COLUMN

[Member Interview #1] D-POPS GROUP President’s Office Member Shane Hetrick

Interview

2026.04.09

Overcoming the Language Barrier to Create a More Global Venture Ecosystem

①First, please tell us about where you’re from and your background.

I was born in California, but while growing up, my family moved about a dozen times to various other places in the western part of the US as well as spending seven months in South Korea. As a result, my parents, my younger brother, and my two younger sisters were the only stable figures in my life, so I had to get used to constant change from an early age. In fact, I can confidently say that learning how to deal with so many transitions had a significant impact on my life.

After moving to the city of Pullman in Washington to attend Washington State University, I earned a dual degree in microbiology and genetics and cell biology. In my freshman year, I became an active member of a Christian community for university students, and even after finishing my studies, I decided to remain in Pullman and volunteer with that group for two years as an intern and then one year as a staff member.

Throughout this period, I enjoyed getting to hang out with friends often, not having many responsibilities, and ultimately realizing my life’s passions. I also gained a number of critical skills which I would soon utilize in my career: developing relationships with people from both similar and different cultures, guiding and coaching university students through strategizing how to tackle their personal problems, facilitating group discussions, and—perhaps most importantly—learning how to learn.

②How many years ago did you arrive in Japan? What was your reason for moving here?

Towards the end of my time in Pullman, I started to meet more and more international students from various countries, and even met a student from Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, who even became my roommate for one semester. All of them suggested very seriously that I would make an excellent English instructor, and I became quite interested in the idea of starting a brand new adventure. Looking back on it now, I suppose I had also grown restless in my relatively safe and predictable life.

First, I began working part-time at my university’s affiliated TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program for about half a year, and then started to look into different options to live abroad as an English instructor. In the end, I was offered a full-time position as a dispatch worker through a small English teaching company in Japan, and in August 2015, I moved into a Japanese family’s house in Tokyo. I had met their son while he was studying abroad at my university, and his parents graciously offered me a place to stay when they heard I would be moving to Japan.

I began facilitating English lessons at elementary and middle schools, trade schools, hospitals, hotels, and various other companies throughout the Tokyo area. Some were large classes with 10 to 20 children or young adults, while others were 1-on-1 with businesspeople, and I soon became capable of teaching English to Japanese people of all ages.

③Why did you join D-POPS GROUP?

During my first year of teaching English full-time in Tokyo, I encountered a local branch of the same Christian university student organization in which I had been involved before. They were low on staff, so I volunteered for them and moved into their community house while continuing to teach English part-time at various places. I met a young woman from China through this group, we got married, then we had a daughter and were expecting a baby boy.

During the months leading up to his birth, I was actively searching for a full-time job to provide for our family's finances, since my wife would soon go on maternity leave and she was our main breadwinner at the time. Then, a recruiting partner of D-POPS GROUP found my profile while looking for someone with English teaching experience and a Japanese driver's license to be hired as an English-speaking chauffeur for the CEO, and offered me an interview.

While I was somewhat intrigued by the prospect, the position was very different from what I had been searching for. However, once I met President Goto at the interview, something inside me changed. I was deeply impressed by how he listened to me and was genuinely interested in me as a person, and when he spoke, I immediately believed in his vision. So, last November, I decided to join D-POPS GROUP and play even a small part in creating a society that will support my children to take risks, learn, and grow.

④What kind of work are you doing at D-POPS GROUP?

I was originally hired to help President Goto to improve his English through natural conversation while riding in the car. While that is my highest priority, I quickly recognized that within the flexible and swiftly-changing scene of a startup, I couldn't limit my role in our company to such a narrow task.

When I’m not driving, I was given the primary task of translating the articles on our company website from Japanese to English. From time to time, I also get to use my native English skills for corresponding with foreign guests and welcoming them to our office.

As much as I can, I try to help out the other members of the President's Office, too. After all, the more work they can delegate to me, the more work President Goto can delegate to them, which frees him up to do more of the things that only he can do. I receive and send letters and packages, order various supplies, issue entry passes to our office, and handle other light administrative tasks.

⑤As you drive President Goto around and help him practice his English in the car, have you gotten used to driving in Tokyo? Has President Goto’s English actually improved? Ha ha…

The car that President Goto chose for our company vehicle has a number of premium features that make it easier to drive safely in city traffic. It also helps that I’ve been driving for many years, so even though the streets in Tokyo are much more crowded and narrow than the roads in the US, I have been able to get used to driving here. In fact, I am always delighted every time I have the chance to drive President Goto to his various meetings and appointments and learn something from his wise words.

And yes, as President Goto is using English more consistently, he is more capable of recalling the foundation that he built as a high school and university student in the US and the UK. All I’m doing is providing him with an atmosphere where he can comfortably practice and supplying him with correct vocabulary and natural English phrasing when appropriate. He has been making steady progress, and is definitely more visibly confident when speaking English compared to a year ago. However, he often likes to encourage me by saying that he wishes his English would improve as fast as my Japanese, ha ha.

⑥You seem to have a proactive stance towards speaking Japanese with everyone around you in our office. When did you learn Japanese? Is the Japanese business lingo that we use here difficult?

While I was living with that Japanese family during my first year in Tokyo, they helped me learn the fundamentals of everyday conversation, and I became capable of basic communication. However, after I moved out of their home, my Japanese level essentially stagnated, since the only time I spoke it was in the exact same situations in daily life and did not usually seek out opportunities to study and improve my language abilities.

After joining D-POPS GROUP last year, I found myself in a Japanese work environment for the first time in my life, so there have been countless moments where I’ve been challenged and stretched. It’s not just that business Japanese is difficult for me to learn, but also that I had virtually no experience in the business world before starting this job. As a result, while I’m trying to pick up polite Japanese phrases that are commonly used in the office, I’m also learning about the concepts, situations, and systems behind those phrases at the same time.

I want to provide as much value to D-POPS GROUP as possible, since I understand that I can contribute to society more this way. To that end, I have undertaken a lot of challenges and overcome almost as many obstacles, thanks to the patience and understanding of my excellent and gracious coworkers, though there are still many more to go. And I want to tell everyone within our Venture Ecosystem that I am always happy to practice my Japanese, so when you see me, please don’t hesitate to say hello!

⑦What differences have you felt between living and working in Japan compared to the US?

In my opinion, the biggest way that life in Japan is different from life in the US is the perception of peer pressure. From what I’ve seen over the past ten years, Japanese people seem to be very considerate of other people, to the point that they try to remain aware of the outward behaviors and even the unspoken feelings of the people around them. In addition, they usually have a deep reverence for common courtesy, harmony, and consensus, and would rather inconvenience themselves than voice an opinion contrary to the majority. On the other hand, Americans place a very high value on the personal independence of the individual. From a young age, we are taught that we should think before we copy what everyone else is doing, and we prize uniqueness above uniformity.

