The DNA of Entrepreneurial Mindset: We are “a shark that never stops”/Tomofumi Nakata, Qlay Technologies, Inc.
Qlay Technologies offers a LLM-driven consumer research tool “Qlay.”
Written by the Universe Editorial Team
In “The DNA of Entrepreneurial Mindset,” we pick a startup entrepreneur who is currently in the limelight to find out their current values and mindset from various angles.
Featured in this article is Tomofumi Nakata, CEO of Qlay Technologies, Inc., a company providing an LLM-driven consumer research tool “Qlay.”
Tomofumi Nakata
After graduating from the Department of Statistics, Harvard University, he worked at McKinsey’s Tokyo and Los Angeles offices as a business consultant, focusing on consumer-goods companies’ marketing strategies. He specializes in incorporating market data, consumer insights, and the brands’ competitive advantages into strategies and practical measures.
Why did you choose to start a business?
I wanted to be involved in the essential part of economic activities. I enjoyed my internship at an investment bank and my previous strategic consulting job, but I wanted to be more closely involved in the fundamental operations of "producing things that are needed, selling them, and earning money.”
At McKinsey, I supported mainly Fortune 500 consumer goods companies in developing and executing marketing strategies. To give an example, I worked on a project to formulate a medium- to long-term global strategy for an international consumer goods company based in the US, directly under the CMO at the headquarters. I analyzed the trends of major markets, conducted consumer surveys and interviews with local consumers, and proposed strategies based on quantitative and qualitative suggestions.
As I saw the challenges on the front line through these projects, I was convinced that there was still room for drastic change even in a huge market. That’s when I decided to found a company in this field.
How do you cope with failures and setbacks?
I have experienced various failures in my previous job and student activities including Model United Nations and rugby. Basically, what I do is:
(1) Get depressed.
(2) Simply tell myself that it is good just to be alive
(3) After I feel all right again, verbalize the lessons learned, areas for improvement, and future actions.
What are the most unwavering things to you?
There are two things.
Authenticity: The point is whether what I am doing is something that I genuinely want to work on or whether I can first persuade myself. If you are not able to do this, you will not be able to persuade others. Even if you could persuade others, you would not be able to do your best to make it all the way to the end, wasting everyone’s time.
Impact: Will my activities really make the world a better place, will it change a few people’s lives completely or will it improve many peoples’ lives? This means to be able to define and estimate the impact on society. Activities for self-satisfaction and those that seem to have no impact on the world, I would do them as a hobby.
How would you describe your team in a few words?
A shark that never stops. Our guiding principle for myself, the co-founder of the company, and other members of the team is “jumping right in” instead of the common “making minimum efforts for maximum results” approach. We believe it is faster in the end to take action first, gather information for decision making, and then think, rather than formulating a solid hypothesis from the beginning.
What do you do when you are exhausted mentally and physically and want to refresh yourself?
I take a walk for about one or two hours while mumbling to myself. It activates my brain. By putting my problems and thoughts into words and talking to myself, I can evaluate them objectively and sort out “what I should do now” and "what I can think about later.”
What drives you to move forward?
Leveraging what I have developed to make the world a somewhat better place to live.
What does it take to be a CEO?
I’m not quite at the level I’d like to be, but at the seed stage, I think it is imagination and language skills.
I believe that products and services can be developed faster and more accurately by imagining customers’ problems and ideas to quickly formulate hypotheses about what they potentially need when you talk with customers.
I also believe that the ability to verbalize your vision and persuade others is vital to accomplish something big.
Finally, tell us about your dream.
My dream is to make my business successful as soon as possible. While aiming for success is a major premise, the goal should be to achieve exponential scalability in a relatively short period of time as we are running a startup business, not a small business.