CBcloud Inc. CEO Ryuichi Matsumoto

2025.03.26

The unwavering focus is to "increase the value of drivers"

CEO of CBcloud Inc.　松本隆一(Ryuichi Matsumoto)

■ Profile
Born in Okinawa Prefecture in 1988, he self-taught himself in programming during high school. After graduating from high school, he attended the Air Safety College and then joined the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. He worked as an air traffic controller at Haneda Airport. In 2013, he left the ministry and took over his father-in-law's transportation business after his death, working as a delivery driver. In the same year, he founded CBcloud Inc.

The logistics industry faces many challenges, including the 2024 Problem. CBcloud Inc. is using technology to solve these issues. The company offers services such as PickGo and Smaryu, and boasts the largest number of registered self-employed drivers in Japan, with 6 registered drivers. We spoke with Ryuichi Matsumoto, the company's leader, about his time as a student, how he became president, and his message to university students.

In high school, I loved games so much that I would play them until late at night, sleep during class, and play baseball after school. Then, my mentor at cram school told me, "As long as you're just 'forced' to play games, you still have a long way to go. You need to make your own games and make people happy," which shocked me. Until then, I had never thought about "making" things, but these words sparked my interest in engineering.

　Around that time, my family started a cram school, and I decided to create an on-demand lesson system. By sitting down and entering my ID and password, I could take the class I was attending. This was an engineering project that I started with a comment from my mentor, and it was a great experience for me to be able to provide value to people.

　Later, when it came time to take the university entrance exams, I briefly considered pursuing a career in engineering, but ultimately, my interest in aviation, which I had had since childhood, was so strong that I decided to go on to study at the Air Security College with the goal of becoming an air traffic controller.

■ Carrying on my father-in-law's wishes

I met my current wife when I was an air traffic controller. As we dated, I learned that her father was in the transportation business. The transportation business he ran was the predecessor of what is now CBcloud.

　My father-in-law originally ran a used car dealership along a national highway. Since dealerships don't have multiple locations, they're essentially a locally-based business, so they quickly see the ceiling on sales. Being an idea man, my father-in-law started developing and selling refrigerated light cargo trucks. Since no manufacturer made refrigerated light cargo trucks 20 to 30 years ago, this vehicle sold like hotcakes.

However, my father-in-law gradually came face to face with the dark side of the logistics industry. As he listened to the stories of the drivers returning for regular inspections, he learned of the harsh reality behind the scenes. The logistics industry has a multi-tiered subcontracting structure, and it is the self-employed drivers who ultimately take on the work. Their social status was by no means high, and if they turned down a job request once, they would not get another one. As he listened to these stories, my father-in-law began to think, "By selling refrigerated light freight trucks, perhaps we have made people unhappy."

　For a normal car dealer, all they have to do is sell cars and make a profit, but what made my father-in-law different was that he started to help drivers who were in trouble. Specifically, he started a transportation business that secured and assigned work to people who bought his company's cars. When I heard this, I was simply moved. I thought it was cool that he was solving someone's problem and then turning it into a business. I sympathized with this, and decided to quit my job as an air traffic controller and help my father-in-law with his business.

　When I first started helping out, the transportation industry was truly an analog world. My father-in-law would receive delivery requests by phone, morning and night, and would handle the requests by calling the self-employed drivers he was connected to. This meant my father-in-law would have to be on call 24 hours a day, and the business wouldn't expand. So we decided to create a system that would automatically route all requests from customers to drivers. However, just as we began to create this system, my father-in-law passed away. After that, I took over his vision and became president, and the current CBcloud was founded.

■ If you have a consistent core, you can succeed even if you fail

Since our founding, we have always valued the core principle of "increasing the value of our drivers."

　For example, a certain e-commerce company contacted us when they were starting a logistics business in Japan. At the time, we had only 10 employees and received an offer worth 100 billion yen, which was very attractive. However, we declined the offer because we felt that accepting the offer would mean simply dispatching drivers and would not increase their value.

　Most companies think about what they can do for the people who spend money with them. However, our company has always prioritized supporting our drivers and has consistently pursued what we can do for them. PickGo provides a system that allows drivers to receive fair compensation for their work, while Smarue provides a system that increases productivity in the execution of their work. This has ultimately led to the registration of 6 self-employed drivers, and we believe this is one of our strengths, as we have a large number of drivers to introduce.

　"Having a clear core" is also something I look for in people I work with. I believe that as long as you have a consistent core, you will ultimately succeed even if you fail. This is important in both work and life.

　Our company would like to continue to increase the value of our drivers and strive to improve their social status. Nowadays, there are few people who can proudly say, "I'm a driver." If there is a goal in our work, it would be to give our drivers' best friends or children the confidence to encourage them when they say, "I want to become a driver too." We also want to focus on discovering potential in regional human resources, not just in the logistics industry.

■Message to university students

I would like you to not only try things that interest you, but also actively try things that you are not interested in.

　For example, if I'm invited to a drinking party, I basically go to every one. The reason is that there are new encounters and new realizations to be had in any situation. As adults, we tend to make assumptions like, "It won't be fun if that person is there," or "It won't be interesting because this topic will likely come up," but you won't know if that's actually the case until you try it. Ultimately, it's up to you to make the situation fun. If you try to have fun, you can turn any situation into a valuable experience.

　People tend to make decisions based on their past experiences. However, this narrows the scope of new experiences they can gain. I myself have lived for 37 years, and I feel that we should not make decisions based solely on our own experiences.

　Please try every opportunity that is given to you. Whether you are interested or not, taking a step forward will open up a new world to you. Experience is a great asset that will shape your future.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on February 21, 2025 by Yusuke Suzuki, a fourth-year student at Hosei University