There are obviously many reasons why these two cultures are so opposite, but I think one primary root may be the lack of livable space in Japan combined with the history of frequent natural disasters here. When the threat of earthquakes, tsunamis, or other dangers is always near, and your neighbors live so close that a house fire can spread to surrounding buildings almost instantly, it becomes critical to maintain amicable relations with all the people you interact with on a regular basis, so that you can rely on their help in an emergency, rather than watch them gleefully loot your belongings as you lay dying.

I’ve also noticed some smaller contrasts between Japanese and American lifestyles that our readers may find interesting. For one, Japanese tend to keep their social circles cleanly distinct from each other, so family, acquaintances, and coworkers rarely mix. Americans, however, are much less shy about introducing family to their friends and colleagues who are close to them, so I’ve had to get used to knowing next to nothing about my team members’ personal lives, even though I talk with them all the time. Another is that while most Japanese eat rice at least once a day as part of their diet, Americans aren’t usually loyal to a single staple food, and will even eat meals that contain no staple food at all.

Finally, this isn’t necessarily a major difference between Japan and the US, but rather something that’s starting to change in both cultures. Until recently, fathers did not usually take a long paternity leave. However, I decided to take advantage of the Japanese government’s childcare provisions to stay with my wife and children at my parent’s house in the US for much of December and January. My coworkers at D-POPS GROUP were very supportive, and though I’ve heard horror stories of fathers at Japanese companies coming back from paternity leave to find their position relocated or minimized, in my case there was nothing of the sort.

⑧After joining D-POPS GROUP, you have been working on the English version of our company’s website. What are your most important considerations for writing English translations?

First of all, I try to imagine the audience who will be reading these translations. They could be executive members of foreign companies thinking about expanding their business into Japan, or venture capital investors looking for a good return from a Japanese startup, or even members of D-POPS GROUP or our partners who simply want to practice their English reading ability. This affects the word choice and overall tone of each article I translate, and also helps me decide how to convey phrases or ideas that have no direct translations.

Next, I do my best to paint a clear picture of the mission, vision, and values of D-POPS GROUP and our leaders in such a way that anyone who reads the pages of our website in English will be able to sense them through what parts are emphasized and even through the vocabulary I use. After all, I believe that the energy surrounding us really is special, so I hope to share as much of that spark as possible with our readers.

Finally, since I am still quite far from being bilingual, I would not be able to accomplish the task of translating our website without the support of our corporate advisor, Genta Sugihara. Without his wisdom, experience, and especially his deep knowledge of startups and corporate venture capital, you would not be reading this now. Not only with translation, but he has also given me invaluable advice on navigating the unfamiliar world of working at a Japanese company, and I can’t express in words how much I sincerely appreciate him.

⑨In August, we hosted a group of delegates from the Japan-America Student Conference. You helped to create English presentation materials that were oriented towards students, and also did a little bit of interpretation on that day. What were your impressions of all the work that went into making those materials and what you experienced on the day of their visit?

That event was my first taste of getting to work more closely with President Goto, and it was definitely awe-inspiring to witness firsthand how much thought and effort he puts into anything he does. He was put in a position where he was out of his element, and I would guess that is not usual for someone at his level of professionalism. But even in the midst of a situation like that, he was able to think strategically about what he could do in the limited time before the presentation, and also what was not possible.

For example, I first prepared a script for him that might have seemed quite impressive to an academic audience in an English-speaking country. However, it contained a significant amount of high-level vocabulary he was not familiar with. President Goto pointed out to me that since he did not have a long time to prepare, it would be better for him to focus on practicing fluently speaking words he already knows than on learning a bunch of new words. Then we went back and forth over the next several weeks, refining his script and his presentation slides until he was satisfied with them. This was also an educational experience for me, as I learned that being able to reach a state of 90% perfection in a timely manner is much more important in a business setting than finally getting to the point of 100% perfection long after the deadline has already passed.

When the students arrived at the Shibuya Hikarie Building, I had the honor of showing them around various parts of our inspirational office space and explaining their significance in English. Then, after we listened to President Goto and Advisor Sugihara share their lectures, I was supposed to help interpret for the students and our company leaders, but it turned out that between President Goto’s English skills and the Japanese ability that several of the American students had, I hardly needed to say anything. Given my work background in connecting with university students, I was so happy to see a deeper understanding of the value of entrepreneurship dawn on their faces over the course of our time together.

⑩What kinds of activities at D-POPS GROUP do you hope to participate in from now on?

My knowledge and experience in the venture capital business is still almost zero, but someday I hope to be a more active participant in the process of welcoming new partners to our Venture Ecosystem. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been given the privilege of facilitating communication between the members of our CVC team and a pair of foreign entrepreneurs who want to more firmly establish their business in Japan. This has been exhilarating for me, and I want to increase my capabilities in this regard.

Besides the CVC team, I hope to support any other conversations that take place between members of our Venture Ecosystem and non-Japanese speakers. One of my personal goals at D-POPS GROUP is to utilize my English skills to serve our expansion onto the global stage. In accordance with that, I want to keep myself available as an asset anytime there is a need for a native English speaker. Speaking of which, I'm hoping to start some English-related activities within D-POPS GROUP's Ecosystem sometime soon. If anyone is interested, please feel free to contact me!

Beyond this, I’d really like to continue improving my Japanese language and business skills to the point that not only am I a professional English translator for D-POPS GROUP, but also that I prove to be truly useful in other areas. I’m excited to see what I look like after another year of working here!

