Norihiko Sasaki, who served as editor-in-chief of Toyo Keizai Online and founding editor-in-chief of NewsPicks, became independent in June 2021 at the age of 6. He launched PIVOT Inc., a business video media company, and is in the midst of a new challenge aiming to go public.

In October of the same year, based on his ongoing challenges and extensive past interviews,"Encouragement of Entrepreneurship"In it, he writes, "It's already been six months since I started my business. I can confidently say that this was the best decision of my life. I almost regret not starting my business sooner."

This time, we visited Mr. Sasaki to ask him about "the winning strategy for startups" and "the necessary skill sets and mindsets". However, at the beginning, the first thing that came out of his mouth was "whether you should start a business or not depends on the person", "starting a business is just one way to go", and "almost all student startups will fail".

I was hoping he would say something along the lines of "All salarymen, rise up!" to encourage the younger generation to take on new challenges, but I was disappointed. The interview began as I tried to find out his true intentions.

CEO of PIVOT Inc.
Norihiko Sasaki

After serving as editor-in-chief of Toyo Keizai Online, he became the first editor-in-chief of NewsPicks. He also served as the first CEO of NewsPicks Studios, a video production company. He received a master's degree from Stanford University Graduate School (majoring in international politics and economics). His books include Are American-made Elites Really Amazing?, Will the Media Be Profitable in Five Years?, Japan 5, and Editorial Thinking. In the fall of 3.0, he will publish Entrepreneurship Advice (Bungeishunju). He is a huge soccer fan.

Become a professional before starting a business

--Sasaki, who has interviewed many startup entrepreneurs and is currently taking on the challenge himself, what do you think is the key to success in founding a startup?

There are two.The first thing that's important is to work in an industry or field that you're good at.Only a few geniuses can succeed in whatever they do. On the other hand, if you already have expertise, connections, and a track record in a certain field, I don't think you can go wrong.

In my case, I had a certain degree of expertise, connections, and track record in the field of economic media. In that sense, it was good that I started a business in my 40s, when I had already gained experience. I think that has increased my chances of success considerably.

If you become somewhat well-known in a certain field, it becomes easier to raise funds, recruit, and attract customers.It's all about becoming someone in some field before starting your own business.It will be.

It's difficult to start a business without that. Therefore, with a few exceptions, I think that almost all student startups fail. I think it's important to work in a specific field for five or ten years and build up a track record.

--What's another point?

The second point is,Look for industries and fields where opportunities are opening upFor example, new opportunities are emerging as technology evolves. If you can see through them, your chances of success will increase.

Until now, the media industry has been regulated. It was monopolized by huge media groups. Then things like YouTube were born, and anyone could stream programs. Production costs also became much cheaper. Technological innovation has dramatically changed the rules of the industry. And there was an opportunity.

We are living in an age of great change, so it is easy to find holes even in industries that at first glance seem to have none. In Japan, existing companies are slow to move, so I get the impression that there are particularly many such holes, even among developed countries.

However, no matter how many holes there are, if you are an amateur you will be defeated. So you have to attack as an insider and an expert to some extent. I think this is the strongest thing you can do.

The order doesn't matter. You could find a gap in an industry you liked and then start a business, or you could find an open area and jump in, then take the time to become an expert in that field.

Is the saying "If you love something, you will become good at it" true?

--Combining what you're good at with a field where there seems to be opportunity may be the key to success, not just in starting a business.

However, what you like and what you're good at don't necessarily match. In my case, I've always loved books, so it just so happened that they matched. There are surprisingly many cases where people like something, but others don't think they're very good at it.The saying "If you love something, you will become good at it" is true 7% of the time, but it is not always true.

--What's the trick to figuring out what's right for you?

You need to look at yourself from a bird's-eye view and judge yourself. Whether or not you are highly rated by others will help you do that. If you only ask one or two people, you may be wrong, but if you ask many people, their evaluations will usually be correct. You need to get feedback from a variety of people.

The success of a startup depends 9% on the ability of the founder. This is because even the founder is expected to be a player who takes action. In other words,Starting a business is an extension of what I'm good at.In that sense, identifying what you are good at is extremely important.

If you are truly good at your field and stand out, you should have achieved great success in the company you work for before starting your own business.The best time to start a business may be when an individual's capacity becomes greater than the capacity of the company..

As I grow bigger, I start to feel that I can't do what I want to do. So I decided to start a business. I thought this was the best way to succeed.Without that, startups cannot succeed.about it.

