"Entrepreneurial aspirations" to hear the background of deciding to start a business, the conflict until the business gets on track, and the desire to realize through the business. The 10th meeting will be held with Yusuke Mizuno, CEO of Life is Tech, Inc., which manages the IT education program "Life is Tech!" For junior and senior high school students, and Ugoku Co., Ltd., a director and COO of "Life is Tech!" We talked to Eri Tange.
【profile】
Yusuke Mizuno, CEO of Life is Tech, Inc.
Born in 1982. Graduated from the Department of Physics and Information Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, and completed the same graduate school. While attending graduate school, he worked as a part-time lecturer in physics at Kaisei High School for two years, and after working for a human resources consulting company, established Life Is Tech in 2010. Launched "Life is Tech!", An IT / programming education camp / school for junior and senior high school students with the motif of Silicon Valley IT education method. His main work is "Seven Laws That Work Like Heroes" (co-authored by KADOKAWA).
[What's Life is Tech, Inc.]
In 2010, we started "Life is Tech!", An IT / programming education service for junior and senior high school students. Today, a total of 52,000 junior and senior high school students participate in camps / schools, making it one of the largest services in Japan. In addition, we provide online learning materials "Technology Magic School" in collaboration with Disney, lesson materials for schools, and many projects related to IT education. In 2014, he received the "Google RISE Awards" for the first time in East Asia, which is given to organizations that are contributing to the spread of computer science and ICT education.
【profile】
Eri Tange, COO, Ugoku Co., Ltd.
Graduated from the Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo. In college, he was involved in IT education for junior and senior high school students from inexperienced IT as an early university student mentor for "Life is Tech!". After graduating, he was in charge of the app business he planned and the marketing of overseas startup services in Japan at Recruit Holdings' new business development organization. After that, after working in the marketing department of Mercari, he established Ugoku in 2018 with the same three people in the recruiting era.
[What's Ugoku Co., Ltd.]
Operates a personal coaching service "mento" with the business concept of "creating a moment when the heart is" Ugoku "." Coaching is a program that clarifies goals by answering coaches' questions and deeply introspecting their ideals and values, and encourages actions and changes to achieve them. Aim to support life by matching with a coach that suits each person. Officially launched in 2019 after raising 40 million yen.
I want to change Japanese education as "Yukichi Fukuzawa in the 21st century"
Yusuke Mizuno, CEO of Life is Tech, Inc.
-First of all, please tell us about the background of Mr. Mizuno's entrepreneurship.
Mizuno I originally had the desire to change Japanese education. The current education in Japan is the same as the old system, such as "deviation value", "university entrance examination", and "collective recruitment of new graduates". Children's potential is not fully expanded within the system. While attending graduate school, I was a part-time physics instructor at high school. There was a way to become a teacher as it was, but I got a job at a human resources consulting company on the premise that I will return to a teacher three years later so that I can teach not only physics but also society and business. However, after thinking about other ways to maximize the potential of my child, I decided to change my education with my own service, and I invited my juniors from the same company as I was in college to join the three of us. I started a business. From that time on, he declared, "Become Yukichi Fukuzawa in the 21st century!" And always put a 10,000-yen note next to the bed so that his ambition would not be shaken.
-Why did you specialize in education in the IT field?
Mizuno At that time, it was often said that "IT lovers = nerds", and many students actually liked computers and games but hid them. IT skills are cutting-edge skills for solving social issues that are also required in Silicon Valley, but I always thought that it was a waste.
Meanwhile, I learned that an IT education camp is being held for junior and senior high school students at Stanford University. At that time, I was paying attention to "KidZania" as a new educational service, but "KidZania" is a business model that landed in Japan after succeeding in Mexico. I thought that I could learn a lot from the services that were successful overseas, so the three management teams went to the site immediately.
The scenery of junior and senior high school students learning IT happily on the lawn of the university campus was shocking. The image of IT = indoors was completely overturned, and I realized once again that studying should be fun rather than forced.
