Kunihiro Tanaka is President and Representative Director of SAKURA internet Inc., which listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2015. An engineer who had originally wanted to build robots as a boy, Tanaka founded the company with its current business of \u201crenting servers to customers\u201d as a third-year student at the National Institute of Technology, Maizuru College (1996). \u201cIt was fun deciding the specs, updating features every day, and supporting everyone\u2019s ability to share information,\u201d Tanaka recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love servers.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m happy when the people who use them are pleased.\u201d<\/strong><\/mark> These feelings from the founding have not changed, even now that the company is listed on the First Section. Having realized a dream and gained status and wealth, everything seems to be smooth sailing, but reaching this point involved all kinds of conflict and anguish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1998, after graduating from the college, Tanaka set up an office in Osaka City and established a stock company. With the tailwind of the IT bubble, sales grew steadily, but the organization grew accordingly, and covering fixed costs such as rent and labor became a challenge. Tanaka had started the business because managing servers was fun, yet more and more time went to scrambling for funds. And after receiving investment from a VC in 2000, \u201cgoing public\u201d became the organization\u2019s goal. With more stakeholders, the freedom was gone. Wondering, \u201cIs this really what I want to do?\u201d, Tanaka stepped down as president in December 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Tanaka remained involved in management as vice president, the company listed on the TSE Mothers market in 2005. But two years later, in 2007, the slump in its expanded businesses left it with liabilities exceeding its assets. Tanaka returned as president for the first time in seven years to lead from the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What became the anchor amid the hardship was \u201cproviding services that please users at low prices,\u201d<\/strong><\/mark> the company\u2019s founding principle. Catching the waves of the collapse of the IT bubble and the changes in social structure brought by smartphones and tablets, Tanaka devoted everything to solving customers\u2019 problems. In managing the organization, Tanaka valued conveying intentions. \u201cDissatisfaction usually comes from communication loss. That is why, rather than stopping at \u2018they should understand,\u2019 we talk until we understand each other.\u201d<\/strong><\/mark> Even now, with nearly 500 employees, Tanaka talks with employees and takes care that the workplace is easy to work in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, we asked what is needed for success. The calm way Tanaka says this conveys an inner strength. Interview year: 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":415,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/new-ja\/?post_type=library&p=414","catch_copy":"The condition for success is the passion of \u201cI really want to do this!\u201d Working hard every day with the resolve to \u201cseize every bit of luck in front of me\u201d","company":"SAKURA internet Inc.","sub_catch":""},"library-category":[30,31],"class_list":["post-18183","library","type-library","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library-category-it","library-category-ecosystem","en-US"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library\/18183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-category?post=18183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cEven if you make plans, things don\u2019t always go as planned. What matters, of course, is daily effort, but also the resolve<\/strong><\/mark> to absolutely seize the luck that appears in front of you, and the passion<\/strong><\/mark> to make it happen no matter what. You don\u2019t know whether you will succeed until you try, but people who don\u2019t make an effort and people without passion will never succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A stance of always dealing with people with a smile and courtesy, without becoming arrogant because of the listing. We felt this gentle character is the deciding factor in the success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n