Ltd. “I participated in the futsal tournament again this year, following last year’s event! This time, we took on the mixed-gender “Enjoy” division. The venue was Ajinomoto Stadium, and with the largest number of participating teams in the event’s history, the excitement surpassed even last year! Unfortunately, we were just one step away from the finals, which left us with some frustration, but with constant laughter and shouting, I was able to rediscover the joy of chasing the ball as a team, ha ha. Covering for each other and stringing passes together during this time turned out to be the perfect opportunity to strengthen the unity and expand the synergy across our group companies. I am also extremely grateful to everyone who came out to the venue to support us in the intense heat. I will continue to work hard to deepen communication within the group! A huge thank you to President Goto, President Masuda, and everyone else involved!” Team Manager Haruna Matano, Career Support Team, GOOD CREW “Participating in the futsal tournament as a team manager and cheerleader, I experienced firsthand the overwhelming sense of unity that D-POPS GROUP possesses. Our team was an impromptu mix of members who usually work in different group companies. Naturally, different companies have different cultures, but the moment we stepped onto the field, spontaneous communication sparked immediately, and we instantly became a rock-solid, united team. It was a moment that made me proud to realize the strength of our organization, since we can connect beyond boundaries precisely because our group companies share the same ambitions and culture on a daily basis. It was also memorable that the one person who was hungriest for goals and running around the court with all their might during every match was our CEO, ha ha. Seeing everyone ignore job titles and earnestly aim for victory on the same level felt like the true essence of D-POPS GROUP. On a personal note, I’ve been with my company for 14 years, and one of my highlights was getting to reunite at a stadium with my old coworkers—now thriving in different companies and positions—for the first time since our new graduate training. Seeing them still taking on challenges in their respective fields inspired me and reminded me of the appeal of working in this group.” ◆Monthly Event! D-POPS GROUP Soccer Mixer Here is a look at the monthly soccer mixer hosted by D-POPS GROUP, which started in 2025 as part of member training for the EO Venture Cup Futsal Tournament. (It has now become a wildly popular community with many participants from both inside and outside the company!) Around 40 people—including former Japan national team players, business owners, executives, and young professionals—participate, creating a space for both high-level, earnest competition and friendly interactions. Going forward, D-POPS GROUP will continue to foster this kind of interaction between sports, community, business executives, and youth!

At D-POPS GROUP, our corporate mission is to multiply the number of growth companies (so-called “unicorn companies”) that will revolutionize society, and our core value is to grow and learn together through sincerity, humility, and gratitude. Genta Sugihara, who serves as an advisor to our company, set a goal for himself: “Conquer all of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains while wearing our company’s iconic unicorn T-shirt.” Balancing his work commitments, he travels to mountains across the country on weekends, having summited 48 peaks as of writing this article. In this series, we reflect on the successes, failures, judgments, and lessons from his journey, drawing parallels to venture management and organizational leadership. In Part 1, we discussed the importance of defining your vision and making the necessary preparations to achieve it. In Part 2, we covered detailed planning and focusing on steady execution along the trail. In this third installment, we will explore the respective meanings and importance of strategy, tactics, and execution in business, comparing them to the challenge of conquering the 100 Famous Mountains. 7. Formulate a Strategy First: Launching a Startup Without a Business Strategy is Reckless Last summer, when I set my goal to “Summit all of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains by around 60 years old”, I immediately began thinking deeply about how to actually achieve it. To accomplish this around age 60, I needed a plan to finish within three to four years, by about the time I turn 62. However, I wondered: Can an amateur who has only hiked low hills really climb 100 mountains across Japan—including extremely difficult peaks—in such a short timeframe? So, I first gathered information on every single one of those mountains from various books and media: ・What are their elevations and difficulty levels? (There are publicized trail difficulty metrics for the mountains in Japan, known as “course constants”.) ・What is the specific climbing season for each mountain? (Many peaks are impassable or dangerous in winter.) ・Which mountains can be climbed back-to-back? (Some can be traversed together or accessed on consecutive days by driving.) ・Which mountains should be climbed sooner than others? (To gain experience or appreciate the appeal of mountain climbing.) Once that research was complete, I devised the following strategies: 1. Start with mountains that have lower course constants, gradually building up knowledge, technique, and physical stamina. 2. Summit the mountains scattered across various regions first, leaving the highly challenging Japanese Alps for the second half. 3. For regions requiring significant travel time, like Tohoku or Kyushu, climb multiple mountains in a single trip. 4. Prioritize scheduling mountains with limited seasonal windows, making sure to book accommodations and transportation early. 