"IPO STORY" is a company that unravels from the encounter between entrepreneurs and JAFCO. We will talk about the episodes and thoughts that entrepreneurs who have grown into a listed company can talk about now, and the prospects for the future. This time, we would like to present a dialogue between Mr. Tomoki Tsunekawa, President and CEO of WonderPlanet Inc., which was listed on TSE Mothers in June 2021, and Mizuki Takahara, the capitalist in charge of JAFCO.
【profile】
Tomoki Tsunekawa, President and CEO
Born in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, born in 1981. After graduating from university, he moved to Tokyo, and after working as an executive officer of a mobile content company, he started a business in Tokyo in 2004 and managed a internet media content company for eight years. After that, he returned to Nagoya in 2012 and established WonderPlanet Inc., whose main business is planning, development and operation of games for smartphones, as the second entrepreneur.
[What's WonderPlanet Inc.]
Established in September 2012. With the mission of "Creating "Smiley Time" in Our Friends' Daily Life," We are developing an entertainment service business that plans, develops, and operates games for smartphones. The representative titles are "Crash Fever" and "Jumputi Heroes", and the total number of downloads in the world exceeds 13 million and 19 million, respectively. Received funding from JAFCO in February 2014 and listed on TSE Mothers on June 10, 2021.
I want to be an entrepreneur with a cause. Returned to my hometown Nagoya at the age of 30
Takahara I met Mr. Tsunekawa in April 2013. At that time, I was in my third year as a new graduate of the Chubu branch office, and my mission was to find a new company. It was triggered by a press release of a game that I happened to see.
Tsunekawa Mr. Takahara came when he was desperately making a game with the development members in a shared office that was cramped for the number of employees. Anyway, I thought "he's a person who speaks a lot" (laughs).
Takahara I'm surprised at Mr. Tsunekawa's career as an entrepreneur, and I definitely want to talk to you! I was enthusiastic. However, at that time, there was no talk of raising funds, and he said, "I will explain the details of the business one after another." I was more and more interested in him because he was a enigmatic individual.
Takahara You've met JAFCO before the founding of WonderPlanet, didn't you?
Tsunekawa That's right. WonderPlanet was the second company to start a business, and from 2004 to 2012 when he was in his twenties, he ran a company whose main business was content services for feature phones. I first met JAFCO in 2005. The company at that time was run by its own funds, so it was a policy not to raise funds.
Takahara In the first place, please tell us about the process leading up to the founding of WonderPlanet.
Tsunekawa When I was in elementary school, I played only games and failed to take the junior high school exam. When I was in high school, my father bought me a computer, and I became addicted to the Internet. Was there.
In 2000, I somehow entered a university in my hometown of Nagoya, but at that time there was a boom in IT ventures such as Rakuten and CyberAgent, and I wanted to enter the world as soon as possible, so I only went to the university for about 10 days. I stopped going and went to Tokyo.
After moving to Tokyo, he joined CyberAgent and On the Edge (the predecessor of Livedoor) as a joint venture as a part-time job, and the company was later acquired by Rakuten. At the age of 19, I was fortunate enough to experience the three IT ventures that had the most momentum at the time, and to connect with the people who were there. After that, I helped my boss start a business, and after a while, when I was 23, I started my first business with my own funds.
Takahara How did you connect to the founding of WonderPlanet?
Tsunekawa The first company to start a business had annual sales of several hundred million yen, and I had been running it for about eight years, but from the time I turned 30, I said, "Why did I run a company in Tokyo?" I wonder if there is any. " It's vague, but I started to want to live with a cause in my one-time life.
So, I turned my attention to my one and only hometown, Nagoya. When WonderPlanet was founded in 2012, there were few startups or game companies in Nagoya. Originally from Nagoya, I brought back my experience in Tokyo, created a company in an industry that is not in my hometown, and went public as I grew up. If the company can become an active game company in the world in the future, it will be a cause as an entrepreneur. This is probably something that only you can do, and it's a job you should do. With that in mind, I decided to start a second business. It's a far distant ideal, but it looks like the Nagoya version of "Nintendo in Kyoto".
Believing in the determination to make a hit title, he decided to invest
Takahara Was there a wall you bumped into after starting a business?
Tsunekawa The game I released didn't sell at all ...
WonderPlanet is a company that started with the passion of returning to Nagoya alone and "creating a world-class game company from Nagoya", but in reality, I am just a person who likes games and games. I had no experience in development, and the development members I initially hired were engineers who made software for the manufacturing industry locally, and no one had ever made a game. I was in a state where I started running recklessly just with a dream.
As a technician, I was only collecting talented local people, and I had a strong passion for startups and making games, so I thought that I could do it well if I worked hard, but of course there is no such beginner's luck. It was (laughs).
Takahara After that, I met me, but I didn't decide to invest immediately from the beginning.
Even though I was told once, I lost the opportunity to invest because I couldn't get into the difficult area of games, which is difficult to evaluate. There was an impatience that "I can't find a company like this in Nagoya, but I miss it." The investment in February 2014 was the second major financing for WonderPlanet at the timing of creating the next featured title. There was a strong feeling that "this time".
Tsunekawa I'm glad that you were able to contact me persistently.
It was a timing that "funds are needed to make a game that can be expanded globally", but at that time it was not producing any convincing achievements. At that time, there was no VC other than JAFCO who could pay a lot of money for the situation where I was just saying "I'll do it!".
We have built a relationship where we can talk to each other
Takahara My relief at finally being able to connect with the investment was short-lived, and the days that followed were difficult.
In the first place, at JAFCO at that time, investment in the seed period, which was not yet profitable, had few precedents and was a challenging phase. In addition, the game business is a business model that succeeds if good products are created and distributed and marketing is solid. JAFCO could hardly support us because we did not introduce our customers and sales increased, and we had good human resources. If I think about it now, I should have just watched over it, but I was impatient and confused.