[Entrepreneur Interview #17] Takahiro Kato (Faithful) – Part 2

“Leaning in closely to the vision of business leaders” Realizing a Venture Ecosystem through M&A D-POPS GROUP has 25 group companies that we call partners (at the time of publication). For this article, we interviewed Takahiro Kato, the Managing Director, Operating Officer, and Corporate Planning Head of D-POPS GROUP Co., Ltd., as well as Co-President of Faithful Corporation, one of D-POPS GROUP’s first member companies. (This interview was conducted in December 2025.) 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/faithful-interview-first-part/ ◆Keeping Busy as the Head of M&A Sugihara: On the other hand, you continue to serve concurrently as the head of M&A. Regarding the weight of your responsibilities, how do you balance your role as President of Faithful with your M&A duties? Kato: The pressure of M&A occupies over 90% of my heart and mind, but what takes up more of my time is Faithful’s business operations. This is especially because I started as a complete amateur with M&A. Because there are so many buyers in the market these days, good deals won’t just come around if you simply sit and wait. Sugihara: How did you manage to start accumulating deals when you didn’t even have any connections? Kato: I certainly wasn’t a very pretty sight during my first year. I attended every M&A seminar I could find, but those are usually designed to attract sellers. However, I made a point of sitting in the very front row, asking question after question, and at the end, I would approach them head-on and awkwardly ask to become friends with those agencies. I would also boldly crash social gatherings even though I didn’t know anyone, and gradually, I began to get close to some people. After a solid year of relentlessly repeating this process of relationship-building, I finally connected with our first deal: graphD. Sugihara: Looking back at your core business at the time, wasn’t it a little unexpected to take on a new industry with graphD for your very first M&A deal? Kato: I think you’re exactly right. There were concerns that we would be spreading our domains a bit too thin with that first M&A. When I first proposed the deal, President Goto wasn’t very keen on it either. However, the situation suddenly changed in a funny way. One of our major clients, a telecommunications carrier, gave us very positive feedback, saying, “Partnering with a company strong in POP production would be a very interesting move.” That’s when President Goto said, “Maybe this is a good idea after all.” (Note: POP = Point of Purchase, i.e., advertising materials for sales promotion.) But it gets even crazier after that! It turns out that back when Mr. Watanabe—who would later become D-POPS GROUP’s Managing Executive Officer—was still at Yodobashi Camera, he gave the advice, “Starting a POP company like this will be good, and it’ll make business come around more smoothly.” And that’s how graphD was founded! Sugihara: Such a wonderfully small world! Kato: At that time, I had absolutely no connection with Mr. Watanabe. Without knowing any of that background, I proposed it simply as a deal I had found by myself. When I discovered the facts later, it felt like the dots were finally connecting into a line. Looking back over my 20 years here, there have been many such chaotic or coincidental events, but now I truly feel that each piece of the puzzle has come together to form the current shape of the group. ◆The Importance of People for D-POPS GROUP’s Style of M&A Sugihara: From the acquisition of graphD, I believe about 15 companies have joined D-POPS GROUP since then. Behind the scenes of closing that many deals, you must have been examining a vast number of projects. Kato: Yes, it’s more than I can count, ha ha. If I were to list out the cases for this year alone, I’ve inspected somewhere between 300 and 400. M&A agencies often tell me, “There’s absolutely no other company with conditions like yours.” For example, I set high standards, such as profitable companies with annual sales of 1 billion yen or more, and they tell me such excellent deals won’t just come rolling by. Nevertheless, we’re going to keep on narrowing down the potential candidates to only the truly valuable ones. Sugihara: Out of those 300 to 400 cases that you examine, how many proceed to an actual interview? Kato: Only a very few hand-picked enterprises proceed to the interview stage. However, I believe that the selection process itself is extremely important. Sugihara: Among that vast number of projects, what criteria or standpoints do you have for deciding whether to meet with someone? Kato: Intermediaries often ask me to provide specific company names or industries, but that’s actually difficult to do. The current challenges that are brought up at D-POPS GROUP’s board meetings, and the existing resources we possess: where these two intersect is our criterion for evaluation. When a group ecosystem becomes as developed as ours, if you map out industry areas represented by our companies, most are already filled. So how do you look for gaps? Although cases that are too far from our areas are out of the question, I think a vertical integration model that can only complement our existing businesses is not enough. It’s not just about acquiring the competition and increasing the scale of our company, it’s about whether or not we can imagine a specific M&A opening up interesting future developments when combined with our current business. I always evaluate a case according to whether or not the company in question would fit within the vision we have for our future and create new value in a multi-dimensional way. Sugihara: Suppose you do find a project that fills a missing piece or gap in D-POPS GROUP’s portfolio. After it passes the document review and you meet the CEO in person, what other areas are being checked? Kato: Above all, we place extreme importance on whether their atmosphere and culture match those of our other group companies. Even if the industry is different or they don’t use the exact same words as us, as long as our underlying values are the same, we can respect each other. We value that sort of instinct. On the other hand, people who take a one-sided approach to conversation from the very beginning are difficult to work with. One particular thing I watch out for during interviews is whether they’re at a “presentation ceiling”, so to speak. By that, I mean putting on makeup to make themselves look better just for the interview. But I can see through that. There have been cases in the past where that makeup peeled off during the Due Diligence (DD) process, and the deal fell through. Sugihara: What specific steps do you take to discern that? Kato: We never conduct a so-called “stress interview”. We’re more interested in listening to each other’s dreams and figuring out if we can possibly enjoy a future together. To decide this, we usually meet twice. The first time is with me alone, and the second time is a deeper discussion with President Goto. However, there are many things you can’t see from just talking about theories, so we make it a point to have dinner together, as well. The words that slip out when someone has had a drink, the passion they show when talking about dreams…once you finally break into those deep conversations, you will see a person’s true self. President Goto’s interviews and dinner meetings are usually over three hours long. He intentionally takes that much time to deeply understand people’s backgrounds. While transmitting that level of intensity, we ultimately judge based on the essentially human question: “Do we want to create the future together with this person?” Sugihara: Among the M&A deals you’ve handled so far, are there any cases that were particularly memorable or challenging? Kato: Our M&A strategy is based on the policy of supporting business owners’ growth, so it is very rare for founders to exit their companies after their acquisition. In principle, our style is to have founders join our group and run together with us toward growth. That is precisely why, in the few cases where founders do exit their companies after joining D-POPS GROUP, the messages regarding the vision they’ve entrusted to us leave a very strong impression. Even after the acquisition, I want those people to never stop thinking, “I’m so glad I entrusted my business to this group back then.” It is my absolute duty to take the baton and grow that business even further with our new partners, and I feel this responsibility more strongly than anyone else. Sugihara: On the other hand, have there been cases where you were forced to make a painful decision? Kato: Yes. I still ask myself from time to time whether we made the right decision regarding one company we had acquired, and then ultimately sold to another company. From a business perspective—making an administrative decision, or in the sense of gaining a return on investment—that may have been the right choice at the time. However, my style is to enter the other person’s world and walk alongside them until closing out the deal, and valuing their feelings all the while. Because I care about individual companies as much as I cared about our individual stores, I still have lingering regrets about that one case. Sugihara: Precisely because you value people that much, people choose D-POPS GROUP for reasons beyond just the monetary value. Kato: Exactly. I don’t think the acquisition prices we offer are the highest compared to other companies. In fact, it’s more often not the case. However, CEOs will hand over their companies to us and say, “I’ll leave it to you.” Because they don’t choose us just for the money, I feel the weight of responsibility for their entrusted vision even more heavily. I believe my mission as the M&A lead is to coordinate within the group to see that their trust produces results. Sugihara: You mentioned that in extraordinarily rare cases, founders pass the baton of their business to D-POPS GROUP and then step down. I heard that sellers usually don’t explicitly state their desire for how you should grow their companies, but in your position, how do you respond to that kind of expectation? Kato: Those expectations aren’t directly spoken in words. However, in the process leading up to them choosing us, I always make sure to ask, “Why did you decide not to go with another company?” Along with the details that we get through the intermediary agencies, I see that accumulation of information as the CEO’s feelings that they couldn’t express out loud, so I make sure to place high value on it. What always gives me the greatest impression is the dinner that serves as a ceremony for passing the baton. The CEO will say to the employees who are staying with the company, “Thank you for everything. From now on, within this group, continue to do your best!” Those words are a testament of trust in us, effectively saying, “You’ll be fine with these people.” Coming on the back