monoAI technology Inc. COO, Director Masaki Yamashita

Aiming for n-to-n communication in the metaverse

Director and COO of monoAI technology Inc.　Maki Yamashita　(Masaki Yamashita)

■ Profile

Born in Aichi in 1981, he started his own business at the age of 20.
He launched multiple businesses, including advertising agency and retail businesses, and expanded his annual sales to 15 billion yen before selling them.
After that, he worked in fundraising at SBI Securities before joining E-Factor Co., Ltd. (now metaps).
Founded Live Aid Co., Ltd. in 2013.
Since 2018, he has launched multiple entertainment media outlets and achieved operating profits of 100 million yen. In March 2021, he was appointed Director and General Manager of XRCLOUD Business Division.

monoAI technology Inc. is the developer of XR CLOUD, a metaverse platform that provides high-quality virtual spaces, and is the first company in the metaverse industry to be listed on the stock exchange. Before becoming COO, Director Yamashita had experience starting various businesses. We spoke to him about the experiences he has applied to his current job and the strengths of the company.

When I was in my second year of high school, I sent a demo tape to a major music agency, which led me to work as a professional musician for about three and a half years. However, just when I was starting to feel uncertain about my future in music, I saw my uncle starting his own business, thought it sounded interesting, and decided to take on the challenge of starting my own business.
The business I worked on involved setting up and expanding retail businesses such as makeup salons, gift certificate shops, and curry restaurants.
After that, working as an intermediary for an MA in a store business made me think, "A corporate organization seems interesting," so I joined SBI Securities and gained experience working in an organization, serving as a director for a venture company.However, from there, I thought, "I'll try starting my own business again," so I sold the business I had been working on and started a new company, developing a variety of businesses such as IoT and private lodging.
During this time, I was introduced to our CEO, Honjo, through a venture capitalist friend. He was working in the VR business at the time, so we hit it off and I left my company to my employees and joined him. My main motivation for joining monoAI was because I had a big goal: I wanted to join this company now and help it go public.
When I joined the company, our current main business, XR CLOUD, a service that makes it easy to create a metaverse, was still in the testing stage. Originally, our company consisted of many engineers who took on work from clients to develop games. Also, we didn't have a sales department, so we worked to establish a business and management structure, including creating a new sales organization.
I also believe that my experience working at a securities company and starting a business has been useful in the work required for listing, such as how to present the company to shareholders in a way that will increase its value. These efforts paid off, and after two years, we were able to list in October 2022.

■A high-quality browser for large numbers of people

We have strengths in communications, as we have many Unity engineers who create software and VR that runs on a tool called the "Monobit Engine," leveraging our background in game development. We are the only company in Japan that can accommodate more than 1,000 people simultaneously in the metaverse space. This is a major point of differentiation.
There are also several ways to use the metaverse. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into two types: browser and app. Browsers allow seamless access, but have the disadvantage of requiring a lower pixel count. Apps, on the other hand, offer high image quality but require installation before they can be used. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, we use a feature called cloud gaming, which is unique in that it allows access via a browser but provides images of the same quality as an app. It truly combines the best of both browsers and apps. Although it costs a little more, it is well received by clients who want the benefits of both.

■ Value n-to-n communication

We always incorporate n-to-n communication into our content while staying in tune with what our customers want to achieve. We try to have many discussions on a daily basis about what would be good to have.
For example, at exhibitions, corporate year-end parties, medical exchange meetings, and so on, they create mechanisms for users to interact with each other, and are used as a communication tool rather than a one-way information transmission. Most of their clients are companies, but recently they have also been working with local governments. In addition to XR CLOUD, they also operate Fortnite, and are working on promoting the city of Shibuya by turning it into a gaming space.
Until one or two years ago, the Metaverse was often used for things like live events, but since n-to-n communication was almost nonexistent, it was difficult to use for commercial purposes. However, recently, the Metaverse has been used to solve client problems, mainly in the communication aspect, so I feel that this is a good trend.

■ I want to work with honest people

Since our company is primarily remote, I would like to work with honest people. It's not good to have negative thoughts like "this is pointless" before even trying, so I think it would be good to have someone who isn't picky about food, who first tries out various things they're told to do, and who can bring out their own originality while implementing the PDCA cycle.

■Providing a metaverse that is embedded in industry

monoAI technology is the only listed company in Japan in the XR genre. We want to continue to stick to this core and leverage our strengths in the metaverse, which is being incorporated into industry. In the XR genre, AR has been given a vision by companies like Apple, so I have the impression that it will continue to grow in the future. Taking advantage of the strength of having a large number of engineers, we are planning to advance augmented reality in real places as another axis in addition to the unrealistic aspects of the metaverse.

■Message to students

I think you can do anything at any time, without being limited to just being a student. If I had to pick one thing, I think being a student is a time when you can be a nuisance to those around you, so I think it's okay to be a nuisance to them a lot (laughs). I think it depends a lot on how each person wants to live their life, but if you're interested in starting your own business, it might be a good idea to intern at a company that handles a business that you could turn into your own business, rather than a large corporation, and get a taste of the gritty aspects of actual business. If you do this beforehand while you're a student, you might be able to think that things aren't really that big of a deal in job interviews and the like.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on November 13, 2023 by Shiori Ohno, a second-year student at Sophia University Junior College