"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. In the 11th session, we interviewed Mr. Takuya Kato, CEO of VARK Inc.
【profile】
VARK Inc. CEO Takuya Kato
Born in 1991. Joined Capcom Co., Ltd. as a new graduate. In charge of new business planning for a popular game title series. Also involved in the launch of VR title development. After that, he became independent and established VARK Inc. In April 2021, he was selected in the "Consumer Technology" category of "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021" (*) by Forbes Asia.
(*) Every year Forbes magazine selects human resources under the age of 30 who are active in each field targeting 23 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region.)
[What's VARK Inc.]
Founded in August 2017. From the end of 2018, under the mission of "creating a new place of activity and delivering a new life," we will develop and operate "VARK," a platform where you can enjoy live events in a virtual (VR) space. In the summer of 2019, the festival event "V Sama!" Will be hosted, and it will become a hot topic enough to win the 1st place in the twitter trend. In 2020, many live events will be held despite the postponement and cancellation due to the new coronavirus, and from autumn, a series live with a major VTuber company will be held. The number of visitors to VARK has quadrupled from the previous year. Raised approximately 600 million yen in May 2021.
What are the new technologies that will change the world? I thought I could compete in VR!
-Started a business at the age of 26, and started the service of the virtual live platform "VARK" from 2018. Did you have a desire to become an entrepreneur?
No, it wasn't even a millimeter (laughs). Originally an athletic student, I was aiming to be the best in Japan with table tennis at junior high school and high school. However, even at the prefectural tournament level, there were many international students from China, and I couldn't beat them, so at university I started Sports Chanbara in an attempt to win the world's best in minor sports with a smaller sports population. .. Somehow I thought, "I want to see the best scenery in the world" (laughs). Four years later, he reached No. 1 in Asia, but lost at the world championships. But then I realized that even if I became the best in the world, the scenery of the world wouldn't change. I'm not doing anything good for society, and I 'm complacent. Next, I started job hunting to influence society by engaging in services that would change the world.
When I was a college student, LINE and Pazudora (Puzzle & Dragons) were released, and it was the timing when they spread all over the world in less than a year. I thought there was a chance to go to the world, but in the four years I was at Capcom, social games became obsolete.
-The idea of "aiming for the world" is consistent. Where does the way of thinking that calculates back from the goal of the world come from?
I had never experienced that only Japan would change. It is not an era when only Japan can provide special services, but when it changes, it will change drastically from the world. Facebook and LINE have changed the communication style not only in Japan but also in the world. In such an era, I thought that if I wanted to change something, I would have to change the whole world.
-Why did you go to the game company Capcom as a new graduate?
I really wanted to work on a web service. There weren't many companies that taught me how to make things from my first year of college. I decided to join the company when I gained development experience for social games that were exciting at that time.
-From there, what made you decide to start a business and go to the VR domain?
I thought, "When new things spread all over the world, the world will change," so I wanted to be involved in technology that is not a game and has the potential to change the world in the future. It was VR that I came up with while investigating.
2017, when VARK was founded, was the timing when various companies tried and failed in 2016, which was said to be the first year of VR (*), and demand in the market fell. If you take a closer look at the failure cases, you will find only low-level products that are not supported by users. On the other hand, I had the power to bring out the professional quality cultivated through four years of game development. So I thought I could win in the VR world.
(*) When VR head-mounted displays for general consumers were released all at once and began to hit the market
-It was the time when many companies failed, but did you predict that the VR industry would be excited from here?
I honestly didn't know if VR would definitely come. At that time, the VR head-mounted display alone cost about 100,000 yen. However, I was convinced that the game experience was over, starting with social games. When I saw the creators starting to get bored, I thought, "Users will get bored after a couple of years." When I thought about moving to other entertainment areas, I thought VR would be an option.
I want to start a business! I wasn't enthusiastic about it, but when I saw an increasing number of companies investing in VR, I felt like I was involved in people and started to move.
―2018 Virtual live platform "VARK Service will start. Why did you focus on live performances and music?
At that time, I thought that there was a need for a live music space as a place for VTuber to play an active role, which began to increase all at once.
From around the end of 2017, a lot of virtual talents and artists came out to the world, and it was time to call it the VTuber bubble. At the time of its founding, I was in a shared office with many startups, but the companies around me started managing VTuber more and more. However, even though I started it, I was wondering how to make it work.
Even when talking to a virtual artist, he says, "I don't know what to do to make it popular," "I can't make a lot of money," and "I don't know how to set goals." If so many artists are worried, VARK 's idea was born that we should prepare a place where they can play an active role. Live music is the easiest way to make money by mobilizing spectators, and it would be great if you could set clear goals such as "aiming at the Budokan" in virtual space. I wanted to expand the opportunities for virtual live performances with "VARK" and make it the"dream stage"that many artists are aiming for.
-Please tell us about the events that made you feel the response of the virtual live platform business.
We were surprised by the reaction of our customers at the first live performance in December 2018 and the summer festival held in 2019.
At the first live, we could only call hundreds of customers due to server problems, but the tickets were sold out immediately, and the number of writes and the amount of heat on the net after the live was tremendous. The audience was supposed to be only a few hundred, but the amount of writing was much higher than that. It was a moment when I was convinced that the virtual live gave such an intense emotional experience, and that emotion was diffused by the power of the fans.
At the summer festival, we called 15 VTubers, and the sales of paid tickets amounted to tens of millions of yen. They spent the same amount of money to come to see it as they did at a real festival, and there was a response that it was getting bigger while maintaining the heat of the first live performance.
-Is there any ingenuity unique to VARK in order to generate"heat"in virtual space?