Since none of the three management teams had IT skills, after returning to Japan, we asked those who are doing IT education for working adults and students with skills to cooperate, and proceeded with curriculum creation while making use of our beginner's perspective. I did. In 2011, we held the first IT camp at the University of Tokyo with SFC (Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus) who sympathized with our vision. The first time there were 3 participants, but the number of camps during the summer vacation that year was 40, and the number has steadily increased since then.
-In "Life is Tech!", A university student mentor is the instructor. How did Ms. Tange apply for the mentor?
Tange At that time, I was in the third year of the Faculty of Letters, and wanted to get a job in the publishing industry, so I was working part-time at a publishing company. Apart from that, I also worked part-time as a writer for an IT-related company, but what I felt there was that the "speed" and "size" of IT were incomplete. I became interested in the IT industry because I realized that IT can reach much faster and wider than publishing. At that time, my friend invited me to participate in "Life is Tech!".
Ms. Eri Tange, COO, Ugoku Co., Ltd.
-So you became a mentor because you had no IT experience.
Tange Yes. At that time, there was about three months of training, and I was thoroughly taught from IT technology to facilitation and the vision of "Life is Tech!". Currently, a mentor training program called "Life is Tech! Leaders" has been established so that students can learn more systematically.
Mizuno She's from the University of Tokyo, but when there weren't many women in the IT industry, I think she was quite an innovator at the time when the literary girls of the University of Tokyo jumped into the IT industry.
Tange At that time, IT wasn't popular yet, but when I tried mentoring, I was convinced that "this is what I have to learn." All the junior and senior high school students who participated were growing fast, and I was desperate not to be overtaken. When a child who wanted to make a TO DO app explained, "TO DO has importance and urgency, so map it in 4 quadrants ...", I was surprised at how accurate it was.
-The level is high! Is your learning as a mentor still useful?
Tange Yes. After graduating, I got a job at Recruit, but before joining the company, I received the first award for a job offer in a new business contest. I planned an app that automatically generates a celebration video and synchronizes the recruitment that I was with as a mentor. In the first year after joining the company, I was given the opportunity to take charge of the business, which was a valuable experience. After that, I changed my job to the marketing department of Mercari and was in charge of commercials, etc. In 2018, I established Ugoku Co., Ltd. with the same three people in the recruiting era.
We operate a professional coach matching service called "mento". Coaching is an important program for a more fulfilling life by answering the coach's questions, clarifying the goals of life, and connecting them to actions. Today's Japanese lack subjective happiness and abundance. Coaching is effective in regaining an inner sense of well-being that cannot be guaranteed by salary or the number of followers, but there is a problem that IT has not progressed in this field and it has not penetrated well. I am a liberal arts graduate, and now I am able to start a business in the IT field because I learned from "Life is Tech!".
By 2025, 1.2 million innovators will make someone happy
-The first investment from Jafco to Life Is Tech is in 2014. A total of 310 million yen was raised including other companies. Could you tell us about your encounter with JAFCO?
Mizuno At that time, I was often told about investment by VCs and individual investors, but at first I was scared. "I don't like to borrow money," "I wonder if I have to listen to investors" (laughs). However, when I was awarded the "Google RISE Awards" (award given to ICT education organizations around the world) in 2014 and took the stage in Silicon Valley, when I heard about other companies, "No company is better than ours. I was convinced that I could win in the world. " So I started to consider financing.
Mr. Nagaoka of JAFCO was interested in seeing the event hosted by our company and contacted us. Mr. Nagaoka majored in astrophysics and talked with me who was also doing physics. He was of the same generation and highly motivated, and he sympathized with our idea of "not teaching programming, but raising children who find and solve social issues by themselves." In addition, he evaluated us as "a gateway to entrepreneurs," and in July 2014, three months after the first interview, we asked him to invest as a lead investor. In fact, more than 50 students and student mentors have started businesses so far.
-What did you mainly use the funds you raised?
Mizuno Former Square Enix CTO Hashimoto (Yoshihisa / Current Life Is Tech CTO) Join and through the game IT You can learn "MOZER (Mother) "was developed to strengthen online education. The purpose is to correct regional and information disparities.