5. Train my body, identify the challenges, and learn about required gear as I gain experience. Based on this strategy, I mapped out when I would climb each mountain over the next three to four years, which peaks to group together, and what transportation to use, recording everything in atlases and note apps. Then, for the mountains scheduled for 2025, I created individual detailed plans—as described in the previous article—taking into account transportation methods, travel times, climb durations, and difficulty levels. So far, I have climbed 48 peaks. Today, simply looking at the course constant and contour map of a mountain gives me a clear idea of its difficulty. I have also learned the patterns of how I get fatigued and how I can best recover. Although I’ve climbed nearly half of the 100 mountains, I know that the most difficult peaks were saved for the second half. The real test—the climax of this challenge—begins now. However, I am now confident in the correctness of this strategy, and I feel fully prepared to take on the challenging mountains that lie ahead. A list of every mountain, showing its course constant value and elevation (left); my 3 to 4 year climbing arrangement (right) In the same way, gathering sufficient information, reflecting deeply, and formulating a strategy before creating detailed plans is the single most critical activity in managing a startup company. Startup founders often fall into the trap of thinking, “If we make a good product, it will sell.” In reality, your strategy—defining who you target, in which market, and through what sales channels—heavily dictates the outcome. Pricing is also a key component of this strategy. In growth markets or areas with clear unsolved social issues (opportunities), there will either already be incumbent players (threats) or competitors will inevitably enter the field later. You must clarify how your own strengths and weaknesses weigh against these factors to build your strategy. Furthermore, to align the entire team in the same direction, you need clear milestones for revenue and customer acquisition after a set period. For founders and executive teams, thinking about strategy day and night is one of the most essential steps in the early stages of a startup. Of course, once you enter the execution phase, shifts in the internal or external environment may force you to realign your strategy. But starting and running a business purely on gut feeling, without any strategy at all, is sheer recklessness. Behind every successful business is a strategy that the management team considered so thoroughly, their heads felt like bursting. Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains cannot be conquered with only enthusiasm. Neither does a business grow purely on passion. If you aim for a high and steep summit, start by creating a strategy. The challenge begins before you take a single step on the trail. 8. Equipment that Covers Your Weaknesses: Tactics Based on Self-Awareness Increase Your Chances of Success Before I was crazy about mountain climbing, my hobby was going to the gym, where I focused mainly on upper-body strength training. As a result, my heavy, muscular torso pulls my center of gravity up high. Moreover, because I was slim as a child, I have a narrow skeletal frame with thin lower legs, knees, and ankles that get injured easily. In other words, my balance and body type are not particularly suited for mountaineering. Following the strategy outlined earlier, I started with the mountains that were flatter and easier…but even so, I frequently experienced knee pain when descending. So, I devised the following tactics: relying on trekking poles and upper-body strength, and always protecting my knees and ankles with taping, regardless of what mountain I’m climbing. When I first started hiking, I thought, “It looks cooler to not use trekking poles.” But that was the wrong mindset for me. The correct decision was to swallow my pride, acknowledge my weak knees, and choose tactics tailored to me. Now, when I climb, I always use trekking poles and rely on my upper-body strength. I also researched various taping products and wrapping techniques to arrive at my current climbing style. Thanks to these tactics, I almost never suffer from knee pain anymore, enabling me to take on challenges like climbing three of the 100 Famous Mountains on three consecutive days. The trekking poles I always rely on (left); knee taping for injury prevention (center); knee braces for steep descents (right) Then, what about tactics in business management? Just like when I was a beginner hiker, early-stage startups do not possess everything right from the start. Some companies are weak in sales; others lack financial capital. That is precisely why understanding your weaknesses and developing tactics to compensate for them is essential. Tactics are specific, creative solutions designed to cover your weaknesses and maximize your strengths. For example: ・If the CEO is an engineer confident in building dev teams but weak in sales, hire an experienced head of sales. ・If the entire team is young and inexperienced, making it hard to gain trust, bring on well-known advisors with rich track records and networks across industries. ・If lagging behind leading competitors in capital and talent, form strategic partnerships with big corporations. In reality, tactics will vary depending on product lines, a company’s growth stage, and market positioning. Unlike overarching strategies, tactics are something you construct as you execute, continually coming up with the best option for each moment. To do this, you must not turn a blind eye to your company’s shortcomings. Rather, you must constantly think about how to compensate for them. This requires true resolve from the founder to make tough decisions. In mountaineering, trekking poles and taping are not signs of weakness. They are tactics rooted in self-awareness to offset vulnerabilities. The same holds true for business. A strong company is not one with zero weaknesses; it is one that understands its weaknesses and deploys the right tactics to overcome them. 9. Get Comfortable with Your Equipment: Familiar Tools Are Essential for Execution Once you have a well-crafted strategy and tactics