Tsunekawa I think it was natural to be burn out.
The games I put out after raising funds didn't sell at all again, and the cash was getting worse. Even here, I had no choice but to develop the next work, while continuing to say, "I'll make it a hit next time, so please wait."
Considering each other's position, it's a matter of course, but since we can't afford each other, we also decided to kill communication. After all, the title that was last developed with the last minute funds is "Crash Fever", which will be the later masterpiece, so without the 300 million yen invested by JAFCO, there would be no current WonderPlanet.
Takahara I am grateful that you can say so as a result.
But before Crash Fever was created, there was a day when I was prepared for bankruptcy. The 200 million yen finance, which is scheduled to be invested by a certain company, became blank just before, and it is certain that it will collapse next month as it is.
Tsunekawa At that time, I thought, "I can't do it anymore. Who should I apologize for?" When I betrayed all the thoughts of JAFCO, including Mr. Takahara, who believed in me and decided to invest, I was mentally cornered.
Mr. Takahara sent me a list saying, "Let's go around all the other VCs and collect some investment," but he said, "I don't have time to go around one by one." ..
Takahara After all, I was able to survive with an investment from a VC, but originally, I should have prepared a recovery plan before this happened. This is the biggest reflection of the seven years since I invested in WonderPlanet. It was around the fall of 2015, when Crash Fever was released and sales were properly attached, that I was able to talk calmly with Mr. Tsunekawa.
Tsunekawa It was awkward to talk to each other, and it became more and more difficult to talk to each other, so I invited him to a yakiniku restaurant, saying, "Let's just be frank and talk."
Takahrara While eating the yakiniku, they collided with each other, saying, "It wasn't possible at that time." "No, that's it!"
I vividly remember Mr. Tsunekawa's words, "I wanted you to be closer to me." I couldn't support the entrepreneur who decided to invest. That word had a tremendous impact on my future career as a capitalist. I think Mr. Tsunekawa taught me a lot of important things.
I was happy to keep wearing the WonderPlanet T-shirt
Tsunekawa Mr. Takahara is afraid that he has not been able to support us in any way, but that is not true at all.
Immediately after releasing Crash Fever, there was more access than expected and the server went down and I couldn't connect for weeks. Even for maintenance, many people visit every day, so even if I come back, it goes down again.
It was Mr. Tadashi Shiiba, CEO of Aiming (* a game company invested and listed by JAFCO) introduced by Mr. Takahara who saved the situation.
Takahara You introduced it at the annual offline party hosted by JAFCO . After that, it was Mr. Tsunekawa who built a relationship like a disciple with his master, so the "pull" of human resources is really strong.
Tsunekawa Aiming has been a company with high technology since that time, so when I cried to Mr. Shiiba, "Crash Fever won't open," he said, "I can't help it, I'll help you." They sent all the people to Nagoya all at once. After that, I was able to restart Crash Fever safely. Thanks to Mr. Shiiba's valor and the bond between the JAFCO family (laughs).
Takahara No, I just introduced it on the spot, and the relationship after that is due to Mr. Tsunekawa. I felt that Mr. Tsunekawa had the power to make various people on his side.
Tsunekawa I'm ashamed to say that I'm really supported by various people.
I think WonderPlanet was founded late enough to be called "the last native smartphone game company". Now, game development costs are rising rapidly, and it is no longer a business that startups can enter. As I slipped into it, my seniors in the industry took care of me with the feeling that I often came to a difficult place.
Takahara The only thing I could do for an IPO was to wear a "WonderPlanet T-shirt" at the board of directors (laughs).
Tsunekawa I used to say, "Did you wear it again (laughs)?", But I was really happy about it. Mr. Takahara, who has been known for a long time, is wearing a WonderPlanet T-shirt in a heavy atmosphere with a large number of shareholders. I always felt that he was on my side.
As long as you make an investment, not only JAFCO, but also in various interests, always supporting and believing in yourself and showing your feelings of being close to you will lead to the confidence and energy of the entrepreneur. increase.
I was able to build a really good relationship with Mr. Takahara after hitting the real intentions, and I was inspired by the sense of mission as an entrepreneur to make the company that he believed in absolutely successful.
I want to aim for the next stage as a world-class game company
Takahara For the IPO, I think it was necessary to assume that there were multiple hits and the business performance was stable. Is the reproducibility that creates hits established while doing it?
Tsunekawa As was the case with "Crash Fever," we learned improvements from the mistakes we made until we reached a hit, and we have made steady progress while reflecting improvements one by one, including not only the product but also the organization. "Crash Fever" was a hit both in Japan and overseas, and by gaining confidence and tips there, "Jumputi Heroes" was able to continue.
It may be a little clumsy, but WonderPlanet's method is to make steady and serious improvements and grow it over the long term.
Takahara Every time we are on the verge of a crisis, a strong investor who sympathizes with Mr. Tsunekawa's vision appears. I think that is the background to WonderPlanet's discontinuous growth.
Tsunekawa I aimed for an IPO from the beginning because it was indispensable to challenge and perpetuate the industry of smartphone games, which is rare in Nagoya. We are finally aiming for the next stage, standing at the starting point of listing. I would like to continue making things so that the latest work to be announced in the future will always be a masterpiece.
Takahara For me, I think that I can now invest in WonderPlanet and make use of what Mr. Tsunekawa taught me in different projects.
Tsunekawa In my thirties, I was able to experience with Mr. Takahara an event that would change my outlook on life, something I couldn't imagine from myself in my twenties. I have a very strong relationship with them, and I am only grateful.
Mr. Tsunekawa and the capitalist in charge of JAFCO Mizuki Takahara (left)
