Akio Sugihara, President and CEO of Gurunavi Inc.

Wanting to make the world a better place through food! The president's "hands-on" approach

President and CEO of Gurunavi Inc.
Akio Sugihara

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1969. Completed a Master's course at the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University in 1996.

In March 1996, he founded an internet service company. In February 1997, he joined MDM Co., Ltd. (now Rakuten, Inc.) as a co-founder. In October 2018, he became a Senior Executive Officer, CHO (Chief Health Officer), and Senior Director of the Operations Division at Rakuten, Inc. In June 2019, he became Representative Director and President of Gurunavi, Inc.

Sugihara is one of the co-founders of Rakuten. He has been involved in numerous new businesses and built the foundations of the Rakuten economic sphere. After gaining a wide range of experience in sales, development, and management, he was appointed president of Gurunavi last year. How will Gurunavi change in the future, and what kind of person is needed for the new Gurunavi? We spoke to the new president about his honest thoughts.

During my student days, I was busy with part-time work. In my second year, I became interested in the university projects, and I spent all my time at school helping my professors with their work.
At the time, it was the dawn of the personal computer era, so there were few people who could create presentation materials or plan using a computer. This became the foundational skill that led to my later career path and to who I am today.
When I first started my business, I struggled because I didn't understand the basics of the job. I delivered the goods properly, but no matter how much time passed, I still wasn't paid. When I asked, "Um...how much is the payment...", I was told, "I can't pay you until you issue an invoice!" Of course I was (laughs). I started at a level where I didn't even know that.
As the company was involved in internet-related work, I met Hiroshi Mikitani, who would later become the president of Rakuten, through work, and I later became involved as one of the founding members of Rakuten. I was lucky to have the opportunity to experience the strong desire for self-realization that Mikitani had at the time, and his drive to "make society better." I was inspired by that energy, and I began working on new business development, determined to "make Rakuten even bigger."

What I learned after becoming the president of Gurunavi

Following Rakuten's capital and business alliance with Gurunavi, I was appointed president of Gurunavi last year. Although we are both in the IT industry, this was my first time working on a restaurant information site. So, the very first thing I did after becoming president was to "visit the field." I visited all 20 locations across the country, visiting restaurants that are members of Gurunavi, and listening to their honest opinions.
We wanted to hear honest opinions about Gurunavi's good and bad points, what other restaurant information sites have that Gurunavi doesn't, etc. We would like to use the voices of those on the front lines, such as the services that restaurants expect from Gurunavi and the areas they would like to see improved, in the services we provide in the future.
Competition in the restaurant industry is intensifying, and every restaurant is working hard every day to develop new menu items and keep customers coming back.
That's why I want to provide comprehensive support to local famous restaurants and individual restaurants, and use Gurunavi to get more people to know about them. This is what I realized when I visited the sites.
The more I worked with people on the ground at Gurunavi, the more I felt that its philosophy was similar to that of Rakuten, where I had worked until then: "From the local area to the whole country, from Japan to the world."
Our company is filled with people who love food and who want to spread the word about Japanese restaurants around the world and increase the value of their establishments. That's what makes Gurunavi so appealing. However, that alone isn't enough to beat other companies. Nowadays, even the smallest idea can be launched quickly using the internet, so the food and beverage services market is in a state of chaos. That's why, in order to pass on our strong passion to future generations, we continue to hone our sense and incorporate new services. We believe that being the first to try new things and provide them to the world is the key to differentiating ourselves.

A groundbreaking idea

In the past year since I became president, I have been thinking seriously about food. When I think deeply about "what can Gurunavi do to improve society," I once again feel that revitalizing towns through food could be my life's work. Rather than simply lining up restaurants around town, I am excited to think about creating a system that supports people's lives by helping them gain health and vitality through food, with every meal. I want young people to keep coming up with new ideas. I hope that people with the energy to turn things upside down will emerge.

＊message＊

I want them to have as many experiences as possible while they are in university. I hear that Japanese university students today attend classes and study seriously, but they still have plenty of time compared to university students overseas. I think this is a time when you can experience anything, so I hope they will always think of new things and use their brains to carve out their future.
You can travel when you're older, but you can only have adventures when you're young. When I was in college, I saved up my part-time job money to buy a car, and now I think about it.
I regret not investing my money in adventure. By experiencing things that others don't, you can develop your strengths and grow even more. This will become the basis for creativity that is useful in society. People who can work hard and consistently and remain consistent in what they say will grow.

From the April 20, 2020 issue of the Student Newspaper (Fujisawa Kana, 4th year student at Nihon University)

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