tailored to your strengths and weaknesses, you finally head out onto the mountain. In mountaineering, you select different equipment depending on the mountain type, season, and weather. Of course, that includes rain gear and headlamps, but you must also choose high-cut boots and gloves for rocky terrains, helmets for areas prone to falling rocks, and chain spikes, crampons, or ice axes for snowy mountains. I personally choose between four or five different pairs of hiking boots depending on the mountain. However, simply preparing the required gear does not mean you are ready to use it. In practice, being proficient with your gear is much more important than merely having it. Whether it’s new boots, crampons you’ve never used, or new trekking poles, you should only tackle a real mountain after becoming thoroughly accustomed to your gear. I learned this the hard way. I once climbed a tough snowy mountain in a pair of boots I hadn’t gotten used to, and then I slipped and sprained my foot. I had thought, “They’re new, so they must be safer than my old pair.” That was a mistake. Muscle memory matters far more than the equipment’s performance on paper. Even if your strategy and tactics are spot on, you will lose winnable opportunities if you aren't ready for action. A glove for a baseball player, cleats for a soccer player, and climbing gear for a mountaineer—you can only prepare for difficult challenges by mastering tools you are accustomed to using. Familiar hiking boots (left); my indispensable trekking poles (center); and crampons I haven’t gotten used to (right) Being comfortable with your tools, beyond just having them, is equally vital in startup management. ・For a sales pitch, practice role-playing until it becomes muscle memory. ・For an AI tool, test it thoroughly before adopting it as a core asset. ・For a new sales method, test small before expanding across the entire company or client base. ・For a new company policy, rehearse operating according to it before fully rolling it out. If you throw untested proposals at clients, write critical reports with AI tools you haven’t mastered, or introduce trendy internal policies without preparation, your overall readiness for action will not improve—no matter how sound your strategy or appropriate your tactics may be. Mastering an AI tool is not a strategy in and of itself. Establishing winning sales patterns is not a tactic in and of itself. Rather, these are examples of capabilities that can be used to execute strategy and tactics on the front lines. These are simply means to increase efficiency and win rates and advance your business. Yet, when every team member masters their tools, even a team without star individual performers can produce extraordinary results. For early-stage startups that are small, lack brand credibility, and operate on limited resources, the key is to build on a solid strategy, adapt tactics based on self-awareness, and continually refine each individual’s readiness for action to drive the business forward. We can summarize strategy, tactics, and execution in startup management as follows. Strategy is the overall blueprint to reach your target peak. Tactics are choosing the best way to fight, factoring in your own strengths and weaknesses. Combat is about the ability to reliably carry out strategy and tactics on the front lines. When these three elements are operating smoothly together, you can tackle a difficult mountain peak or a highly-competitive business market. This concludes Part 3 of “Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains”. Having completed nearly half of my goal, I will be taking on increasingly steep and rugged mountains from here on out. Taking utmost care to avoid further injury, I will continue moving toward the finish line, one peak at a time, with an unrelenting spirit, and bringing you honest updates through this series. In the next installment, “Extend Your Antennae”, we will explore paying close attention to external and internal environments, as well as making critical decisions at crucial junctures. D-POPS GROUP Advisor Genta Sugihara March 2026: Mt. Sobo (#29), Mt. Kuju (#30), Mt. Aso (#31); April 2026: Mt. Hotaka (#32), Mt. Miyanoura (#33), Mt. Ryokami (#34), Mt. Nantai (#35) May 2026: Mt. Ishizuchi (#36), Mt. Nasu (#37), Mt. Tanzawa (#38), Mt. Bandai (#39), Mt. Adatara (#40), Mt. Ena (#41); June 2026: Mt. Shibutsu (#42)

We are pleased to announce that an interview featuring D-POPS GROUP’s President and CEO, Kazuhiro Goto, was published in the September 2026 issue of Monthly Project Design (released August 1). Note: Monthly Project Design is a business publication focusing on new market creation, promotion of startups and new business ventures, and regional revitalization. In this interview, President Goto spoke in detail about D-POPS GROUP’s efforts to achieve its core mission to “continuously produce growth ventures (i.e., unicorn companies) that transform society”, as well as the building of a Venture Ecosystem where entrepreneurs co-exist and thrive together. Interview Contents ・Origin story and entrepreneurial vision: Inspired by his experience studying abroad as a student and encountering the philosophy of Konosuke Matsushita, President Goto founded D-POPS Corp. out of the desire to “create an environment where young people can hold dreams and work hard toward them.” ・Establishing a “Venture Ecosystem”: The whole story of establishing a growth platform through transitioning to a group management system involving more than one type of business, and of leading efforts such as “Goto School”, a mentoring program for executives that has brought together over 330 business leaders to date. ・Venture Ecosystem Case Study, The Salons Japan: The example of how D-POPS GROUP supports a platform business which leases private salon studios, enabling beauty professionals to step out independently or elevate their careers at low risk. The interview is also available on the online edition of Monthly Project Design. We invite you to check it out here! (Page available in Japanese only.)