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[Entrepreneur Interview #09] Yume Oki (The Salons Japan) – Part 2

  • Interview
2025.02.17

Aiming to Improve Services to Solve Problems in the Beauty Industry While Supporting Two Founders

Last year, our company entered into a strategic capital and business alliance with The Salons Japan, Inc., which leases private salon studios for professional beauticians, and we began our journey together as partners in the Venture Ecosystem.

☆You can see the press release regarding this strategic capital and business alliance with The Salons Japan Inc. on the following page:
https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/the-salons-japan/

For this article, we interviewed Yume Oki, the first employee at The Salons Japan supporting the company’s two founders. (This interview was conducted in January 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/the-salons-japan-interview2-first-part/

◆Changes Since the Company’s Founding

Sugihara:
As the longest-serving employee, what changes have you observed from THE SALONS’ initial launch to now?

Oki:
This is something that our founders (President Shimizu and Director Kuboshima) have also mentioned, but for a while, we definitely went through a period of what you might call stagnation—a time when things just stayed the same day after day.

This was partly because we hadn’t focused on increasing our staff and were operating with a bare minimum team. Another possible reason that we were not changing anything was due to the lack of competing services emerging. Recently, the increase in team members has been a really significant transition for me.

With more people, I have the strong sense we are now able to tackle things that were previously just out of reach. They all only just joined us, so I truly hope they continue to stay in our company.

Although we had a period of stagnation, we continuously focused on solving problems as we opened each new location, as I mentioned before. We steadily fixed issues, so if something didn’t work at one location, we made sure to change it when opening the next location. We were proceeding slowly, but surely.

The timings for our recent fundraising and our increase in staff were almost simultaneous. Since then, the way we take on challenges and our mindset itself have suddenly transformed.

◆Changes After the Strategic Capital and Business Alliance

Sugihara:
D-POPS GROUP and The Salons Japan entered into a strategic capital and business alliance in June 2024. Have you felt any changes since the investment?

Oki:
Yes, of course, there was a lot of buzz at the outset of this investment. But since this was our first time to receive investment after operating solely as a private company, I felt like saying “Finally!”, and at the same time, I had a sense that everyone was placing high expectations on us.

Furthermore, although I’m still just a general employee, I do participate in board meetings as a secretary. I highly appreciate the chance to hear the opinions of those from different industries regarding aspects of our business that we, from an internal perspective, haven’t seen the need to change. Their positive evaluations of our strengths are also a big confidence boost. So, getting to participate has been a truly enriching experience.

I have also started to be involved in meetings with banks, and I genuinely feel that their assessment of us has changed. In addition, D-POPS GROUP’s President Goto has introduced some real estate companies to us, and when they showed us some of the properties, I was able to accompany them. He showed us how to see them from a different angle, which has allowed us to increase the number of our parameters we have for finding potential properties. I feel our perspective on business growth has definitely shifted as a result.

Sugihara:
Speaking of buzz, since the rest of our group’s companies are in different industries, we didn’t feel the impact directly. Was there a buzz in the beauty industry?

Oki:
Yes, after the press release was published, we received congratulations from a lot of different people, including some who are quite prominent in the beauty industry. Some were even surprised, as they hadn’t realized we had been operating purely on our own until that point.

Also, the fact that D-POPS GROUP was the company that backed us was also a bit of a sensation, and I heard that some of President Shimizu’s business leader acquaintances even asked him to introduce them to President Goto.

◆On President Shimizu and Director Kuboshima

Sugihara:
Your two founders are quite rich in personality! President Shimizu is a beauty professional, a boxer, and a licensed real estate agent, while Director Kuboshima happens to be a long-time friend of mine. What are your impressions of them?

Oki:
Their personal airs and ways of thinking are different. President Shimizu is the type who immediately sees the problems in front of him and fixes them quickly. Director Kuboshima is usually calm and has a very cool-headed perspective, always thinking about the long-term. I often feel that the reason they are so successful is precisely because they have these two different ways of thinking.

However, outside of work—for instance, when they go out for a drink—they both seem to genuinely enjoy themselves. The fact that they can clash at work but maintain a strong personal friendship seems to be the secret to their success. In meetings with them, I’ve personally heard President Shimizu say “I’ll let Director Kuboshima manage our finances,” and Director Kuboshima say “I’ll leave the beauty professional matters to President Shimizu, because he understands them best.” It’s amazing that they have that level of mutual respect and trust.

◆Team Atmosphere

Sugihara:
I hear the team has grown recently. How is the team atmosphere now?

