Daisuke Mitarai, CEO of rakumo Inc.

We want to provide a service that makes work easier, more fun, and more convenient.

Profile

Daisuke Mitarai
After joining Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation in 96, he was involved in joint development with a US venture that provides business-to-business transaction systems. He then founded a web services company, sold it to the US online media company CNET Networks, and became the representative of the Japanese subsidiary. In 2004, he founded Nihon Gigei Co., Ltd. (now Rakumo Inc.), where he remains to this day.

President Mitarai is always thinking about innovative ways to make life better and trying to spread them to the world. His ideas are based on the company philosophy of "making it easy and fun," no matter what it is. As major challenges and changes continue to occur on a global scale, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a must-see to see what kind of people will be needed in the future.

■ Interest in the Internet

Looking back on my university days, I studied, of course, but I didn't take it too seriously. I was an arts graduate, and my professors at the time believed that it was better to actually experience a variety of works than to come to university. For that reason, I didn't go to university very often. So, I think I was more active outside of university. In particular, I often participated in external communities and interacted with people who shared similar interests in music and film.

While participating in these activities, I learned about the Internet, which was not yet widespread at the time. After that, I used the Internet to research overseas artists I wanted to know about, and even traveled abroad. Through this, I gradually became interested in the Internet itself. However, because my major at university was art, there was no Internet connection within the faculty at the time, and I didn't have many opportunities to use it in the first place, so I struggled to use the Internet myself, using private service providers. After graduating, I was unsure whether to go on to graduate school or get a job, but in the end I decided to work for NTT. I thought that if I worked for a telecommunications company, I would be able to work in the Internet field and use the Internet to my heart's content.

■ What led to starting the business

When I was a student, I never thought about starting my own business or founding my own company. After joining NTT, I was assigned to a department that connected research and development with business, where I was involved in the research and development of an agent that could aggregate and compare amorphous price information available on the web. However, as it was a major company, there were plenty of resources available, but I often had doubts about the speed at which the business was progressing, and after worrying about whether I would be able to create a useful service in a timely manner in the rapidly changing internet industry, I decided to leave NTT.

When I was leaving NTT, I was contacting various acquaintances to say goodbye. One day, I received an invitation from Joichi Ito, the former director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and then chairman of a search service company called Infoseek Japan, who I had worked for as a part-timer during my university days, to join him in his personal company, learning about the internet business and working on new projects together, so I decided to help him out with his work.

In the midst of all this, Mr. Ito received investment from a US investment company and began running an incubation company. He asked me if I wanted to try starting a new business, so I decided to try commercializing the idea for a review site that I had been nurturing for many years. This was the trigger and start of my company. I personally love new things and have a very curious personality. I wanted to prove everything that interested me, so I worked passionately on building the company.

The power to create new things

The most enjoyable part of work is creating new things and spreading them throughout the world. And hearing customers say that they find them more convenient. It's especially nice to receive thank yous and feedback via email. On top of that, the growth of the company is also rewarding. I think it's fun and rewarding to see people, including employees, grow and develop. By the way, the type of people we look for are honest and visionary. It's interesting when people have a wide perspective and a wide range of experience. I also think it's interesting when there are people in the company who are pursuing what they want to do or what they love.

Our company is relatively small, but that's precisely why we value open communication. For example, we don't call people by their job titles, but rather create an environment where we can interact on an equal footing. In other words, we have an atmosphere where people of all positions can speak their minds, and I feel that the president and employees are able to work closely together. We have around 50 employees, with about 40 of those in Vietnam. Vietnam is home to many excellent engineers and students eager to learn.

What we look for in our engineers is the ability to think carefully about our customers with expertise. It's often said that engineers are clumsy when it comes to interacting with people, but in the end, it's best to have someone who can understand people well and communicate well when it comes to their work. In addition, because of the importance of education, we want each employee to deepen their learning in their private time, and recently we've been running a volunteer reading group within the company. In this way, I feel we have an environment where each individual can learn independently.

■ Focus on local issues

In line with our company vision, "Make work easier. Make it fun," we will first expand our services in Japan. While people in the capital region have easy access to information and an environment where they can invest in a variety of things, this is not the case in rural areas, and there are many social issues. In order to solve these inconveniences, we would like to approach rural areas as well.

■Message to university students

I believe that liberal arts will be important from now on. No matter what industry you are active in, you still need a culture of learning, so I hope you will broaden your horizons. I also hope you will be interested in many different things and take on new challenges. Also, it is very important to establish your identity. I hope you will get to the bottom of "who you are." I also hope you will come into contact with many different worlds, talk to many people, and broaden your horizons.

student newspaper web Interview on Monday, November 19, 2020

Kaisei Tsujiuchi, a third-year student at Nihon University

Nihon University third-year student Tsujiuchi Kaisei / Nihon University third-year student Ohashi Seinan / Keio University first-year student Ito Miyu / Toyo University first-year student Hama Honoka / Toyo University second-year student Kojima Naomi