Because It Is Cool, Became A Missionary. Because It Is Cool, Joined Zenport

Hi, TODAI BOY. How are you? It’s your turn today. Please talk about yourself a lot and tell us your attractive points! Let’s get started, so please introduce yourself.

- Stop it, dude. Well, my name is Akira Ishikawa, born and grew up in Japan. Owning to my father’s work, I moved and have lived many places in Japan. Now, I’m sophomore in the University of Tokyo and studying laws. One of my hobbies is to watch other’s guit, how they walk, I know it’s weird though haha

Thanks and your hobby is really “unique”. Then, what were you doing before you joined Zenport?

- After my freshman year was over, I took 2 years off and became a volunteer missionary for Christian church. I was teaching about Christianity and doing a lot of volunteer work in the south part of Japan. I simply thought religious teaching or moral sense was really cool, and I wanted others to think what true value in our life is. This is brief, but is the main reason why I became a missionary. Then this spring, I came back to the university and started working here, Zenport.

Wow!! That’s cool!! I did NOT know you were a missionary. I heard the CEO of Microsoft in Japan were also a missionary when he graduated after high school. You are on the same railroad. You must be a BIG man too. Now, tell me why you decided to join Zenport.

- I have mainly 2 reasons. First one is I wanted to join and see what the business is. How it works? How it feels to be in it? I thought the best option was startup, because the company and business is just born and grows depending on my work. Both of them are a sort of blueprint, which is the most attractive point for me. Plus, I thought I could engage in all the aspects of business. Also, actually before I came here, I worked at a recruitment consulting company for a little bit. It was a good experience, but I felt it was extremely boring, because everything was fixed and works systematically. I could not enjoy the environment.

I see it. It sounds like so-called “Japanese company”. So, among a lot of startups, why did you choose Zenport?

- That is the second point. When I came here to do some work as trial before I was hired, I found something exciting and interesting. I had some tasks and was working on it, but besides my task, I was really supposed to find something else that I can improve. Since we are a startup, we have so many things to do including something we don’t notice, in addition to your task, people in Zenport always need to find another problem or task and think how to fix or improve it. It was an astonishing experience for me and I felt very motivated to work here. Also, when I made a clear mistake as trial, Toshi did not mention it and said just to be careful from next time, and kept focusing forward with us. I was about to fall in love with him. Haha

Building Collective Genius to Deliver The Hidden Value

What a lovely story it is between you and Toshi. As for the working style, I agree with you. I like this atmosphere, too. So now what are you working on? What are you doing in Zenport?

- I’m basically doing HR and sales. Recently, I have been working on HR with Toshi. Of course I’m looking for and hiring new members on a daily basis, depending on our situation and needs. However, I’m also constructing a whole scheme to hire new members in a long span, adapting our business plan and considering what kind of person we will need in each phase in the future.

That sounds like such a complicated job. We welcomed two new people pretty recently, right?

- Yeah we did. I also do the job interview with Toshi, and we are now hiring more intern students. So if you are interested in us, contact us now! As for the sales, I help Fumi, who is our COO and head of sales side. I go to exhibitions to get new clients and send emails or call them on a daily basis. Both of them are very good opportunity for me to try my skills and figure out what I want to do.

Thanks to your work, we are growing as a team. Thank you! Then, from now on, what do you want to do in Zenport or what kind of person do you want to be?

- Once I finish making a better hiring scheme, I’d like to leave the work to new members for them to try their skills to grow, and I want to focus more on the sales. As a sales person, I want to be able to deliver what the market and people really need but are not recognized by them. As for myself, I’d like to be a good father. That means I want do the work that I can be proud of to my family, and I want to go on a date with my future daughters even when she is a teenager haha.

To supply the hidden true value and truth is very hard, but it might be the true business. I want to be a cool and handsome father, too, in the future. I also have the same dream to have a dating with my future daughter haha. This is the final question, but what kind of person are you looking for or you want to work with?

- I want to work with someone who has something unique. I believe Zenport is the aggregation of unique people and that is our color, and that is why we are now being able to deliver valuable thing to the society. Zenport is collective genius. But only being unique is not enough, you of course have to be cooperative, admitting other people’s uniqueness as well as expressing and admitting your uniqueness. Welcome to Zenport!