2004年度（2004.4～2005.3）　ワークショップ講演

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The 9th Workshop
(December 2, 2004)

Guest Speaker: Yukihiro Kayama, Founder and Chairman of EC-One, Inc.
Theme: Experience of starting a new business and a message as a company executive

1. Personal profile
Mr. Kayama was born in 1939, and graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Nihon University College of Science and Technology. During his 36 years as a technological sales representative at Mitsubishi Corporation, he made over 200 trips abroad for business. He has had on-the-job experience in the commercialization of advanced technology, R&D marketing, handling of IP rights, etc. While on temporary assignment to Mitsubishi Office Machinery Co., Ltd., he became familiar with computer technology, was also assigned to the US-based Battele Memorial Institute, the world’s biggest think tank, and learned to become a good judge of cutting-edge technologies and information. In 1988, at the age of 49, he started Net One Systems Co., Ltd., an in-house venture of Mitsubishi Corporation that sells LAN-related equipment and software. Eight years later, One Systems went public, and its \50,000 shares obtained an initial price as high as \16 million. In 1998, at the age of 59, he took early retirement from Mitsubishi Corporation to found EC-One, Inc. with a staff of three. EC-One addresses innovation of system construction by dissembling software. The company deals primarily with system integration (SI) (WSI: Web SI services) specializing in JAVA technology and IT commercialization (ITC) by providing financing and other support for IT entrepreneurs. In 2002, One Systems went on the JASDAQ market and Mr. Kayama handed the mantle of president on to a younger person in his 40s.

2. Summary of Mr. Kayama’s speech
Mr. Kayama started his own business in the confidence that he could capitalize on his experience at a large corporation. He thought he could utilize as leverage his expertise in technological fields accumulated through his activities as a trading firm rep. Besides, IT was his backyard, and ventures were his favorite subject. He set an IPO as an immediate goal and stuck to a rapid-growth strategy. One competitive advantage of his business model is that it alleviates dependence on labor for SI businesses by segmenting software into multiple components for reuse. If a business can successfully cut its dependence on batteries of manpower, it is highly likely to become profitable at an early date. Mr. Kayama also started up the cBank business, a system that allows royalty-based reuse of software. He also believed that a new business model could be created by combining SI and ITC. He stressed the importance of “niche” and “the only one.” He predicts huge market potential in China, and has already established a subsidiary there, which has exchange with a major software academy.

3. Comments from the minutes taker
Mr. Kayama mentioned that he received several visitors from Mitsubishi Corporation, his former employer, immediately after starting up his business. They adopted a wait-and-see attitude at first. It seemed to Mr. Kayama that many people were of the opinion that his business wouldn’t work out. As business grew and he added employees, however, Mitsubishi shifted its position and approached him with an offer of equity participation. He also received applications for employment from a few ex-Mitsubishi personnel. Mr. Kayama says it is important to think that he is repaying Mitsubishi for raising him so well. In the future, more and more people will try to create venture businesses of their own as spin outs from big companies, or start up new businesses after reaching mandatory retirement age as we usher in an era of the aging society. It is important to have the view that favorable relations with previous companies provide opportunities to repay their favors rather than to benefit from them. I felt that this would be true not only in the creation of an independent business but also for human relations in general.

Hisao Inoue
Graduate student in charge of minutes

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