of that kind of moment, I feel a powerful sense of responsibility that I absolutely cannot ever betray those people. ◆The “Flow of Energy” that President Goto Values Sugihara: When it comes to the M&A process, has anything President Goto said left an impression on you? Kato: It would have to be one phrase: “The flow of energy is bad”. This is the toughest thing to deal with, ha ha. The intermediary agencies will work desperately to find the kind of deal that might only come around once a year or so, and we’ll reach a certain point. But if President Goto says, “The flow of energy is bad”...there’s simply nothing we can say to that, ha ha! Sugihara: When you investigate a case yourself and then propose it, only to be told such a thing, is it hard for you to accept that? Kato: To be honest, in the past, I really couldn’t accept it at all. Back then, I was only looking at the numerical aspects, group synergy, and positioning in the industry, but now I think I was completely missing the essential human element. But after doing my homework many times, I’ve gradually come to a place of understanding. I’m able to realize, “Ah, this must be what President Goto was concerned about!” Nowadays, our intuitions are much more likely to align. Although, there are still some times I feel disappointed when a project I’m personally attached to gets rejected, ha ha. Sugihara: Besides the flow of energy, what other perspectives do you feel President Goto has regarding finances or business performance? Kato: I think President Goto keeps the sharpest eye on how other leaders make intentional decisions. He often says, “A stack of blocks doesn’t grow just because one block stands out.” He means one person doesn’t need to be the top in everything. On the other hand, as Corporate Planning Head, I take pride in the fact that I’ve worked quite hard to make sure I’m not a burden to our group. I’ve been given responsibility for practical numbers and for negotiating M&A terms, but for the highest level of decision-making that happens in our board meetings, the board members’ perspectives are also crucial. For large cases, President Goto personally holds preliminary discussions with President Naito and Chairman Semmoto to thoroughly bounce ideas off of them. I incorporate the feedback from that coordination process into our business plans and M&A contracts. After going through such a rigorous process, those CEOs and their businesses finally become our colleagues and join the list of our group companies and investment portfolio companies. Sugihara: After handling M&A for this many years, what is the moment that made you feel the most fulfilled? Kato: For most entrepreneurs, an M&A is a once-in-a-lifetime, high-stakes endeavor into which they’ve poured their very lives. To be present at such a critical juncture is truly an honor. Actually, everything I’ve done here at D-POPS GROUP stems from an ambition I’ve held since before I even joined that accounting firm: the desire to stand by and support the visions of entrepreneurs. Now, being able to support life-altering decisions through M&A makes me feel like I am right at the core of my professional purpose. Sugihara: You hold the major dual responsibilities of being Faithful’s CEO and the head of M&A for the entire group. Is there anything you have to keep in mind while wearing those two hats? Kato: After becoming a company president myself, my respect for the CEOs of our other group companies has grown even stronger. I don’t think I would have ever truly grasped this feeling if I had remained only in charge of M&A. You can’t feel the true challenges and the sense of loneliness that comes with being a leader until you become one yourself. Back when I first joined and was focused on launching the administrative office, the staff working in the stores sometimes looked at me coldly, thinking, “Who does this ‘executive candidate’ think he is?” But now, having the perspective of a business owner, I understand how to bridge the gap between different departments and standpoints. I can have a bird’s-eye view of the group as a whole, while also handling the management of a customer-facing business. That sort of environment is an extreme luxury, and it’s a challenge I find deeply rewarding. Sugihara: In your busy life with multiple roles, how do you balance your professional life with your private life, and what do you value most in life? Kato: One of the major catalysts for me aiming to become a CEO was joining Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). Ever since I joined the company around 2007, my mentors would tell me that EO is an incredible place, and I started aspiring to get there someday. What I learned there wasn’t just management know-how; it was something more fundamental, like a philosophy of life. “We have to face the reality that all people eventually die. How do you want to meet your end?” I often have opportunities to talk deeply with my EO colleagues about topics like that. My hope is that at the end of my life, my companions and I can look back and say, “We really worked hard back then.” Expanding this circle of gratitude has become my life’s guiding principle. On a personal note, I’m still very close to my wife, whom I met when I was 19, and this year marks our 30th year together. Having a peaceful family life is a huge support for me. My personal life hasn't always been smooth sailing. At age 41, I suffered from cancer, and then developed a complication that occurs in only one in a million people. Just the other day, my doctor told me, “You don't need to take medication anymore,” so my battle with that illness has finally settled down, and I feel a sense of relief. It is precisely because of this experience that the importance of family and companions has truly hit home. By becoming ill and learning my own weakness, I feel that the words ‘integrity, humility, and gratitude’ are finally all connected inside me. From now on, just as I was supported by others, I want to be the kind of person who can be a support for someone else. ◆On “Realizing a Venture Ecosystem” Sugihara: D-POPS GROUP aims to realize a Venture Ecosystem. What parts of this goal resonate most with you? Are there any specific mindsets or activities you focus on while building this ecosystem together? Kato: Actually, during my job interview 20 years ago, President Goto spent three hours passionately talking to me about his concept for a department store. The idea was to have a cafe, a mobile phone shop, and a perfume shop all within the same building. He said it would be amazing if they could create synergistic effects to generate customer satisfaction. While the exact shape of that has changed, I believe that was the prototype of the Venture Ecosystem we are aiming for today. Twenty years have passed and our business model has evolved, but the underlying desire to “create delight and brightness for people” has not changed at all. In the past, it felt like our work was about survival plus a little extra, but now we have gained enough momentum to influence society more broadly, such as through educational support. I can feel that advancement firsthand. Sugihara: What do you intentionally do every day to make the Ecosystem even stronger? Kato: Almost like clockwork, a difficult situation has occurred roughly every five years, ha ha. But no matter whether we have a serious storm or smooth sailing, I stay focused on three things we have championed for a long time: stand your ground, never stop challenging yourself, and grow at triple speed. The delight and brightness found in our company name (D-POPS stands for Dream–Produce One’s Pleasure and Shining) can never be created by maintaining the status quo. We apply a comfortable amount of stretch to ourselves and work together to take on lofty goals that at first seem impossible. That process of challenging ourselves creates triple-speed growth, which ultimately leads to someone else’s delight and our own brightness. To me, the act of keeping this cycle going builds up our Ecosystem. ◆5-year Vision Sugihara: In five years, where do you want yourself to be and where do you want Faithful to be? Kato: I want to reach the level that when someone hears the term ‘direct marketing’ within the context of D-POPS GROUP, he or she will immediately think of Faithful (URIZO). For nearly the first 10 years after joining, I was responsible for financial strategy, and in the period since then, I’ve handled M&A strategy. If I can firmly establish marketing strategy as a third pillar, I believe I can make a significant contribution as a foundation for the group. My ideal is for the next person who takes over the systems I’ve built to polish them and make them even stronger. Sugihara: Will the newly added service, URIZO, be the key going forward? Kato: Yes, I want to ensure it is seen as the key. This business, which we took over from a subsidiary of a listed company in 2024, plays an extremely important role in the overall marketing strategy of the group. It is still in the seed stage, but my current mission is to grow it into a large sprout as quickly as possible. Sugihara: With the spread of AI, the nature of marketing is changing. What challenges do you see up ahead? Kato: We live in an age where anyone can easily obtain primary information and launch marketing measures using AI. That is exactly why it’s absolutely necessary to differentiate ourselves by doing what AI cannot mimic. I feel there is a literacy gap here similar to what we saw with mobile phones in the past. As digital becomes more prevalent, analog marketing such as mailing out letters attracts attention again, and proposals that carry human emotion rather than being left entirely to AI will gain value. It’s about the multiplication of the latest tools with human ingenuity and passion. I believe the battle from here on out will be determined by how we combine those two. Sugihara: Finally, do you have a message for those reading this article? Kato: Looking back on my experiences, my major failures leave a stronger impression than my successes. Even so, I learned from those failures, was given another chance, managed to fix those mistakes, and created things that made people happy. For me, one important aspect of this group’s corporate culture is getting a second chance, or many chances, so one can try again and again. I want to continue challenging myself without fear of failure and create new, enjoyable experiences that bring value to the group. If reading this article increases the number of colleagues who resonate with our Ecosystem, I couldn’t be happier. Let’s have fun challenging ourselves and change the world together! Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. D-POPS GROUP Co., Ltd. Managing Director, Operating Officer, and Corporate Planning Head Takahiro Kato Faithful Corporation Company Co-President: Takahiro Kato Address: 32F Shibuya Hikarie Building, 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Interview

