Coconala Inc. President and CEO Suzuki Ayumi

Providing opportunities for individuals to connect with society!

■ Profile

After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Waseda University, he joined Recruit Co., Ltd., where he gained experience in product planning and sales in the HR and bridal fields, as well as business development in new ad tech businesses. He then worked in overseas business planning at Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., where he was responsible for global governance and organizational structure considerations, overseas research, and support for overseas group companies. He joined Coconala in May 2016.

Coconala Inc. is a well-known skill-matching platform that went public in March of this year. Since his student days, CEO Suzuki has felt a sense of fulfillment in creating opportunities to support people's futures through event management. We take a closer look at how he works on the front lines, valuing user reactions.

■ During my student days, I focused on event management

From midway through university, I only attended the bare minimum and focused on event management. I was originally a DJ and formed a music club in my first and second years, but I wanted to take it to the next level, so I started organizing events. It was hard to attract people with just music events, so I collaborated with fashion shows and hair shows and attracted around 1000 people.

Even when it came time to look for a job, I was so engrossed in the events that were coming up that I didn't feel particularly anxious about not doing any job hunting. However, as I watched people around me gradually getting job offers from companies, I began to think that it might be better to join a company first and gain a solid business sense. Ultimately, I decided to repeat a year and look for a job. I applied to several companies, mainly large ones, but I felt that Recruit, which offers life choices, was the best fit with my values, so I decided to work for them. Even during my student days, when I was involved in events, I found it rewarding to be able to support someone's career by creating a place for them to meet, so I didn't have any doubts as they were a company with an attractive business, as symbolized by their later slogan, "Encounters that haven't been here yet."

■ I want to work in a way that allows me to be close to the users and feel the tangibility of the work.

I changed jobs to Coconala after working at Recruit for a full 10 years. At the time, I was in charge of overseas business planning at Recruit. I was doing stimulating and interesting work, such as examining global governance while traveling back and forth between New York and Japan, but I had always wanted to do more hands-on work in a business that was close to users. At that time, I was approached by Coconala, which is user-oriented and aligned with my values, so I decided to make my first career change.

■Growing from a small company to a listed company

Five years ago, we were in the red, and if we continued operating like this, we might run out of cash in a year, a situation common to startups. We didn't have enough engineers to create the product, and since we were unknown at the time, recruiting was also difficult. At first, we felt like a group of professionals who achieved results through their individual abilities, but by adopting the value of "one team for mission," the vision of the product and the employees now align, and we are able to move forward with a sense of unity as an organization. Looking back now, even the difficult times are memorable events that have connected us to the present.

A marketplace only starts when a transaction occurs, so when it was launched, we reduced all variables to make matching easier. For example, we limited transactions to online transactions to eliminate variables such as location and time, and set a flat price of 500 yen to lower the barrier to purchase. Since then, we have gradually increased the price range and categories, and have now grown into a large platform with 400,000 services and 2.7 million reviews, allowing listings in the price range from 500 yen to 1 million yen. This large number of reviews leads to trust and security in the invisible service, and is one of the factors that attract users.

■A company that provides opportunities for individuals to connect with society

It would be unfortunate if you wanted to work hard at something but didn't even have the opportunity. I can't guarantee success, but I want to create an environment where you can step into the batter's box when you want to connect with society and work hard.

I think one of Coconala's strengths is that it handles a wide range of categories horizontally in the areas of skills, knowledge, and experience. Recently, we've seen an increase in transactions for business services such as website creation, design, and video production, and we want to focus on developing features that ensure reliability for business use. Eventually, we want to grow into a trusted brand that becomes the service version of Amazon, and people think, "When you want to ask someone for something, go to Coconala."

■ Acting on the front lines

I recognize that I'm naturally a pretty laid-back person, which is why I try to be conscious of planning my work and always make a detailed list of nearly 300 future measures in advance. I'm also in good communication with the people on the front lines, and there are plenty of opportunities for casual discussions every day. One of the joys of my work is being so close to the users. When I release a product or feature, I get direct feedback, both good and bad, which I find rewarding.

■ I want to work with people who share my vision and are open-minded.

The most important thing when working together is being for the mission. I would like to work with people who share the vision of "creating a world where each person lives their own story." Also, in terms of the company culture, I would like people who are able to communicate frankly and openly. I would like people who are vision-driven and act with the idea of ​​"this kind of society we want to create!", and who are able to move forward after clearly expressing their true feelings and holding discussions on the spot.

■Message

During your student days, it's important to have confidence in yourself and take action to gain that confidence. Even if you fail 100 times, I believe it will serve as fuel for your next success, so it's good to try as many times as you can and gain at least one successful experience. Once you enter society, there will be many irregular events, but the driving force behind taking a step forward is often unfounded confidence based on experience, so I think it's good to look back on the hard work you put in as a student and gain experiences that will help you regain your confidence.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on May 31, 2021 by Nao Suzuki, a fourth-year student at International Christian University