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Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains, Part 2: Detailed Planning, Steady Execution

  • Media
2026.07.21

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 46 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 target peak and making the necessary preparations to reach it.

In this second installment, we will explore how to move a challenge forward from the three key perspectives of planning, execution, and forming a team.

4. Detailed Planning: Devotion to the Business Starting from the Planning Stage

There are multiple routes to reach the summit of any single mountain. Whether you choose a short but steep trail or a long route with a gentle incline, you formulate your summit strategy by taking your own skills and physical stamina into account.

Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains are scattered all across the country—from Mt. Rishiri in Hokkaido at the northernmost tip to Mt. Miyanoura on Yakushima Island in the south. Because of this, the approach to each trailhead varies greatly. Will you combine public transportation, such as flights and trains, with a rental car? Or will you drive your own car along the expressway? These decisions must be made after weighing time, cost, and physical exhaustion.

Planning also includes calculating the travel time to the trailhead, estimating course times from ascent to descent, and determining the appropriate amount of water and trail snacks suited to the season and temperature of the day.

Furthermore, will you stay at an inn near the trailhead or spend the night in a mountain hut? When and what will you eat for breakfast and lunch? If you are climbing multiple mountains in succession, how will you reach the next mountain? Will you rest your body and recover your strength at a hot spring somewhere?

You must take every detail into account and build a meticulous plan. While this planning process is enjoyable, it holds the key to a successful summit, so it must be approached with utmost seriousness.

(Pictured: I plan out my approach using maps and guidebooks, and then create detailed climbing plans using a hiking app)

Looking back, I believe startup management is exactly the same. The first thing a business leader must do is thoroughly research the target market, formulate an entry strategy, and build a comprehensive business plan.

Then, you have to develop product strategies, pricing strategies, sales channel strategies, and marketing strategies, identifying precisely where within these areas you will build your competitive advantage. Then, to put these strategies into motion, you outline recruitment plans for the necessary talent and fundraising plans, drilling them down to an actionable level.

The more concrete this plan is—and the more of the founder’s soul is poured into it—the closer the business will get to achieving its envisioned goal.

Whether in mountaineering or management, the challenge truly begins right at the planning stage.

5. Once You Start Climbing, Focus on Every Single Step: A Momentary Lapse in Judgment Can Mean Life or Death

Once you actually begin your ascent, you must focus entirely on taking steady, deliberate steps forward. On many mountains, the summit remains completely hidden from view until you get close. In the meantime, you must walk along long trails enclosed by dense forest, traverse difficult rocky stretches and paths with chains to help you climb, and cross streams many times.

While keeping the big picture of your route to the summit in mind, you must pay close attention to tree roots, rocks, and mud underfoot, taking meticulous care not to slip, trip, sprain an ankle, or fall.

It is no different in startup management.

Even while holding up a grand vision, it is necessary to accumulate effort every day, working on plain and simple tasks. It is common for a startup founder to spend an entire day making sales calls, conducting recruitment interviews in between, and then writing code late into the night.

Again, focusing solely on sales while neglecting cash flow management; pouring all your energy into hiring while putting organizational structure on the back burner; becoming so obsessed with developing new features that you stop listening to existing customers…

These are all clear signs that you’re not paying attention to the ground beneath your feet. Over time, these small oversights will start to add up, and eventually turn into major crises.

Just after writing my previous article, I myself experienced this firsthand while climbing Mt. Gassan in Yamagata Prefecture. About 30 minutes into ascending a slope covered in unstable, slushy snow that hadn’t completely melted, I came upon a steep downhill section. There, I took a step without proper caution, lost my footing, and slid down the slope, hitting a rock at the bottom with full impact.

Fortunately, the rock I hit was flat, so I escaped with only a sprained ankle. Had the rock been shaped differently, I easily could have suffered a compound fracture. I was forced to abandon the climb, and I managed to get back down the mountain and receive medical treatment, but if that slip had sent me toward the bottom of a ravine…I shudder to think what could have happened.

(Pictured: I slipped on a steep, snow-covered slope and landed on a rock, spraining my left ankle.)

In both startup management and mountain climbing, failures rarely stem from a lack of grand vision; more often, they are caused by small lapses in vigilance on a daily basis. A moment of carelessness, a lack of confirmation, cutting corners, or disregarding unglamorous tasks—the accumulation of these minor oversights is what leads to dangerous accidents or falls on a mountain, or the bankruptcy of a company.