Oki:
Since I joined in the company’s early days, I feel like one of my roles is to convey my opinion when the situation calls for it. However, I really appreciate that our newly-joined members are generally calm, soft-hearted people, who aren’t the type to jump into conflict.

But rather than being just kind and gentle, they all have a strong sense of responsibility, too. They believe that what they are doing is their personal duty, and they fully commit to it. I am so glad that we have attracted people with those qualities.

Sugihara:
Indeed, everyone seems to have a quiet and peaceful aura, but I can tell that they also have a highly professional business-sense.

Oki:
Exactly. They take total ownership of the tasks they are in charge of, so I can confidently entrust things to them. Our SNS manager, for instance, noticed a problem after having a simple, casual conversation with me, and immediately updated our social media without me having to say anything. Another member noticed my workload was heavy and told me, “I can handle this part myself, so don’t worry about it.” The strength of our team is definitely improving!

Sugihara:
The potential for expanding your company is certainly increasing. We just talked about how your two founders are highly individual, and you yourself possess many talents. I heard that along with keeping a busy work schedule, you are a Frescoball player, as well!

Oki:
Yeah, I play Frescoball. Most people might not be familiar with it, but it’s a beach sport that originated in Brazil. Despite being a ball game where players face off against each other, your opponent is not an enemy, but a partner with whom to keep a rally going, so it’s a very peaceful sport. The competition lies in accumulating points, and you’re judged subjectively on your level of cooperation and aesthetic quality, among other things.

Sugihara:
That sounds like a wonderful sport. Do your practices also take place on the beach?

Oki:
Where there’s no beach, we practice in parks or gyms. The tournaments, however, are held on the beach.

Sugihara:
There are tournaments, too??

Oki:
Yes! There are international tournaments, and this year, it will be held in Japan! Our company’s Director Kuboshima is actually the president of the Japan Frescoball Association.

Director Kuboshima is also the president and CEO of RYOGEISYA Inc., an IT culture company that does many different things. Despite doing so many different things, they aren’t scattered. Rather, they dedicate focus and delegate workers to each area of business.

◆On THE SALONS Shinjuku, Opened in January 2025

Sugihara:
Well, the Shinjuku location opened in January 2025. Have you been receiving tenant applications?

Oki:
We sure have! Out of the total 17 salon studios, 8 studios are currently filled (as of February 17, 2025). The actual viewings only started yesterday, but there were people who had already decided to move in before seeing the location.

Sugihara:
It’s surprising that so many people decided to move in before viewing the facilities themselves.

Oki:
Yes, it is. Those contracts are already confirmed, and when we started to show the studios yesterday, two or three groups already came and are considering whether to move in. There has recently been a trend of people deciding before construction is even finished, which we are very grateful for, but I think most people prefer to decide after seeing the actual location. We hope to finalize more contracts through in-person viewings, ideally by the time we start operations around February.

By the way, for the first time, two of the studios we prepared are designed for manicure services, and both of those studios are already contracted.

Sugihara:
In addition to the manicure studios you just mentioned, do beauty professionals in THE SALONS provide any other services besides hairdressing?

Oki:
Yes, we also have tenants who focus on the eyebrow and eyelash business. Of course, there are also aesthetics salons, and some salons do other beauty-related businesses like chiropractic whole-body treatments and Korean Golki massage. Since we have various types of salons on one floor, not just hair salons, I think some customers may very well look at the different shops and signs and encounter a kind of space they’ve never seen before but find interesting.

◆On THE SALONS Shinsaibashi, Opening Spring to Summer This Year

Sugihara:
After Shinjuku, the Shinsaibashi location in Osaka will be your first expansion outside the Kanto region, opening sometime this spring or summer. What is the location like, and what clientele are you targeting?

Oki:
We’ve always considered expanding to thriving major cities outside Kanto, such as Fukuoka in Kyushu, and Nagoya in Tokai or Osaka in Kansai. We are very pleased that we were able to secure such a great location in Osaka.

Shinsaibashi is an area that already has many hair salons, and we have been receiving inquiries from people in that area even before the opening announcement. I look forward to telling them about the opening we have planned and asking for them to place an official inquiry.

The location is also close to Midosuji and the luxury brand district. I've heard from people operating in the Kansai area that Shinsaibashi is a great town, so I believe it is a superb location. It faces a main street, is close to two stations, and the ability to put up a large sign on the 3rd floor was a key point. The Shinsaibashi location will also open nail units, just like Shinjuku, so we encourage inquiries.

Sugihara:
Do you have any ideas for future services you’d like to launch?