--You were also involved in video content at your previous job at NewsPicksStudios. Did you decide to go independent because you were looking for an environment where you could fully pursue what you wanted to do?

That may be true. NewsPicksStudios is a subsidiary of NewsPicks. There were various restrictions and there was only so much I could do. At that time, Umeda-san (Yusuke, CEO and President of NewsPicks Inc.) told me that I was suited to starting a business. I had never considered starting a business before, but I thought, "That might be an option." So I chose to become independent.

Relying on data to implement the PDCA cycle

——I would also like to ask you about what you did after starting your own company. PIVOT originally started as a hybrid of video and text, but now it is all about video. Why is that?

Market reaction is everythingWhen I tried it, the response to printed text was poor. That's why I decided to stick to videos. Of course, there is what I want to do as the core. However, when it comes to the means of delivering that, I try various things and take the stance of being flexible and changing depending on the results.

I think that if you can make adjustments quickly while looking at the data in this way, you will be successful in most cases. However, Japanese people are not good at this obvious thing. They tend to stick to what they have been doing up until now. They are too tied to the past.

--Is it because of the Japanese national character that there is a strong resistance to change?

I think the 30 years of the Heisei era have a big influence on this, rather than national character. It was a time of deflation, and the cost of failure was high. However, we are now seeing inflation. Inflation is a time when it is better to be aggressive. In an aggressive era, it is important to try various things and quickly change if they don't work. Failure is profitable.

Of course, if you make a big mistake, it's the end.The skill of looking at data and making small mistakes while making adjustments is important. Those who can do this quickly will be the winners.

It's important not to argue too muchIt may be. If we have time to talk about it, let's just try it out. It's much faster to tune it after seeing the results.

--Data-oriented approach can also be rephrased as customer-oriented.

Of course, it's not enough to be entirely customer-oriented. I don't think Tesla or Honda are making things with a customer-oriented mindset. On the other hand, it's necessary to have a strong ideal of "I want to realize this no matter what."

Maybe it's important to have two identities.People who have both a strong subjective sense of "I want this" and the ability to step back and look at things objectively, using data.I think that's the case.

I think a strong founder is someone who is able to coexist opposing forces within themselves, such as being obsessive about details on the one hand and being careless on the other.

If you lose, it's over. Play within your capabilities

--Partners are essential for any challenge, but what are your thoughts on this, Mr. Sasaki? How do you get people involved and how do you bring them together?

Growth, victory, that's allI think that's the reason why Japan was able to work so hard in one direction during the period of high economic growth. It was because of the continuous growth. I recently visited India, and I felt the same thing. Everyone is pursuing growth. Growth makes the country richer. Prosperity reduces poverty. Basically, it's all good things. That's why everyone is united.

Of course, there are not always good times. A common philosophy is necessary for times of decline. Our company has also verbalized and set forth the vision, mission, and values ​​that we should strive for.

But ultimately, the role of a leader is to keep winning. I don't think winning is everything in life, butIn the competitive world of business, winning is everything. Providing growth and victory to colleagues who give up their precious time of their lives is the role of a leader.I think it is.

--Is it possible to keep winning?

Small losses are fine. However, if a startup loses a big battle, it's close to the end. It's very difficult to recover momentum once it's lost. I think that if a large company makes a few big mistakes, it still has a chance, but if a startup doesn't win battle after battle, it's over. It's a tough battle.

In that sense, it may be more important to avoid losing than to pursue a big win.Successful startups have very solid management. They look at data and continue to make improvements little by little. When you look back on it at some point, it looks like discontinuous growth. This may be what makes a startup successful..

As humans, there are times when we become overconfident and get carried away. However, if we get carried away and take on bigger challenges than we can handle, that's when things start to fall apart. I've seen a lot of startups like that.

--Mr. Sasaki, do you ever find yourself getting carried away?

Of course. In that sense, it's good that I'm at this age. I would have been more successful if I had been in my mid-30s. I sometimes think, "Maybe it was a little late," but in the world of management, even in your 40s, you're still young. Even by overseas standards, CEOs of large companies are often in their 50s and 60s.

When I asked Indian VCs, they told me that there are actually a surprisingly large number of older people. They say that the most professional of professionals, those with gray hair, who have gained experience in the US, bring a sense of calm to an industry that tends to be aggressive.

As a media person, I sometimes want to see a flashy, aggressive battle, but I think it's best to fight within your means. This may be the path to success for a startup.

[Interview/Text] Rikuo Suzuki　
[photograph]Daisuke Koike
[Planning and editing] Yuko Kawabata (XICA)