I read 『起業家の勇気　USEN宇野康秀とベンチャーの興亡 / The Entrepreneur’s Courage: USEN’s Yasuhide Uno and the Rise and Fall of Ventures』by Hiroshi Kodama, so I’d like to share the insights I gained from the book.

Background - Learning About Entrepreneur Yasuhide Uno

After reading 『ネット興亡記 敗れざる者たち』, I wanted to learn more about Yasuhide Uno, so I read this book.

Below are quotes from memorable passages and my notes.

Chapter 6: Intelligence Founding

With sales reaching hundreds of millions, the following year's salary increased from 180,000 yen to 300,000 yen. However, the company invested the most money in recruitment. Maeda, who had worked part-time in Recruit's HR department and been thoroughly trained in recruitment principles, brought that know-how directly to Intelligence. "Hire students who are better than yourself." This applied not just to employees. They demanded high quality even from job-hunting students needed to create the "Student Report" which was the pillar of Intelligence's business model, and from student part-timers who sold the reports. "Let's hire really smart kids. Kids with good natural intelligence," Uno was particular about recruitment.

Hire students who are better than yourself.

He would invite students who were working part-time at Intelligence to yakiniku, casually recruiting them. Uno's persuasive words were so embarrassing that even his colleagues listening nearby would blush. Uno would speak to students in his resonant voice, casting a spell on them like magic: "Let's build this company into a representative company of Japan together." "We can become a company that surpasses Recruit someday. We four are the people who know the secrets of Recruit's rapid growth best."

Recruitment pitch to students.

In their third year of founding, they were approaching thirty employees. All founding members took to the field for recruitment. They assigned someone to keep students waiting in the reception area from getting bored, and immediately invited promising students to meals (mostly yakiniku) and took them drinking. The locations of yakiniku restaurants and bars where they took students were always reported to the company and shared by everyone. When Shimada took students to a yakiniku restaurant, Uno, Maeda, and Kamata would show up there later. The same thing happened at bars. The founding members ended up eating yakiniku almost every day.

Our third-year employee count is similar to Intelligence’s. All founding members participate in recruitment. Information about recruitment dining locations is shared within the company.

Uno made another major decision. Around the time Intelligence was considering entering the new field of staffing services, Uno received this question from a certain company president: "Uno-kun, how many employees does your company have now?" "About thirty people." As soon as Uno answered this, the executive muttered as if to himself: "It won't get big, you know, with thirty people." Uno looked confused, not understanding the true meaning. According to that president, thirty people is the limit of what one person can manage. To overcome that, some kind of measure is necessary.

Thirty people is the limit of what one person can manage.

Chapter 7: New Employee, Susumu Fujita

Son insisted on an investment of 7 million yen. He insisted on an amount that exceeded even major companies like Matsushita Industrial and Toshiba, and wouldn't budge. "If a small company puts out a small booth, no one will pay attention. We can't survive unless we compete with a booth bigger than the major companies." Make a big statement first. This way of thinking and approach by Son continues to be passed down even today.

Make a big statement first and show it.

"I was always aware that I didn't possess the kind of special abilities compared to the great people I respected. However, I believed that even if my own abilities were lacking, if I could gather people with superior abilities, 'we' could achieve great things together."

I’m close to this way of thinking too.

Chapter 9: Blood-stained Straw Doll

Uno never raised his voice at those who voiced complaints. He listened to the end to the content of their complaints, treating complaints as complaints. And after accepting everything, he asked for cooperation toward the path he believed they should take.

Listen to complaints as complaints and their content.

That’s all from the Gemba, learning from senior entrepreneurs.