Oki:
The background behind me joining The Salons Japan was my attraction to a service that could solve the problems faced by beauty professionals in the industry. So, the core premise is to continuously create better services for problem-solving.

The most common issues are related to managing a business and opening street-level storefronts. They are professionals in the beauty industry, but they naturally lack knowledge of real estate and business management in the beginning. I personally hope we can create an actual system that allows our tenants to seek advice from us more easily.

I also hope our services can evolve so that after our tenants build up their acumen at THE SALONS and open a street-level shop on their own, they will say “I’m so glad I came from THE SALONS”, or “I was able to open a shop like this because of THE SALONS”.

Actually, when some of our former tenants have decided to leave THE SALONS to open up their own shops, they’ve run into real estate problems, so I would also like to make a support system to help them avoid such troubles.

◆“Realizing a Venture Ecosystem”

Sugihara:
D-POPS GROUP has a vision of “producing numerous growing startups that bring transformation to society”. In short, we aim to realize a Venture Ecosystem. What are your thoughts on building this Venture Ecosystem?

Oki:
Well, until these investment discussions began, I personally was unfamiliar with the term “Venture Ecosystem”, but after this conversation and reading your website, now I know about it.

As I mentioned, we are already feeling the impact of the investment, so my hope is that by actively incorporating the input we receive, we can establish a positive feedback loop.

Since we haven’t formed many connections with the other group companies yet, I also would like to see some initiatives that foster deeper relationships between The Salons Japan and everyone else in D-POPS GROUP. Even though we are a unique entity within the group, I hope there will be more chances for us to connect.

◆5-Year and 10-Year Goals

Sugihara:
Yeah, let’s work on those kinds of initiatives! Now, could you share the ideal vision for The Salons Japan—and for you personally—10 years in the future?

Oki:
I believe that THE SALONS is a good service, and I believe it is beneficial for the beauty professionals who have moved in.

Since I cannot recommend a service that I personally do not believe is good, my vision for 10 years from now is that THE SALONS’ services will have further improved and become a system that leads to solving problems within the beauty industry.

Looking 10 years out is difficult, but President Shimizu has a goal of opening 30 locations in the next 5 years, so I hope we can work together as a team to achieve that. I believe that the investments in our company have increased our strength, and we want to continue working hard to make our services even more desirable to our customers.

◆Message to Readers Visiting Our Website

Sugihara:
30 locations in 5 years. A goal like that is quite aggressive, but also excellent. Finally, could you share a message for our online readers?

Oki:
I guess most people who read this interview will be unfamiliar with THE SALONS. THE SALONS is a service that can solve the issues within the current beauty industry, which is often perceived as demanding and having poor working conditions.

Also, the beauty professionals who move in are truly good human beings, and there really isn’t much trouble in our salon studios. Our tenants are independently minded and successful in sales. As I mentioned earlier, they’re also very dedicated to learning, and I personally feel that they are all great people.

I would love for you to look up THE SALONS and visit one of our locations. Wherever you visit, you will find wonderful beauty professionals at every salon!

 

Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.

 

The Salons Japan

Company President and CEO: Hidetoshi Shimizu
Address: 2F Kid Ailack Building, 2-43-11 Matsubara, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Established: November 30, 2018
Website: https://www.thesalons.co/