2026.03.17

[Entrepreneur Interview #17] Takahiro Kato (Faithful) – Part 1

“Leaning in closely to the vision of business leaders” Realizing a Venture Ecosystem through M&A D-POPS GROUP has 25 group companies that we call partners (at the time of publication). For this article, we interviewed Takahiro Kato, the Managing Director, Operating Officer, and Corporate Planning Head of D-POPS GROUP Co., Ltd., as well as Co-President of Faithful Corporation, one of D-POPS GROUP’s first member companies. (This interview was conducted in December 2025.) ◆Journey to Joining the Company Sugihara: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Mr. Kato! I understand you joined the company in August 2006. Could you tell us about your career up to that point and the circumstances that led to you joining? Kato: My previous job was at an accounting firm in Sendai, where I worked as a financial consultant. I was responsible for supporting the establishment of medical corporations and the opening of medical malls. I worked like crazy there for about five years. At the time, the company had a compensation structure where performance was directly reflected in your salary. Despite being in a regional city and being only 23 years old, I was earning an annual income of about 5 million yen. Given the price levels of 20 years ago, that was quite exceptional treatment. However, because I started earning so much at a young age, before I knew it, the focus of my attention shifted from the customers to my own income. I started prioritizing what benefitted me most, thinking things like, “I can get this customer to sign for this amount of insurance.” I think I had become conceited. Around that time, a mentor who had been very kind to me since my days as a part-time student worker went independent and started his own business. That CEO became my client, with an attitude of “If Kato is going to do his best on this, count me in.” However, I ended up getting promoted later, and in my new position, I no longer directly handled his account, so I became emotionally detached. After a while, his business stalled, and he had to close it down. Back when I first started learning bookkeeping in an ordinary high school, I had the pure ambition of becoming someone who helps out CEOs in the future. And yet, I failed to notice the changes in my dear mentor’s situation due to my shortsighted desire for personal gain. I was tormented by intense regret, realizing this was the result of my own arrogance. I thought to myself, “Rather than supporting a president from afar as an external consultant, what if I could support a single company president and scale a business even more if I became his or her right-hand man?”, and began looking to change jobs. Sugihara: Is that when you met President Goto? Kato: Yes. At the time, I was interviewing with two companies: D-POPS and one other. The other company wanted me to join immediately after giving me an offer. However, I was still living in Sendai at the time, and it was right before my daughter was to be born. I told them I absolutely needed them to wait three months, but they declined, saying that would be difficult. President Goto, on the other hand, was different. When I honestly explained my circumstances, he said, “I understand. I’ll wait three months.” Moved by the depth of his character, I decided to join D-POPS. What I still haven’t forgotten to this day is the intensity of the interviews. I went through two rounds, and President Goto handled both of them personally. Each one lasted over three hours—more than six hours in total—listening to my future goals and feelings while I shared what I could contribute. It was precisely because of that dense, meaningful dialogue that I felt certain I wanted to make a fresh start under this man. ◆D-POPS in the Early Days Sugihara: Three hours! That’s incredible. What was your role when you joined in 2006? Kato: My role back then was defined as “taking charge of general back-office operations”. I was hired into the administrative office with the potential of becoming an executive staff, but when I actually started, I was shocked by the state of things, ha ha. For example, I was solely responsible for collecting sales proceeds from all the stores. At that time, installment sales (loans) weren’t common yet, so millions of yen in cash accumulated in each store’s safe every day. I spent my days going from store to store, collecting the cash, carrying it to the nearest ATM, and depositing it day by day so we could track it later. After visiting five or six stores, it would be evening. I’d return to the office and spend the rest of the day reconciling cash and handling the accounting. The atmosphere of the organization was like a battlefield. I had the feeling that in order for us to survive, I needed to produce results even if it meant knocking the neighboring competitors out of commission. It didn’t matter if you were a full-time employee, a part-timer, or a dispatch worker…everyone was simply chasing the number of units sold—in other words, sales—right in front of them. It was that kind of time. Sugihara: The management system also must have been completely different from what it is now. Kato: Quite so. At that time, attendance was confirmed through a system where store staff would send a fax to the head office when they arrived at work. Outside of this system, we couldn’t even tell if a particular store was open. Occasionally, the head office would receive calls from customers asking, “Why isn’t the store open today?”, ha ha. Later, we introduced an IT system, but then some staff started clocking in remotely from outside the stores. We realized that it wasn’t any use to just make sure our employees were clocking in. Next, we tried a method where staff had to answer a company philosophy-related quiz every morning using the stores’ fax machines. However, some clever people tried to cheat by programming the fax machines to send it at a set time. It was a constant game of cat-and-mouse with fraudulent access and time-card tampering, so we needed to rethink the entire system from the ground up. Sugihara: How did the organization transform into what it is today? Kato: I think the big change started around 2007 or 2008 when we began hiring new graduates. We shifted away from a culture where “anything goes as long as you hit your numbers”. As educated new graduates joined, the organizational consciousness flipped completely. Looking back, that was the major turning point. Sugihara: Did your own mindset change, too? When did that happen? Kato: Yes, there was a significant shift that changed my outlook on life. For a long time, whenever President Goto visited banks to report on our management status, he would always use the words ‘sincerity’, ‘humility’, and ‘gratitude’. To be honest, at the time, they sounded like nothing more than magic words to me. But after being in contact with this organization for so many years, I’ve truly internalized those words and come to agree with them deeply. ◆Building the Organizational Foundation Sugihara: Before the transition to group management in 2017, you reportedly handled all sorts of tasks as Corporate Planning during the D-POPS era. Kato: Yes. For about ten years before we moved into M&A in earnest, I spent all my time running around to build the organization’s foundation. At the time, we didn’t even have a contract with a labor and social security attorney, and labor management was essentially handled by President Goto’s mother. So, I started by switching those tasks to a professional system. I also worked on eliminating time lags in cash management to visualize cash flow and created a performance management system that didn’t exist before. I set up the data needed for management decisions one by one, such as calculating precise figures per individual store including seasonal factors and managing store-specific profit and loss (P&L). Sugihara: Without such meticulous system design, managing at the current scale would be impossible. Kato: You’re absolutely right. However, while organizing the systems, what I always valued was the heat and passion of the front lines—what we call our store staff’s “empathy-driven customer service”. Right after I joined, I had a one-week orientation where President Goto and I visited every single store together. We would stand in front of a store for about an hour, watching the staff interact with customers, and then discuss it. President Goto told me, “That store manager’s numbers might be average, but they enjoy such overwhelming