The higher and more rugged the peak you aim for, the more crucial it becomes to focus entirely on every single step you take.

6. Climb with Team Members Aiming for the Same Peak: Shared Trust and Values Make an Organization Strong

In mountaineering, when you climb as a group, you verify each member’s experience level and physical stamina beforehand. Those who lack confidence must take measures such as building up endurance or gaining experience on lower mountains. In some cases, you may even have to decide whether someone can participate at all.

If there is too great a gap in stamina and experience among group members, slower hikers may end up overexerting themselves or find themselves unable to negotiate dangerous sections.

Furthermore, if group members don’t know each other well, problems can easily arise during critical moments like if the group gets lost, encounters hazardous terrain, faces bad weather, or has to deal with an injury. Opinions may clash, or judgment could become split.

When climbing higher and steeper mountains, if the commitment and desire to reach the summit vary among team members, their resilience in the face of hardship will vary just as much.

It is advisable that each member should share the same sense of caution and appreciate the weight of taking steady, deliberate steps, as discussed in the previous section.

(Top: tackling Mt. Senjōgatake with colleagues from my company; bottom: climbing with close, trusted friends)

This applies directly to startup management as well.

It is advisable for co-founders and employees who join early on (in other words, companions riding the same boat) to hold the same ambitions, bring similarly deep experience in their respective fields, and share a relationship of mutual trust.

In business promotion and product development, your approach will differ depending on whether you prioritize speed or quality. In financial strategy, your plans will change based on whether you choose to take on debt and run deep deficits to aim for massive growth, or aim for short-term profitability through debt-free operation.

The “personality” of a company is a reflection of the founding members’ own personalities. If core members hold vastly different mindsets, friction will eventually spark, causing people to leave one after another.

In other words, what is crucial in managing a startup—especially in its early stages—is not only a match in skill level, but also a match in values and decision-making criteria. These initial members form the core that gradually shapes the company culture.

In my own career, I have navigated through numerous growing and transforming companies: DDI (now KDDI) in its early startup days, AOL during the dawn of the internet, Google around the time of its IPO, and currently D-POPS GROUP in its second founding phase. My criterion for joining each company was always whether the founder’s vision and company culture aligned with my own thinking, and whether I felt I wanted to work alongside the people I met during interviews.

Conversely, there were many companies whose offers I declined because I felt their company culture wasn’t a good fit. I knew that under extreme pressure, I wouldn’t be able to give it my all.

In both mountaineering and business management, there is a limit to the peaks you can reach alone. Aiming for the same summit with companions you can trust is what enables you to challenge yourself to climb higher and steeper mountains.
 

 
This concludes Part 2 of “Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains”.

I myself am still only halfway toward my goal of conquering all of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains.

From here on, I will gradually take on steeper and more rugged peaks. I want to continue being as candid as possible about the hesitations, mistakes, decisions, and lessons I encounter along the way.

The next installment’s topic will be “Strategy, Tactics, and Execution”, in which we will dive deeper into the differences between these three concepts by comparing how they apply to the 100 Famous Mountains challenge and startup management.

D-POPS GROUP Advisor Genta Sugihara

September 2025: Mt. Nikko-Shirane (#15), Mt. Kumotori (#16);
October 2025: Mt. Hakkoda (#17), Mt. Iwaki (#18), Mt. Kaimon (#19), Mt. Kirishima (#20), Mt. Odaigahara (#21)

October 2025: Mt. Hakkyo (#22), Mt. Utsukushigahara (#23), Mt. Tateshina (#24), Mt. Kirigamine (#25);
November 2025: Mt. Daisen (#26), Mt. Tanigawa (#27);
March 2026: Mt. Tsurugi (#28)

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Startup Management Lessons Inspired by Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains, Part 4: Extend Your Antennae, Pay Attention to Your Vitals
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)
  • Media
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[Venture Ecosystem Case Study] LocationAI × Payke: A New Form of Cooperation Unlocked by Data Integration
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. 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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. 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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
  • Media
2026.08.25
Visit to Panasonic’s Konosuke Matsushita Museum
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
  • Media
2026.08.18
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