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Personal ideals, and ideals as a business owner, all about realizing a Venture Ecosystem For this article, we interviewed our own President and CEO of D-POPS GROUP! Our company is aiming to realize a “Venture Ecosystem” that is indispensable to society. We are striving to create a platform where startup companies can grow. We asked President Goto about his thoughts on realizing a Venture Ecosystem and contributing to society. (This interview was conducted in July 2025.) This is the latter part of this interview. You can check out the first part here. Sugihara: So, all of your preparations and activities are for the sake of your vision of “realizing a Venture Ecosystem”. You currently have 25 group companies and 35 portfolio companies. Could you share some examples of companies or situations that have had success or experienced benefits that are unique to the Ecosystem? Goto: There are so many ways to answer this question that I can’t tell you all of them, and of course, I can’t reveal specific company names. However, I can certainly share from my own experience about how to avoid a shortage of funds. When it comes to raising funds, there are a tremendous number of ways to do it. If you pursue all of them simultaneously with a furious momentum before the deadline, in most cases, a large-scale fundraising will be realized. Similarly, when it comes to a V-shaped recovery, if you change everything at once—your business model, organization, sales methods, etc.—most companies that are in the red will become profitable. I am the type of business owner who takes on big challenges and makes a huge gamble when the time is right. As a result, I have experienced countless dire situations in the past, but even then, I always work with a smile on my face so others don’t seem to notice, ha ha. Ultimately, my personal philosophy is that when business owners achieve exponential self-growth and can clearly articulate their strategy, their performance will grow significantly, and they will almost never fall into the red. I prioritize helping CEOs to grow, because when they achieve that kind of growth, their performance often improves dramatically afterward. Sugihara: You sometimes use the phrase taoguang yanghui (韜光養晦)* when talking about your “complexification strategy”, and this website was one example of that. Could you share a few more examples of how D-POPS GROUP has implemented the idea of taoguang yanghui? *These Chinese characters loosely translate to “hide your strength, bide your time”. Goto: I’ve been talking about our complexification strategy for a long time. To put it simply, it’s a strategy for throwing competitors off our scent. It refers to a state of being so complex that a competitor couldn’t imitate you even if they tried. 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Could you reveal a bit of your vision of what 100% would look like, with some concrete numbers? Or is it still confidential, ha ha? Goto: The goal is to evolve our Venture Ecosystem to the point that when entrepreneurs in Japan look for investment or support, their first thought is “D-POPS GROUP”. When we get there, one simple metric is that the combined sales of our group companies and portfolio companies will exceed one trillion yen, and if we narrow it down to our group companies (those included in our monthly consolidated balance sheets), we will have achieved 100 billion yen in sales. I also imagine that we will have several times the current number of top-class advisors and super-professional talent on board. I envision supporting, assisting, and staying in tune with around 500 companies in total. Of course, it would be impossible for me to accomplish all of that alone, so I will need to create an unbelievably high-quality support system. Before I started my own business, I figured that as long as I had passion and strategy, I could recruit and partner with any number of excellent people. In reality, the truth was much harsher: no one showed any interest in a company with virtually no sales, and I would even be able to pay them proper compensation. So, my vision is that as a Venture Ecosystem, we will possess all the necessary management resources—human resources, financial power, know-how, information, and network—on behalf of startup business owners, allowing us to provide the right kind of support at the right time. I believe that whether or not they use these resources is up to each company’s owner. D-POPS GROUP’s support is not a top-down approach; it’s a form of backing that we provide as needed. I also believe that in the future, when our group companies or other companies we support reach unicorn-level size, we must have the financial strength to spare several billion to tens of billions of yen. 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At the same time, I had been preparing for this for a full year with the clear intention that if I were to host such an event, I would plan and execute it at the maximum level of my production capabilities. Every year, at D-POPS GROUP’s annual all-hands event, we have the privilege of listening to lectures from prominent figures like Chairman Semmoto and Advisor Fujisaki. However, at last year’s event, an inspiration suddenly came to me: “It would be a waste to society to keep this within our group alone.” So, on the spot, I declared that we would hold a Venture Ecosystem Summit for promising entrepreneurs and business owners. I guess the business owners to whom we sent invitations really caught my passion, because we had originally expected to invite about 500 guests and only have about 250 of them sign up, but over 90% of them indicated they wanted to participate, so it instantly became fully booked. 