In addition, with JAFCO's continued investment, a total of 700 million yen was raised in 2016. In order to solve the problem that there are no teachers even though programming is compulsory in junior high school, we have started an IT camp for teachers and a teaching material service for junior high school and high school where each student can learn for 2000 yen (excluding tax) per year. bottom. Earlier, Mr. Miyoshi of JAFCO (Director of Keisuke Miyoshi) said, "The time will come when Life Is Tech services will be cheaper and more people will learn."
-Please tell us if there is anything that left an impression on you with Jafco's support.
Mizuno From management support such as finance function and shareholder coordination, we introduced new product dealers and collaborating companies, and came to our office three days a week to attract customers to the camp. We have received a wide range of support, including support for promoting our business. I am really grateful to Mr. Nagaoka, and I think now that I may not have received the investment unless the person in charge was Mr. Nagaoka.
-I would like to ask you about your vision for an IPO in the future.
Mizuno What we value is the concept of "social IPO." I would like to create a system that collects funds based on not only profitability but also social impact and lists them, and also collects money in the education business that contributes to society in the medium to long term. So far, we have set the goal of "creating a world where 200,000 junior and senior high school students make things with IT every year in Japan." The number of 200,000 comes from the fact that there are 170,000 high school baseball players aiming for Koshien. Since we have achieved 200,000 people in total for all of our businesses, we are currently aiming to increase the number of innovators who make someone's happiness to 1.2 million by 2025.
Currently, the ratio of Japanese entrepreneurs is only 5%. The ratio of women is also extremely low. The figure of 1.2 million is 20% of the 6 million junior and senior high school students in Japan, but if half of them start a business, the entrepreneurship rate will rise to 15%, which is one of the highest in the world. To that end, we are working to further strengthen cooperation with junior high schools, high schools, and universities and overseas expansion.
Create opportunities for children to think that they can change society on their own, and increase the number of people who innovate to make someone happy. In the future, I would like to establish a school and create a place of education that will remain in posterity like Oxford University, which has continued since the 11th century. We would like to always emphasize such social impact in future IPOs and business expansion.
Every failure is the way to success
-You mentioned that the ratio of Japanese entrepreneurs is low, but please tell us if there is any reason why Ms. Tange was able to start a business at a young age.
Tange Through the mentor of "Life is Tech!", I think that breathing the air of a startup that had a dream, a consistent vision, and growth when I was a student gave me courage to start a business. In addition, there are about 1000 mentors OBs and OGs, and all the mentors I know are active in society. It's very encouraging to have friends who are life-sized and can talk about management.
Mizuno A society in which OBs and OGs can play an active role through our company is ideal. Children who have experienced mentors and have the perspective of "teaching the next generation" will take on new challenges in society. The challenge will be returned to the next generation, and its influence will expand in a multiplier way than we alone. That is the way of "education", so I want them to succeed, and if they fail, I want to support them as much as possible.
-Are you working outside of your business to create innovators?
Mizuno There are various things, but for example, we gather junior and senior high school students and hold an online meeting called "Mizuno Juku" about once every two days. I'm experimenting with whether I can create entrepreneurial aspirations or propagate my passion. Also, once every six months, we hold a project event that connects students and young people who want to start a business with shareholders who want to support the next generation. Last time, Ms. Tange also participated and gave a presentation of the business in front of investors.
Tange Our company currently has about 120 coaches, but the problem is that it is a labor-intensive business. If this presentation goes well, I would like to strengthen the training of coaches and the introduction of technology to improve business efficiency. I would like to continue to grow, aiming to be like Life Is Tech, which gives courage to many people with a tool called IT.
-Thank you. Finally, could you give a message from Mr. Mizuno to young entrepreneurs?
Mizuno Every failure is the way to success. I have made many mistakes, but I have no regrets. "Keep doing" is the most important thing, so please continue to believe that the way you are now is the way to success.
Mr. Mizuno (right), Ms. Tange (center), Tatsuya Nagaoka (left), the capitalist in charge of JAFCO
