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2005年度（2005.4～2006.3）　ワークショップ講演

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Record of Workshop/Lecture

Date: July 14, 2005
Lecturer: Mr. Hiroshi Toriya, President of Lattice Technology Co., Ltd.
Theme: Lattice Technology aims to be a global venture business by creating new markets!
Recorded by: Junko Hamaguchi and Kiyoshi Doi

1. Profile of the lecturer and his company
Please refer to the record of the workshop held on April 24, 2003:
http://www.gscc-entre.com/J/workshop/2003/ent_03.html
Presently, the shareholders’ equity in the company amounts to 432.5 million yen. Mr. Toriya is 45 years old.

2. Points of greatest interest
(1) Rosetta stone
Mr. Toriya has at times had difficulty explaining technical matters to people, including VC management, who had no technological background. He used the metaphor of the Rosetta stone, which was written in three different languages, to explain the advantage of a lattice structure over a polygon structure. He explained that polygon and lattice structures correspond to phonograms and ideograms, respectively. This persuasive, understandable style of explanation won him a great deal of VC funding.

(2) Concurrent engineering
In recent years, It is often been required to create production manuals at the same time that a product is being designed. Casual-use 3-D data exchange is a useful tool in such situations. This technology allows clients to complete various types of documentation by the time they start production, and helps to improve their competitiveness.

Mr. Toriya giving a lecture energetically

3. Q&A
(1) How large is the casual-use 3-D market?
In my estimate, the Japanese market accounts for approximately 20% of the world market. Our annual sales in Japan are about 1.0 billion yen. Therefore, I estimate the size of the world market to be about 5.0 billion yen. Please note that our company is still engaged in creating this market. So the market is growing.

(2) Do you expect that, in the future, a larger number of engineers working at large companies will leave to start venture businesses?
I hope so. However, in reality, only about 5% of engineers at large companies will end up doing this.

(3) Your first major client was a car manufacturer. Do you think, if it had been a large home electronics manufacturer, your present business would be substantially different than it is?
If that had been the case, our present business would be quite different. We focused on the CAD-CAM business by chance, simply because our first major client was a car manufacturer.

(4) Your present business sells to companies (BtoB). Do you plan to be also involved in consumer sales (BtoC)?
In my experience, consumers generally do not care whether images are created by 2-D or 3-D. If they can see the images, it is enough. Therefore, I can’t imagine any profitable consumer-oriented business model at this time. I have no plans to move into consumer markets. However, I’ve heard that Microsoft’s next-version OS will feature basic 3-D technology.

(5) Please explain your sales and marketing system.
A female colleague of mine, 30 years old, is responsible for marketing. We have three salespersons. We sell almost all of our products and services through our sales agents, who include both general and specialized trading companies.

(6) I heard you selected a VC as your partner, rather being selected by a VC.
I realize that VC funding is, of course, essential for venture business, but I rather wanted to partner with industrial companies with whom we could easily do business. Thus, I searched for a VC partner that could introduce such companies to us.

(7) How do you feel, and what kind of things come to your mind, when you sign funding and other agreements?
When I sign a funding agreement, I stiffen my resolve to “never lose in competition with corporate businesspeople.” When I signed agreements to form partnerships with foreign companies, I faced many problems, partly because the basic concept and definition of an “agreement” varies from country to country.

(8) You do not look like a stereotypical company president.
Some of my employees also tell me that. I always tell them “I can give advice to anyone, even a government minister. Outside of the company, I always maintain my charisma.”

(9) What is a relationship between Lattice and the company where you worked before? Are the two companies related in terms of equity?
The company where I worked before owns no equity in my current company. When I started this business, I pursued the possibility of engaging in mutually beneficial business with that firm. However, they did not inject equity in our company. At that time, I proposed to them that the two companies cooperate in business, and eventually applied for a join patent. Thus, we were able to receive support from their various sections. For instance, they assisted us and provided know-how in applying for the patent, and conducted a legal review of the agreements for us.

Mr. Toriya and attendants of the lecture

 

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