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Goto: To put it simply, I’d say my life as a business owner has been like that of a Buddhist monk training in the mountains, ha ha. It’s been a continuous series of hardships—all kinds of adversity, headwinds, and hitting rock bottom. At the same time, there’ve been many moving experiences and memorable encounters, and I can truly say it’s been a fulfilling 27 years. Initially, as the CEO of a startup, I focused on business and built a 10-billion-yen company. But I also experienced how focusing solely on one business and being dependent on a single revenue stream could be a major risk. From there, I decided to transition to full-scale group company management. After transitioning to group management and managing 10, then 15 companies, I received a lot of requests to give lectures and lead study groups. As I accepted these requests within my capacity, I got to know the reality of entrepreneurs and business owners who, like me, were truly struggling to manage their businesses. The study group where I felt the most direct connection, where I could remember the faces and businesses of all participants over the years, eventually developed into the “Goto School” intensive training sessions that I now hold almost every month. So far, approximately 300 entrepreneurs and business owners have participated. As a result, the inspiration to dedicate my life to realizing a Venture Ecosystem—or, as you said it, the start of “ecosystem management”—suddenly came to me. Through the creation of this Venture Ecosystem platform, we increase our number of allies, enable the sharing of know-how, information, and networks with each other, and even if one company suddenly faces headwinds, suffers a big deficit, or hits rock bottom, the Venture Ecosystem protects and supports it, achieving a strong risk portfolio. These allies can be in any form, such as group companies, investment portfolio companies, or strategic capital and business alliances. I even support companies with which we have no financial relationship. Ultimately, what I want to achieve is the establishment of a social system that supports entrepreneurs and managers by walking alongside them. Sugihara: As an entrepreneur, you have walked a difficult path that the average company employee in the world today couldn’t even imagine. What has been the source of your drive and passion? Goto: When it comes to passion, I have never lost it since starting my business. It’s been overflowing continuously since I was 25. The source of it was a study abroad experience in the UK. I saw so many students from around the world who had a clear dream for the future and were studying incredibly hard to achieve it. Before studying abroad, I honestly spent my college years just having fun (like being the president of a tennis club and an intercollegiate club), but I started to feel a great sense of anxiety about the future of Japan. I worried that 10 or 20 years from now, with Japan’s economic power declining and other countries developing significantly, especially in Southeast Asia and the BRICS nations, I feared that we would be unable to maintain the prosperous Japan that our predecessors built before and after the war. Then, just as I was thinking how I wanted to powerfully nurture and change young Japanese people, I came across a book by Konosuke Matsushita and realized that company management could be a way to foster young talent. Initially, my passion was focused on directly nurturing young people. When the number of employees grew to several hundred, I focused on nurturing executives. When the number of employees reached several thousand, I dedicated my efforts to fostering entrepreneurs and presidents. But the core principle has always been the same: I want to create an environment where young people who will lead Japan’s future can grow and take on challenges. I believe that has continuously been the source of my passion. I always hope to leave a better society for the next generation of children and the generations after them, even after I am gone. Ultimately, I want to do this not only for Japan but for all people on Earth. Sugihara: I imagine that your difficult journey was saved by many instances of great fortune and strong luck. Could you share with our readers any secrets you have for “taking hold of strong luck”? Goto: Simply put, I place a lot of importance on being the kind of person that even God might want to support. I also believe it’s important to have an unrivaled passion, to put in effort that is second to none, and to have a vision and goals that have social significance. In addition, I think one needs to have a heart of sincerity, humility, and gratitude. Even I am shocked by how good luck completely disappears when I stray away even slightly from these practices, but when I follow them diligently, then astonishingly great circumstances occur. One more thing I would add is that I think it’s very important to associate with people who also have good fortune. I feel that our chairman, Dr. Semmoto, and our corporate advisor, Mr. Fujisaki, are like sources of strong luck for me. I feel the same way about our non-executive director, Mr. Naito, and our advisor, Ms. Ishiguro. Sugihara: In your stories, you often say that you owe everything to your connections*. What conscious efforts are you doing on a daily basis to maintain good connections? *The original Japanese term connotes both fate as well as one’s connections with others. Goto: My answer is quite similar to my response about strong luck. I believe that good connections are born from making sure that positive energy overflows from within myself. In other words, from having an altruistic heart and love. And also, when an opportunity presents itself, making sure to properly convey the vision and social impact I am trying to achieve. I feel that when people are on the same page as me, our bond deepens; sometimes they support or help me; and in the end, it becomes a good connection. Sugihara: You as an individual and D-POPS GROUP as a company are involved in many social contribution activities, such as supporting the “Walking Together Hand-in-Hand with Children Foundation” and the non-profit organization “bond Project”. Are these efforts in CSR activities also based on your idea of improving your luck? Goto: Yes, that’s right. My desire to help suffering children—even just a little—is pure, but when I put my energy into activities like these, I also have this mysterious feeling that good fortune will come to me as a result. However, even if good fortune doesn’t come, I think it’s a natural human instinct to wonder if you can do something to help when you see a child or a person who is suffering. Sugihara: So, you’ve grown D-POPS GROUP to this large size through your management skills, your constant effort, and being blessed with good fortune and great connections. The company’s sales have