feedback from their customers. Look, the customers are leaving with such smiles. The shape of the smile differs by store, but that is the strength of D-POPS.” He taught me not just to manage numbers, but encouraged me to feel the temperature of our stores and the bonds with customers firsthand. I think it was because of that experience, I was able to focus on creating organizational management systems that were heart-led, rather than creating systems just to control people. Sugihara: Were you ever directly involved in the actual business operations at those stores? Kato: To accurately understand store operations, I spent only two weeks at one site. After understanding the work flow and what problems they encounter there, I returned to my duties at the head office. Although I was in the administrative office when I joined, my proposals were often planning-oriented, and I was frequently asked for creative improvements. I was given the advice: “Change your title to ‘Corporate Planning’, get out there, and make things move more.” From that point on, I’ve been working in Corporate Planning for around ten years now. ◆The Start of M&A Strategy and Meeting Faithful Corporation Sugihara: You were appointed as the President of Faithful in 2017. What led up to this? Kato: Around 2015 to 2016, just as D-POPS GROUP reached 10 billion yen in sales, we faced a massive headwind due to changes that were made to the sales rules within the telecommunications industry. It was our second time to experience a crisis of that scale, resulting in a 100-million-yen deficit in just three months. At that time, the executive members decided that instead of going on the defensive, we should show a challenging spirit. Each of us stepped into new domains. Mr. Hori, who had been in charge of HR, took the lead as the CEO of Good Crew. Mr. Iwama became the CEO of Gnext, which we had acquired through M&A. Mr. Fujita established Advancer, and Mr. Hosaka founded STAR CAREER. The executive staff of that era began making big moves. Amidst that, I was entrusted with being responsible for M&A. Sugihara: Was this shift towards M&A strategy necessary? Kato: Yes, it was a natural progression for the head of Corporate Planning to take charge of M&A. President Goto had been saying for a while that he wanted to pursue M&A, and there was a sense of urgency, that we wouldn’t be able to dramatically increase our growth trajectory only through businesses built up using internal resources alone (i.e., organic growth). It was difficult to work backward from our growth goals based on a labor-intensive model. So, we decided to make M&A a central pillar of our growth strategy. In fact, this Faithful Corporation was one of the companies I acquired while serving as the head of M&A. Sugihara: So, you became the representative of the very company you decided to acquire? Kato: Yes. Our first M&A deal was a company called graphD, and the second company we acquired was Faithful. Since I was the one who proposed and pushed for the acquisition, I took it upon myself to steer the ship afterward. That is how I became its President. Sugihara: It sounds like the very structure of D-POPS GROUP changed radically between 2015 and 2016. Kato: Exactly. That was when our current group management platform was built. Sugihara: You mentioned Faithful was the second company you acquired. What sort of business were they doing at the time? Kato: Actually, that business had to pivot just a few months after we acquired them. Initially, Faithful’s main business was article production outsourcing. However, right at that timing, society was starting to question the reliability of curated media, which sent shockwaves through the entire industry. We were caught in the middle of that storm, and the articles we were handling came under fire. We found ourselves in a situation where we couldn’t continue the core business that accounted for 70% to 80% of our revenue, and we plunged into a massive deficit. Normally, one might give up and conclude that the M&A was a failure, but if we had retreated then, we wouldn’t have been able to make our next move. So, we decided to cut off the unprofitable old business and aim for a recovery. ◆Building a Sustainable BtoB Model Sugihara: How did you go about rebuilding the company into its current business from that point? Kato: The business as it stands today was not something we inherited from the acquisition…it was built completely from scratch. At the time, D-POPS GROUP’s non-executive director, President Naito of Findstar GROUP Co., Ltd., gave us the following advice at a board meeting: “If you slightly shift your existing business model, you will find new business opportunities.” So, we asked ourselves, “Besides selling mobile phones in physical stores, what are we capable of doing?” Then, we decided to pivot entirely to communication consulting targeted at corporations. While launching this new business, I was handling bank relations as an executive staff of D-POPS GROUP. There was an expectation from those around me not to exhaust the staff working on-site, and to create a sustainable business. I came up with the idea of a model that utilized banks as referral partners, and figured that would be the best. I proposed this to the banks, and they thankfully agreed to help introduce us to other companies. ◆Thoughts on the Strengths of Faithful and His Colleagues Sugihara: If you had to describe Faithful’s current business in one sentence, what would it be? Kato: In short, we support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We had originally taken over a media business, but we steered it to build the current consulting model that solves the challenges of SMEs in an entirely new way. Sugihara: Among the many consulting firms out there, what are Faithful’s strengths? Kato: Our overwhelming strength is definitely that since our staff—who have years of experience in mobile phone shops—provide the consulting proposals, we can put all that know-how to good use. Other companies selling office automation (OA) equipment to corporations tend to just sell the products, but the relationship ends there. Follow-up is difficult for them, and because they lack deep ties with telecommunications carriers, they can’t handle complex adjustments. We can provide fair and neutral comparative proposals backed by strong relationships with carriers. Above all, we have an environment where members who transferred straight from an on-site workplace are able to contribute right from the start. Sugihara: So then, the environment for your members was also part of your consideration when launching that new business. Kato: Yes, and in fact, we had an underlying goal there as well. Operations for mobile phone stores are naturally focused on weekends, but a BtoB business allows us to create a work environment focused on weekdays. As members progress in their careers, they can acquire higher expertise and provide more to our clients and our company itself. By digging deep into the BtoB domain, I wanted to expand the options my colleagues would have in the future. Sugihara: Was the transition from store-based BtoC sales to corporate BtoB sales a big obstacle for your members? Kato: That is still an area of great struggle for us, even today, and we are in a constant process of trial and error. The sales styles and required knowledge are completely different, so that wall was even higher than I imagined. The vast majority of Faithful’s members are transfers from within our group. The nature of starting out this way is different compared to an organization built from the ground up by recruiting specifically for BtoB sales. So, the question of how to transform the customer service skills cultivated in stores into the ability to solve corporate problems remains an unending battle and challenge for our company. ~To be continued in Part 2~ Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. D-POPS GROUP Co., Ltd. Managing Director, Operating Officer, and Corporate Planning Head Takahiro Kato Faithful Corporation Company Co-President: Takahiro Kato Address: 32F Shibuya Hikarie Building, 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Next, in the latter part of the interview, we discuss: ・Keeping busy as the Head of M&A ・The importance of people for D-POPS GROUP’s style of M&A ・The “flow of energy” that President Goto values ・“Realizing a Venture Ecosystem” ・5-year vision ・And other topics Be sure to check it out here: https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/kato-interview-latter-part/

