I joined SoftBank twice in my career. During my first stint in Tokyo, I worked on international energy and mobility projects for the CEO’s Office. While I learned a lot in that role, after about four and a half years, I decided I wanted more global exposure and took leave to attend Harvard Business School. 

At HBS, I joined startup accelerator programs across Harvard and MIT and became fascinated by the U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem. After graduating, I joined SBIA in Silicon Valley to explore the market further. What really drew me in was the Vision Fund. It was an exciting opportunity to work with founders in Silicon Valley and a big part of why I continued to build my career at SoftBank. 

While leading Japan Synergy Initiatives, I pair investment in cutting-edge AI with hands-on Japan go-to-market support. Spanning telecom, internet services, fintech, and energy, SoftBank’s business platforms in Japan give us unparalleled access to almost every Japanese consumer and enterprise. And while most global VC firms don’t even have an office in Japan, we have thousands of dedicated salespeople on the ground. Our reach and expertise set us apart and make us a strong partner for companies entering the country. 

First, Japanese customers are very quality conscious and expect support in the local language and local environment. Second, enterprises rely heavily on outsourcing IT to system integrators, so establishing a strong partnership ecosystem is essential to scale. 

Hiring is another challenge. The tech talent pool is relatively small, and people don’t switch jobs as often as they do in the U.S. or Europe. That means hiring a capable country manager to build a strong team is critical. In most cases, the best candidates come through our relationships and partners.

I’m very proud of our work on SoftBank’s investment in Wiz, a leading cloud security company that Google is set to acquire for $32 billion — their largest acquisition ever — pending regulatory approvals. This investment is particularly meaningful to me because Wiz partnered with SoftBank to enter Japan. Over the past year, I’ve worked closely with their president, CEO, and leadership to secure dozens of channel partnerships and build the local team to approximately  50 employees, laying a foundation of robust growth. That’s a remarkable outcome given how challenging partnerships and hiring can be in the market. 

I’m equally proud of our partnerships with Databricks and Perplexity, where we’ve paired investment and Japan go-to-market support to accelerate their momentum in Japan. 

The longer I’ve worked with Masa and founders, the more comfortable I’ve become with risk. Japanese society tends to be rather conservative and entrepreneurs are rare, but at SoftBank I see founders swinging big, and that’s pushed me to increase my own risk tolerance. 

I’ve also learned that setbacks are inevitable. Masa’s journey is proof of this. SoftBank has gone through boom and bust cycles. What’s important is he kept playing the long game and stayed persistent.