surpassed 30 billion yen, and it is already big enough to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, even under the newly-revised listing requirements. Could you tell us why you are choosing to remain unlisted? Goto: Naturally, I understand the benefits of being a listed company, but my management style is quite unique, so I think it would be difficult for all investors to understand it. I’m constantly investing with a medium-to-long-term vision (I don’t worry too much about short-term results), and I devote about 15% of my time to the activities of the aforementioned foundation that supports abused children. Another form of volunteering I do is to spend about 20% of my time on the so-called Goto School (supporting the individual growth of entrepreneurs), which I convene when requested. If I were the president of a listed company, my mission would naturally be to focus on producing results for my company, and I feel that doesn’t fit with who I am right now. However, listed companies have already emerged from within our Venture Ecosystem, and many more are expected to be born from it in the future. Sugihara: So, for you personally, going public is not a goal or an objective. On the other hand, you support startups aiming to go public by offering investment and management advice. You also have a vision of building a platform that will produce numerous “unicorns”. What kind of support activities do you engage in, both as an individual and as D-POPS GROUP? Goto: Honestly, this is also difficult to answer in one word. I could say that I am available to entrepreneurs and business owners for advice and questions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I fully mobilize all my knowledge, experience, know-how, network, and the majority of my time for the sake of CEOs who are going through a particularly tough phase or to the leaders of growing companies that are experiencing a growth curve. And as balls get tossed into my court from every angle, I use my 27 years of experience and database to provide support. As an active business owner who has managed many companies, and now with almost 60 group and investment companies, holding Goto School for representatives from 300 companies, and other various activities in my life, I believe there are extremely few business owners in the world in a similar position as mine. That’s why I work hard every day with the belief that I must be the one to create a Venture Ecosystem in Japan. When I’ve been able to guide the CEO of a company on the verge of bankruptcy to make a V-shaped recovery, I can truly feel the social significance of my work. Sugihara: Although it’s a private company, the board of directors and advisory team have a truly impressive lineup. You have also gradually increased the number of advisory members, including myself. As much as you can share publicly, could you explain your thoughts on the meaning and purpose of this structure? Goto: Frankly speaking, I am a total expert in management strategy, so I believe that technical matters are best handled by professionals in those fields. In that sense, I think it’s very important to have many “super specialists” on my team of advisors, and I find them all to be incredibly reliable. The people we support are entrepreneurs, and as such, they won’t listen to someone unless that person has skills that are on another level. Because of this, I am always on the lookout for such people, hoping that even just one of them will join our team every few years. The members of our Board of Directors and our advisors are my mentors, coaches, and sometimes even feel like a father, an older brother, or an older sister to me. In other words, the Venture Ecosystem is also functioning for my own growth, and I am always being helped by it.   Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. D-POPS GROUP Company President and CEO: Kazuhiro Goto Address: 32F Shibuya Hikarie Bldg., 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Established: October 1, 2015 (Founded: February 4, 1998) Website: https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/   Next, in the latter part of the interview, we discuss: ・Success stories unique to the ecosystem ・The complexification strategy ・The “ideal form” of a Venture Ecosystem ・Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 ・And other topics Be sure to check it out here: https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/executive-interview02-latter-part/
  • Interview
2025.07.28
[Entrepreneur Interview #14] Nishikawa and Matsutani (@Solution) – Part 2
Tackling the Development of the Next Generation to Further Invigorate Japan’s IT Sector D-POPS GROUP has 23 group companies that we call partners (at the time of publication). For this article, we interviewed Co-president & COO Akio Nishikawa and Co-president & CFO Yorito Matsutani of @Solution, which joined D-POPS GROUP in 2021. (This interview was conducted in April 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/atmarksol-interview-first-part/ ◆Greatest Strengths and Features Sugihara: The role of the engineer is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Coding itself may no longer be necessary, but what is important is the ability to determine the required program structure, the ideal interface, and the specifications of the final product, and finally coordinate all of those together. In that regard, what is @Solution’s greatest strength or distinguishing feature? Nishikawa: This goes back to our two businesses we described at the start of this interview, but our strength lies in our ability to build and propose solutions not just for surface-level applications, but also for their underlying infrastructure. Ultimately, all systems and services rest on an infrastructural foundation, so our capability to offer total solutions starting from the base infrastructure is our key advantage. Furthermore, we have members who specialize in direction and project management. This ensures we can fully engage with what the client wants and effectively communicate that to our engineers. @Solution is broadly seen as a System Integrator (SIer), and people often have the impression that it’s difficult to communicate with SIers, since they are mostly staffed by engineering-type people. However, in our case, people say “It’s easy to consult with @Solution