Ryotaro Nakayama, CEO of Makuake Inc.　

Creating opportunities to encounter items that allow you to express yourself

■ Profile

After joining CyberAgent Inc. in 2006, he launched a new online media outlet while working as the company president's driver, and later took charge of venture capital projects in Vietnam.
In 2013, he founded the current Makuake Inc. and released "Makuake," a supportive purchasing service for new products and experiences. In December 2019, the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers. He is currently expanding the service as a place where people can support the purchase of new products and experiences created by large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, individual teams, and other organizations of all sizes.
As a director of the general incorporated association Venture Business Succession, he also promotes activities to encourage successors across Japan.

Makuake Inc. provides "Makuake," a supportive purchasing service for new products and experiences. The concept of crowdfunding has become commonplace these days, but when the company first launched, it was not well understood and did not penetrate the industrial sector. Despite this, President Ryotaro Nakayama has created an environment in which Japan's best ideas, abilities, and technologies can be born, and has now redefined it as a "supportive purchasing service" that creates new products rather than crowdfunding. We spoke to him about how he spent his twenties, starting with the launch of Makuake and leading up to the present day.

■ What I discovered while working part-time at a law firm is what excites me

My family motto was, "Leave home when you turn 20," so when I started living on my own, I took a part-time job at a law firm to support myself. I enrolled in law school, promising to become a lawyer, but I actually had no idea what a lawyer does. Becoming a lawyer requires a significant amount of time and courage, so before diving in, I wanted to get a feel for what a lawyer actually does, so a friend from university introduced me to a part-time job at a law firm. Once I actually started working, I began to think that maybe the legal profession wasn't really for me. On the contrary, I was excited to hear about new business ventures, new policies, and initiatives from companies that came to me for advice. It was then that I realized I was better suited to starting businesses and companies.

■Come to CyberAgent to gain experience in business development

A friend who was always up to date on the latest news told me, "If you want to start a business, CyberAgent is the place to go," so I went to a company information session. At the time, the president was in his early 30s and had a lot of momentum, so I decided to join the company, convinced that this was a company where people in their 20s could start a business. Even after receiving a job offer, I was influenced by President Fujita's book, "Confessions of a CEO Working in Shibuya," and thought, "If I want to start my own business in the future, I need sales skills," so I immediately applied for a part-time job at USEN Corporation, where I gained experience in sales. However, I realized that sales is not as easy as it seems, that I lacked the ability to earn money, and that I didn't understand how to create a system that would generate profits as a business, so I joined CyberAgent to gain more experience.

■ During my time at CyberAgent, I gained business experience and solidified my philosophy

As I had hoped, from my first year at the company I was given the opportunity to experience things I would not have been able to experience at other companies, such as being an on-site leader in launching a media outlet related to an alliance with a major company. In four years, the alliance media business was able to become the overwhelming No. 1 media outlet in Japan introducing e-commerce, and it was an experience that created a track record of successful business.
After that, I began to think about what kind of business I wanted to create. I wanted to become someone who could create businesses that would leave value in every corner of the world while interacting with various people in a wide range of businesses. However, because I had been working in Tokyo all my life, I still couldn't visualize the world map. Just when I thought this might be a bad idea, a position opened up in Vietnam for an investment and venture capital business, and I was selected as a venture capitalist. I moved to Vietnam at the age of 27 and spent about two and a half years making venture capital investments in Vietnamese startups and venture companies. While living there, I found that there were almost no Japanese brands on the iPhones, computers, and everyday items I used, which was frustrating. The Internet ecosystem would continue to grow even without me. However, the foundation for creating something new in Japan's manufacturing and content capabilities had not yet been established. I decided to take action in this area.

■ During the launch of Makuake, I realized that armchair theory doesn't move the business forward.

At the time, crowdfunding was expected to become popular, similar to what we now call digital transformation and direct-to-consumer (D2C), and the government was also backing it. I personally believed that if I entered this field, I might be able to realize my vision of creating an environment in which new things could be born in Japan. However, in reality, crowdfunding, which involves raising funds from individuals, had a low resolution, leading to comments like, "Donating money online to create a new product?" and "Isn't this like the Red Feather Campaign?" It struggled to gain traction in the industrial sector, and I struggled with the gap between my assumptions and reality. I realized that armchair theory alone doesn't drive business; the most important thing is to have supportive customers, and I began to listen to the real needs of the local community. What I discovered was that when businesses want to launch a new product, they first need to build inventory and then either have it displayed in a store that attracts customers, or create their own store that attracts customers. I realized that the true benefit for businesses is a system that allows customers to purchase products first and then create products without taking on the inventory risk of Makuake. So, I was able to change my approach to easier communication, asking them to pre-sell my new product, and I quickly gained a better understanding of the market.

■ The concept of supportive purchasing was arrived at by addressing needs from all angles

We could have targeted only businesses wanting to try something new and provided them with a convenient tool. But their true desire was to meet new customers who would support them. In order to please businesses, we needed to fully engage with consumers. Today's consumers consume not only visible information, but also the stories behind it. There are many existing services that simply feature an idea, come with a payment method, and attract many visitors. We tested many approaches to find the most effective one, put them into words, took copious notes, and repeated this process hundreds of times. After pursuing each appealing point that felt right for several years, we finally arrived at our current concept.

■Message to students

The amazing industries and companies that we see today will not always be amazing. About 15 years ago, the internet industry was considered shady. That's why I think it's better to believe in your own values. Just make them the right answer. I believe work is self-expression. I want you to get rid of strange assumptions and constraints and choose a job that allows you to express yourself the most.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on November 11, 2021 by Midori Yamauchi, a fourth-year student at Soka University