Interview

2026.03.12

“A Day to Change an Entrepreneur’s Future”: The Frenzy Behind the Scenes of Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 – Part 2

For this article, we interviewed President Goto, the organizer of Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 held in October 2025, along with the operational committee’s three leaders. (This interview was conducted in December 2025.) 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/ves-behind-the-scenes-part1/ ◆The Social Gathering Sugihara: The reception was way different from a typical post-seminar mixer, featuring highly polished, 90s-era music and live performances along with carefully curated food and drinks. I imagine your extraordinary attention to detail was at play here as well, President Goto…could you tell us more? Goto: Originally, I wanted to create a space where people could enjoy a drink while listening to top-tier live music. I initially considered jazz, but I felt that standard jazz bands could be found everywhere. So in the pursuit of something more edgy and stylish, I looked to our group company opzt’s CEO, President Akamatsu, for some suggestions. When he asked what kind of artists I had in mind, I told him I was thinking along the lines of legendary artists from the 90s with whom our generation was obsessed during our school days. He gave me several proposals, but because I was so particular, I rejected all of them, ha ha. Finally, he said, “If you say so, I’ll try to negotiate with the two bands that you said were the coolest!” In the end, he managed to secure both legendary performers whom I had admired since my youth. These artists still have a massive fanbase today, and their concert tickets sell out instantly regardless of the price. I wanted to give a sense of nostalgia to the generation in their late 40s and older, and at the same time, show the younger generation that music in the 90s was this cool. Since we didn’t compromise on the music, the drinks had to be on that level, too. I decided to provide a separate selection of beverages out of my own pocket. Since the room would be full of CEOs with sophisticated palates, I wanted them to be genuinely satisfied. I consulted an acquaintance of mine, President Okazaki of Five Needs, whose business deals with alcoholic beverages, and what we produced was “Goto’s Bar”. Standing as an addition to the venue’s standard hotel lineup, our extra-special Goto’s Bar featured truly premium selections, including wines from Napa Valley’s Kenzo Estate, which I personally love. It was a combination of the music and drinks that I consider the absolute best, and I believed this pairing would allow everyone to have a truly sublime experience. Sugihara: It sounds like a truly sophisticated social gathering. I also heard some wonderful stories from the after-party later that evening. Goto: That’s right. President Sugimoto, the founder of Positive Dream Persons (PDP) who gave the toast at the reception, arranged to host the after-party at a restaurant operated by his company called The Tender House. He let us use an entire floor exclusively, and invited not only participants from the summit, but our management team as well. As the party reached its peak and I went to settle the bill myself, one of the entrepreneurs I mentored stood up and proclaimed, “We can’t let President Goto pay any more than he already has. I’ll collect the funds from everyone!” Then, President Ikeda, the founder of Will Group who gave the toast alongside President Sugimoto, stepped in saying, “No way, I’m paying for all of this!”, and proceeded to take care of the entire restaurant bill. I was deeply moved and overjoyed by both of these gestures from two businessmen who I respect from the bottom of my heart. Sugihara: Since the seminar and the social gathering afterward were both so full of particulars, coordinating all of that with the hotel staff must have been incredibly precise. Do you have any untold stories from the preparation process? Shibata: Our operational committee meetings began in earnest way back in December 2024. To be honest, since I had only handled internal company events until then, there were moments when I wondered, “Do we really need to start preparing this far in advance?” But when I look back now, putting things into motion that early was absolutely the right call. The six months leading up to the event were a whirlwind. Beyond the food and drinks President Goto mentioned, we were obsessively meticulous about the seating chart. We debated whether to have eight or nine chairs per table. Since you can’t get a real feel for the space just from a blueprint, we visited the venue multiple times with President Goto to actually line up chairs and sit in them. We spent a lot of intensive time verifying every detail, asking ourselves, “Will this spacing feel cramped, or will our guests be able to truly relax?” Also, regarding the setup of Goto’s Bar, we faced the practical issue of the hotel’s corkage fees. While we wanted to provide our own selection of alcohol, the hotel also needs to ensure their business remains profitable. So, I simply told the hotel staff this: “The participants in this event are CEOs who lead companies ranging from hundreds of millions to hundreds of billions of yen in scale. If they find this venue wonderful, there is a very high probability it will lead to future business for you.” The hotel staff understood the meaning behind my words, and ended up showing us flexibility by waiving the corkage fees, for which we were very grateful. One more thing: because hotel staff are busiest on weekends, most of our communication happened then. As the date approached, I couldn’t let go of my phone for a single moment, even on Saturdays and Sundays. I had to make numerous unreasonable requests and last-minute adjustments, but after the event, a member of the venue staff told me, “Even from our hotel’s point of view, this was a truly magnificent event.” Hearing that, I felt very glad, like all our efforts were totally worth it. ◆Operational Committee Members Sugihara: On the day of the event, about 20 members from various companies in D-POPS GROUP were hustling together as a unified support team. I heard there were a number of very thorough preparatory briefings…Mr. Matsutani, you were in charge of managing the proceedings, and it seems you were the one who created all of the highly-detailed documents for informing the other committee members. Did you learn anything about team collaboration you’d like to tell us? Matsutani: To be honest, for more than half of the operational committee members, it was my first time to work directly with them. At first, I was a little worried they might wonder, “Why is this guy in charge?”, ha ha. However, this event was something President Goto built with intense passion and a focus on the smallest details. I believed the most important job for management was how accurately we could share that information with the team. Rather than just to put on an event without anything going wrong, our ultimate mission was to create an experience that could change an entrepreneur’s future. To achieve that, I felt it was vital to explain the reasons behind every specific detail—why the banners were in those specific spots, or why the seating was arranged just so. I saw myself as the bridge between President Goto’s vision and the other operational committee members. To convey that passion accurately, it naturally became necessary to provide such detailed explanations. Also, for roles like holding guidance signs near the station, it’s a lonely task out of sight of the other staff. From my own experience, I know it’s easy for one’s focus to slip in that kind of environment. To ensure the team saw it as their own mission, I made sure to communicate the significance of those roles and asked for their full commitment beforehand. Sugihara: It was every member’s high level of awareness that enabled such smooth operations, for sure. Matsutani: In fact, we had only one meeting with the entire team before the event, and one more on the morning of. There was simply no time to give every single instruction. Therefore, I consolidated the information, gave it to each sub-group leader, and told them, “I’m relying on you to make the final judgment calls on the ground.” Even so, everyone performed beyond expectations, from sincerely greeting guests while holding guidance signs, to welcoming late arrivals without hesitation. I am convinced that the committee members were able to act autonomously and provide excellent service above and beyond the call of duty because D-POPS GROUP’s high importance placed on empathy is so deeply ingrained in every employee. ◆Event Merchandise and Visuals Sugihara: Rather than being just the result of numerous briefings, this was the natural outcome of the everyday considerate attitudes of all the committee members…truly wonderful. Additionally, the quality of the creative work was striking, from the special pre-launch event website to the booklets, binders, T-shirts, and the video introductions for Dr. Semmoto and Ambassador Fujisaki. How were these materials produced? Kawaguchi: For the website, booklets, and merchandise, we received immense support from