because they have project managers.” So, this is definitely another of our strengths. Sugihara: That kind of service is definitely high in demand. No matter how widespread AI becomes, it will always be essential to display warmth and kindness, be able to read the room, and other things that only humans can do. The realm of communicating from person to person is where AI should be differentiated from humans. Nishikawa: I agree. In foreign companies, especially those overseas, engineers are considered almost god-like professionals who only need to write code well. They never attend project briefings, but that’s acceptable as long as their productivity is high. However, we prioritize communication and want our clients to know that we value it. That is why some of our members are dedicated to direction and project management. Sugihara: What scale are your typical client companies? Matsutani: We don’t have a size limit either way, so we handle projects for both large corporations and start-ups that have recently launched their own services. By industry, most of our contract development supports BtoC-oriented services. Our SES business has usually seen larger-scale projects since the beginning. Sugihara: What are the main reasons companies come to @Solution with projects? For example, is it because they’re looking to outsource coding, or because they have a lack of manpower? Nishikawa: It’s typically the latter. Clients often seek us out due to a lack of manpower, and they also find us through networking. We are increasingly involved in projects where we partner with companies that simply do not have engineers in-house. For instance, many clients who operate their own services have internal teams for promotion and marketing but not a single development engineer on payroll. They might have had a specific app running for about ten years, and because they lack engineers, they were relying on various vendors. We are now seeing an increase in cases where we are taking over and managing these projects. ◆Recruitment Sugihara: Speaking of which, the general consensus is that Japan is facing an engineer shortage. How is @Solution approaching recruitment in light of this? Matsutani: In engineer recruitment, the biggest salary bubble was around two years ago, when engineers were jumping into the companies that offered the highest salaries. Then, with the emergence of AI and the conversation about whether engineers will be needed in the future, things calmed down somewhat. However, there is still a persistent shortage of engineers, so salaries remain relatively high compared to other industries. After 20 years of trying various methods at @Solution, we’ve found that new graduates are the best fit for our hiring patterns. The cycle of bringing in new grads and providing proper training works well for us, so we are focused on this area. Last year, we ran an internship program. These were not short-term, but year-round long-term internships, totaling about 20 people. They would work on projects, sometimes for a few hours a week and sometimes full-time. We would love for these excellent students to join us, but recently, so many of them are talented enough that they go on to work for companies like CyberAgent, DMM, and IBM. Sugihara: How did such talented students come to apply for an internship at @Solution? Matsutani: After receiving their feedback, we found that last year, there was an overall trend among engineers toward using the more “packaged” technologies like Flutter for mobile. However, students with some experience wanted to work on in-house projects through a lab-based or contract development model like ours, where they could really get their hands dirty writing native code. The more ambitious students had a strong desire to personally experience writing code from scratch, which is why they applied for our internship. During the initial orientation, we tell them this: “Since our management philosophy is ‘Developing the Next Generation’, we want you to gain extensive experience here and become a successful professional.” We believe that Japan’s IT sector still has plenty of room to grow compared to other countries, so an increase in highly skilled IT talent benefits the whole country. We look forward to connecting with them as future partners. Sugihara: Ah, so this is where your management philosophy truly comes to life. It would be fantastic to see cases where students who interned at @Solution thrive as skilled IT professionals and later rejoin the company a few years down the line. What are your future recruitment strategies? Nishikawa: We currently have about 35 engineers, but we plan to increase that number. Our maximum goal is to reach around 200 members within the next 10 years. Sugihara: That’s a great target! Will you be hiring mid-career professionals as well as new graduates? Matsutani: Yes. More specifically, we intend to focus on hiring inexperienced individuals. We are looking for young people, especially in their 20s, who are studying at coding schools or even those who are self-taught. Since becoming an engineer requires interest, curiosity, and passion, we want to hire those who are motivated and studying on their own initiative. ◆“Realizing a Venture Ecosystem” Sugihara: D-POPS GROUP’s vision is to increase the number of growing startup companies that bring about societal transformation. In short, we aim to “realize a Venture Ecosystem”. What are your thoughts on this Venture Ecosystem? Nishikawa: First and foremost, I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this community every day. Particularly on the financial side of things, D-POPS GROUP provides us with an extremely encouraging and reassuring environment. While managing finances is originally a huge part of running a company, the assistance we receive as a part of the group allows us to concentrate entirely on our core business, so we are truly grateful. Without this environment, we wouldn’t even be able to discuss recruitment plans or consider strategic investments. We feel incredibly supported. Matsutani: I have essentially the same impression as Co-president Nishikawa. I believe this is a truly unique and interesting environment and structure. The individual members of the Venture Ecosystem are relentless challengers, yet they are incredibly kind, gentle, and cooperative. It