In many cases, virtual events cannot reproduce the amount of real heat and become "boring". So, for example, if 500 spectators shake the penlight, we have introduced a mechanism that makes it look like they are shaking in the audience seats even on a virtual basis, and a mechanism that conveys that to the artists. In addition, I was particular about the production design that can be done because it is virtual, such as the artist coming in front of me and feeling the amount of heat up close.
Check the amount written on the net and the contents to see if the amount of heat was actually transmitted. I see as an important index whether or not it has led to the situation of "I want to convey this goodness to everyone".
VR There was a sense of trust that I could talk about the market from a bird's-eye view.
-What did you struggle with as an entrepreneur and what was the wall you encountered?
Financing and gathering friends was really hard.
However, in 2017, when it was founded, the first year of VR was over and it was entering the winter era, and it was said that the next was AR. It was natural that investors did not understand the market feeling at that time. I struggled with everyone on the team to manage to raise development costs, but someday the coins will flip over when the flow comes. Until then, I felt like trying to survive.
―In May 2021, the company raised approximately 600 million yen from JAFCO. What made you meet JAFCO?
It was the connection of the investment company gumi who first received the investment. Mr. JAFCO has the image of hands-on with investee companies and walks with entrepreneurs, and I thought that Mr. Nagashima, who is in charge of investment, is exactly that type.
-What made you decide to raise money from JAFCO?
In the process of deciding to raise funds, we had a lot of discussions with existing shareholders. Of the several options, the overwhelming majority said that JAFCO should be taken. I felt the strength of the brand.
We also knew from the history that JAFCO has a strong backup power that if he invests, he will be listed on the stock exchange. Mr. Nagashima has been watching the VR market since 2019, and I felt a sense of trust.
-What do you feel about the relationship of trust?
Mr. Nagashima captures the entire market while looking at other VR companies.
2017 was a time like the bottom of a valley, and in 2018 it turned up for a moment, and in 19 the excitement of Oculus Quest was amazing... I understand various turning points. I'm grateful that it's easy to communicate, such as "It sold so much at that time. This excitement will increase sales so much."
Mr. Kato and Akihisa Akira Nagashima, the capitalist in charge of JAFCO (left)
2021 will be a turning point for real and virtual hybrids
―2020 I think there was a big change in the market due to the influence of corona in the year. What do you think the market will be like in the future?
VR is a very easy-to-read market, and you can roughly calculate sales based on which company sells how many pieces of hardware. However, I couldn't read only the influence of Corona. Awareness of virtual live has increased, and sales have increased 4 to 6 times compared to the previous year.
I think virtual live will continue to grow.
In addition to artists who originally needed virtual live, there are many people who have taken the opportunity of corona to make virtual live an option. Not limited to VTuber, there is a good chance that artists who have performed realistic live performances will participate in the event, saying that "virtual live performances are likely to suit" depending on the content. Whether it is virtual or real is only one of the range of expression methods. The artist will decide what kind of communication is appropriate for the fans.
It is not the case that everything returns to reality with the convergence of the corona. From now on, I think that real and virtual will continue as a hybrid.
―Now that you have raised funds, how do you plan to develop your business in the future?
From now on, VARK will be involved in two businesses: live business and virtual SNS business.
In the live business, virtual talents and VTubers have appeared so far, but with Corona as an opportunity, we are now receiving inquiries from artists who are active in the real world. I think 2021 will be a tipping point that transcends the boundaries between real and virtual, so please pay attention to it.
In virtual SNS, we believe that the user base will change significantly in 2021. It was some otakus who enjoyed Metaverse (*) and virtual live, but from now on, the world will come where everyone will come to play in virtual space.
(*) A virtual space built on the Internet. Show another world, where you are active. A large number of people can participate, and participants can operate the avatar and act freely in it.
If the previous "VARK" was Tokyo Dome, I would like to create Tokyo Dome City in the future. In addition to going live in the virtual space, there are places to play and shop before the live, and after the live there are cafes and restaurants where you can talk about your impressions. We aim to be such a "comprehensive entertainment platform."
There is an event called "going to live" in everyday life like going to school or work and chatting with friends. There are places to play and talk in the virtual space called VARK, and there is a virtual live as a part of daily life. I want to aim for a future where such "virtual becomes everyday".
―When you look 3, 5, or 10 years into the future, how do you want VARK to interact with the virtual world?
I think that "Metaverse" will surely expand in the future.
Among them, VARK wants to be a team and a company that can provide a place where each person can play an active role in a new virtual place. There may be other ways of playing other than live music. It would be great if there were people who showed talents that were completely different from the real world in"another world"called Metaverse.
-It really embodies VARK 's mission of "creating a new place of activity and delivering a new life."
Since I was born, I have always wanted to improve the world. I think that creating a place where more people can play an active role is the"how to improve the world"that I can do now.
-What do you think is the "entrepreneurial aspiration" that you should have for those who are going to start a business or those who are starting a business?
I'm not in a position to say something great, but please do what you like and what you are good at. And please do not do anything you dislike or dislike.
Entrepreneurs are waiting for a battle between fundraising and companionship. The starting point starts with doing something on your own, so I think it's difficult unless you like or are good at it.
If you are not good at it, you should leave it to a specialist. At VARK, the most important "development" was entrusted to a member who was definitely better than me. As for sales and back office, I myself am an inexperienced person in the field, so I am making the current organization while making mistakes in hiring to find out what skills and experience people will match.
It's a waste of time to do what you're not good at. If you have time to struggle with your weaknesses, you should consider a new procurement method and go to see as many investors as possible.