idealump, one of our group companies. Since they also manage our corporate website, they have a deep understanding of not only our design preferences, but our vision and philosophy as well. When we told them the concept was to make this a day that changes the future for entrepreneurs, they were incredibly quick to grasp our intent, which was very reassuring. However, President Goto’s attention to detail goes deeper than most would imagine. One example is the splash design in the Speakers section of the event website. Originally, it was a bit more rounded, but that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. He strongly felt that as the unicorn’s splash, it needed to have sharper, more energetic lines, as if it had just crashed through something with all its strength. We went back and forth with idealump many times refining the design until it expressed the kind of power that President Goto was envisioning. Because he pours his own soul into the details, I felt a strong urge to see those details materialize, and the creators responded accordingly. I am truly grateful we’ve been able to form that kind of relationship. Sugihara: All the videos were also spectacular. Kawaguchi: The opening movie and the introduction videos for Dr. Semmoto and Ambassador Fujisaki were produced by Point Zero. We were introduced to them by President Sugimoto of PDP, who was mentioned earlier, and they have been handling our company’s videos for years. Before they produced the videos for the summit, President Goto met with them and told them directly about the thought he had put into the event and the message he wanted to convey through these videos. Then, because the people at Point Zero have been accustomed to his preferences for such a long time, when they created the first drafts, President Goto approved of basically all of them. The quality they delivered far exceeded our expectations. We could never have created the setting for this event without idealump and Point Zero’s cooperation. I am truly glad that we’ve encountered such wonderful partner companies who come alongside us and our vision. ◆Insights Gained While Working with President Goto Sugihara: It’s clear that President Goto’s extraordinary passion and decisiveness resided in every single detail. I’d like to ask all three leaders of the operational committee, what did you feel or learn while accompanying President Goto during these preparations? Let’s start with Mr. Shibata. Shibata: Indeed, through various meetings and training sessions, I’ve had many opportunities to learn from President Goto, but actually, in all likelihood, this was my first time to work closely with him on an actual business task. While I was working beside him, what overwhelmed me from the bottom of my heart was his staggering level of professionalism. I’ve been told since the day I joined the company that “our work is in the details”. I made a conscious effort to maintain a high standard for greeting customers and keeping store facilities clean and organized, believing that was an adequate level of awareness. However, the degree of enthusiasm and zeal President Goto applies to those details…until this project, there had been no opportunity for me to perceive that essence with my own eyes. From his consideration for every single chair on the seating chart to every single dish on the menu, this event allowed me to witness a level of thoroughness that made me think, “He’s really checking this?” or “He’s going this far?” I felt in my bones that the reason he has such a powerful and loyal circle of supporters behind him is because he pushes through to complete a task by scrutinizing each and every detail. Above all, his greatest strength is his professional determination to keep going until the very end, without ever backing down. This incredible attitude made me once again resolve to embody this same stance in my daily work no matter what. Matsutani: This was the first time to work directly with President Goto for me, as well. During the preparation period, I was constantly surprised by his level of obsession, just like Mr. Shibata was. For example, the seating chart wasn’t something that could simply be finished once we created it. He never stopped considering the specific relationships of every single attendee. Even after we thought it was settled, he adjusted it about five more times, saying, “I know we decided on this, but…let’s change the group sitting at this table anyway.” When we’re on the production side of things, in most cases, our clients don’t think through the details to that extent. But with President Goto, his vision will always exceed your imagination as a producer, so you have to put your mind to its absolute limit just to keep up. Every time we cleared one challenge, his expectations would rise, and we had to keep responding at higher and higher levels. In the midst of this earnest and serious back-and-forth, I realized that this is the way to elevate the quality of one’s work. And now that the event is over, as I look back, I’m struck by another thought. President Goto often asks, “Is there good energy flowing?” or “Is this attracting good fortune?” Since joining the group, I understood the meaning of those words intellectually, but I never had an experience where I felt, “This is it!” However, through this event, I think I finally understand. The “good energy” that filled the venue and the overwhelming satisfaction of the participants—when you trace that back to its origin, you’re led to the store-based business D-POPS. In this day and age, many young people shy away from service-industry jobs, but it is a vital foundation that everyone would miss if it disappeared. That kind of work cultivates an attitude of obsessing over every cranny and nook, which is exactly what creates this good energy. This summit was an event that made me feel strongly, through such close proximity to President Goto, that we are creating a positive energy flow with our own hands. Kawaguchi: Unlike Mr. Shibata and Mr. Matsutani, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside President Goto every day. So, from the moment he declared at last year’s all-hands meeting that we were going to host a summit, I braced myself, knowing things were about to get incredibly busy, ha ha. I could predict the level of obsession the others mentioned; I knew nothing would be decided in a single go. I tried to use my experience to move ahead of schedule and approach everything with meticulous care. Nevertheless, this time President Goto’s passion was more intense than ever before…it felt like I was holding on for dear life. Through this, something he’s always been teaching me finally clicked: “When you squeeze your passion and heat into something, it will reach people far more effectively than something you just threw money at.” Even if you spend a fortune on advertising to gather people, if there is no soul, nothing is communicated. This event was invitation-only, and we didn’t run flashy ads, yet the satisfaction level was incredibly high because it was totally infused with President Goto’s pure ambition. The good energy that Mr. Matsutani mentioned filled the venue precisely because President Goto scrutinized and poured out his whole heart into every tiny detail. He was so thorough that a complaint like “This part is a bit weird” or “The service is bad” would have simply had no place. Because that passion was felt, participants are now spontaneously spreading the word that it was a truly great event. Feeling like our Venture Ecosystem’s circle of influence is expanding little by little through this event was the greatest reward for me. ◆Realizing a “Venture Ecosystem” Sugihara: Thank you. I believe that through this event, D-POPS GROUP’s vision of realizing a Venture Ecosystem was able to imbue itself in a lot of people. Finally, please share your current thoughts on achieving that goal. Goto: I feel that this day was truly the starting line for us. In terms of building a Venture Ecosystem, I feel we have finally reached the entry point. The more we interact with those who are suffering from problems with business management—whether they’re entrepreneurs, executives, employees, or even their families—the more we see what needs to be done. It feels like there is an infinite amount of work ahead of us. I am working with a strong desire to bring this Ecosystem into a concrete shape during my lifetime, but I am also aware that this is a staggering challenge. No matter how much we achieve, it doesn’t have an end. We could bring it to 80% or 90% completion, but at no point will it ever reach the point of being perfectly 100% complete. We’ll always feel there are areas where we wish we could have provided more support or other people we could have helped. There may even be cases where people we weren’t able to support adequately end up making a name for themselves as brilliant entrepreneurs. In that sense, for us who are taking on this endless battle, I am convinced this summit was a major turning point—a moment to reflect on exactly how we should build the Venture Ecosystem moving forward. Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.

Interview

2026.02.26

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