feels like we are comrades, but at the same time we also have a healthy competition, and it’s rare to find both of those deeply rooted in a single culture. Here, we can pursue many challenges, and the structure for taking on those challenges is already in place. For example, having advisors readily available for consultation is a huge benefit. I am deeply thankful to be in this environment. Sugihara: That’s very true. D-POPS GROUP emphasizes two things regarding challenges. First, to increase the probability of success for those who take them on. We strive to create mechanisms and environments that—even if they aren’t perfect—are just what people need. Second, if an endeavor doesn’t succeed, they can try again within the Ecosystem. We have many examples of successful re-attempts. Matsutani: Exactly. There is internal competition, mutual assistance, and abundant opportunities to generate group synergy, which is a great benefit. When most people hear M&A, they picture strict supervision from the head office, but there is virtually none of that in D-POPS GROUP. We have meaningful support systems without suffering from someone breathing down our necks. ◆Group Synergy (Collaboration among the 3 IT Companies) Sugihara: I believe President Goto prioritizes respecting the will of each company’s managers, working with them to build up those companies, because he can understand those business leaders’ feelings better than anyone. Speaking of the Venture Ecosystem, I heard that @Solution recently started a business collaboration with Techbeans and Idealump. How did this three-way partnership come about, and what is its current status? Matsutani: Originally, the companies in our group who had IT engineers were only @Solution and Techbeans, and we were already collaborating, with us joining projects accepted by Techbeans, and vice-versa. When Idealump joined the group last year, there was one more IT engineering company, allowing us to formalize the collaboration further. So, we currently have various forms of partnership: all three companies are involved in certain projects; we hold joint proposals; sometimes two out of the three collaborate between each other. We are also planning to create opportunities for members to get to know each other and host joint study sessions for all three companies. We plan to accelerate these efforts going forward. Sugihara: Speaking of study sessions, there was a business presentation and Q&A session recently held by BLUEISH, one of D-POPS GROUP’s investment companies. I remember BLUEISH’s President Tameto having a very engaging discussion with Co-president Nishikawa at the social gathering afterward. Are there any insights you’ve gained from members of the Venture Ecosystem like that? Nishikawa: It was a very lively discussion! President Tameto had quite a big impact on me. His presentation style was memorable, but the actual business content was a shock: he explained how they originally did contract work but pivoted to AI based on industry trends, specifically focusing on AI Agents. AI utilization, or AI-driven development as it’s often called now, was an area where I honestly felt my knowledge was lacking. While I could understand some of what President Tameto was saying, I had a strong realization that I needed to do more research. From that point on, I began to change the focus of my own input. I feel that the BLUEISH study session directly led to my idea of wanting to offer consultation services that utilize AI. It was an extremely valuable learning experience. ◆5-Year Goals and How to Get There Sugihara: I’m glad the session was beneficial. We will continue to create opportunities for collaboration within the Venture Ecosystem. Could each of you share where you think @Solution will ideally be in five years and the challenges you face in reaching it? Nishikawa: First of all, from a financial standpoint, I believe sales are important. @Solution is currently a ¥300 million company, and I want that number to become ¥3 billion. To achieve that, all members, including myself, must level up our skills. We will focus on applying AI and lab-based development, and continue to work on improving our skills while acting as project partners for our clients. The most important thing, and I feel this strongly, is for the two of us to grow as leaders. The reason I feel this way stems from attending the all-hands meeting for Findstar GROUP about two years ago, after being invited by President Goto. At that meeting, Findstar GROUP’s President Naito—who is also the Non-Executive Director of D-POPS GROUP—said, “The growth of a company, or how far it can take a leap, is truly limited by its top leader.” That message really stuck with me. We tend to focus on employee growth, but I feel that unless we, the leaders, raise our own ceiling first, the company’s ceiling will not rise. Therefore, our initial focus is on our own growth. Matsutani: I want us to become the hub for digital talent within D-POPS GROUP. I strongly want our company, as well as Idealump and Techbeans, to become the go-to place that everyone consults when they want to pursue anything digital. The prerequisite to achieving this is to continuously learn and absorb knowledge, as this ecosystem offers many learning opportunities—especially for business leaders—and then to produce more output as a result. For me personally, I want to create a greater sense of community, so I will need to act on that premise as much as possible. ◆Message to Readers Visiting Our Website Sugihara: Finally, could you each offer a closing message to the readers visiting our website? Nishikawa: Thank you for reading our interview. We are a team of system and IT experts, so if you need anything IT-related, please think of us first. And let’s go out for a drink sometime, ha ha! Matsutani: D-POPS GROUP is a truly fascinating group of people, so if you are interested, please feel free to visit us in Shibuya Hikarie!   Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.   @SOLUTION Co-president & CEO: Katsuto Masuda Co-president & COO: Akio Nishikawa Co-president & CFO: Yorito Matsutani Address: 32F Shibuya Hikarie, 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Established: July 2005 Website: https://atmarksol.jp/
  • Group Companies
  • Interview
2025.06.09
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