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From Business XR to Metaverse Platform, the Challenge of Six Years in Business⸻Interview with Wataru Takehi, Synamon Inc.

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This website has been translated into English using automatic translation. Please note that the translation may not be entirely accurate.

XR is a general term for technologies that use virtual worlds, and refers to all technologies such as VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and MR (mixed reality).

Until now, such XRs have been attracting attention mainly in the entertainment field, but with the epidemic of the new coronavirus, attention is also increasing in business applications these days. With the mainstream of remote work, remote offices using XR technology have attracted attention, and various companies have begun to develop Metaverse-related services for applications other than entertainment.

This time, our interview with Mr. Wataru Takehi focused on the realization of imagination made possible by XR. In business, there are many situations where plans and visions are shared, but it is not easy to share what you have imagined in your mind. He believes that the appeal of XR is that it can facilitate smooth understanding by using XR technology to embody the imagination.

We interviewed Mr. Takehi about the company he founded, Synamon Inc. and his past, present, and future.

"XR can realize imagination." The future I have dreamed of since I was a child.

Please tell us about the outline of your business.

Since our establishment in August 2016, our business has specialized in XR technology. Basically, we focus on providing technology for the social implementation of VR, AR, and other technologies, and developing related businesses, with our core focus on the social implementation of these technologies.  

We are also working on metaverse-related projects, most recently developing a new platform for the metaverse.

Please tell us how you came to start a business in the XR field.

Ever since I was a child, I have often wondered if the world we live in today is real or not. I was attracted to the world of the movie "The Matrix," which was aired when I was in junior high school. This led me to learn about VR and AR, and I became interested in them.

  At the time I was interested in this field, I felt that it was an area that was out of reach for me alone in terms of money and technology, but in 2016, which is called the first year of VR, affordable HMDs (head-mounted displays) such as the "Oculus Rift" sold by Oculus (now Meta) became popular, and now It has become easier to enter this field. With this trend in mind, I decided to start my own company.

What is the appeal of the XR?

I think the most attractive and valuable use of XR is its ability to embody the imagination. For example, when you hear of a world where the streets are filled with robots, you may not immediately imagine it, but by simulating it with XR technology, you can easily understand it. In this way, I think the appeal of XR is that it can advance business and accelerate new things in the world by helping people to talk about what they imagine.

Please tell us about your career so far.

I joined a major manufacturer as a new graduate and worked in Sler sales for two and a half years. After that, I moved to a web marketing venture, where I worked as an analyst and in frontline sales, but I quit there after a year and a half and moved overseas to learn languages. After returning to Japan, I worked at a hardware startup for a year and a half before launching Synamon Inc.

Have you had any particular difficulties in starting your business?

I have only had difficult times so far (laughs). What I have always felt is that in the XR field, it is difficult to present specifics such as what kind of results will be obtained and what kind of effects can be expected. For our part, we are working on the policy that there will be needs in the future, not necessarily the needs of today, so we had a hard time finding companies and investors who share the same dream.​ ​​ ​

Because it is a new field, there are no concrete business models for sales and marketing, and successful examples are hard to come by. This sometimes causes a sense of stagnation, as if the company is not moving forward as a whole.

I got the impression that there have been many joint developments and technology provisions so far, do you have a course of action?

We do not have a specific strategy, but rather we believe that we should do what is meaningful for the company's growth, and this has inevitably led to an increase in the number of projects we have undertaken.

In order to show the world how XR would benefit the world and what kind of need there is for XR, we took many steps, which resulted in business and technology alliances.

There are many factors to a successful business, but what contributed the most?

  I believe that the only thing necessary for success is "desire." As I mentioned earlier, it is difficult to create success stories in the XR field, so if you don't keep the passion alive, you will fall behind. However, if you don't continue, you will not succeed, and you cannot change the world, so how you keep motivated is important, and in the end, the only thing that matters is your passion.

The members who are working with us now have that feeling and have come to this point together, and I think that we can continue our business because of their presence.

Synamon Inc's new challenge "Metaverse Comprehensive Platform"

Metaverse comprehensive platform "SYNMN"
Credit: Synamon Inc.

Please tell us about the outline of the "Metaverse Comprehensive Platform" announced in April and the background of its development.

The Metaverse Comprehensive Platform is a multiplayer metaverse space. Up to 100 people can connect from a smartphone or PC at the same time, and it is expected to be used at event venues.

The motivation for the development of XR and VR was the need for a multiplayer element, just as social networking sites are not used unless there are multiple users, Internet services spread when there is interaction with other users. This interaction is called a transaction, and when trying to generate transactions in a high-end initiative such as using HMD, the limit is about 10 people who can be connected at the same time.

The challenge was to increase the number of such connections, but as the concept of the metaverse began to spread, the trend was toward more services that were easy to participate in rather than high-end services. Specifically, there was a growing interest in metaverse in 3D space, where people could participate using smartphones and other devices rather than HMDs.

  In terms of corporate needs, many companies have expressed a desire to use the system for promotion and marketing. There are also requests for other business uses, but it is often difficult to obtain budgets, and it is difficult to proceed to the implementation and execution stage. This is especially true in Japan, where people say they cannot handle new fields because there are no precedents, and it takes time until the first case is made. If the field is too out-of-the-box, it is difficult to budget for it because it is impossible to provide a clear cost-benefit analysis.

In this regard, examples are beginning to be developed for promotion and marketing, and this is an area that is easy to talk about in business use. With this business aspect in mind, we have developed a comprehensive metaverse platform that can be used easily for promotion and marketing, even on smartphones.

Did you have any difficulties in development?

We started development with the assumption that the system would be used on smartphones for ease of use in promotion and marketing, but we had a difficult time because of the difficulties involved. We had been developing our business based on HMD technology, so smartphones were an area that we had not dealt with before. When trying to support smartphones, there were some areas that could not be supported by the technology cultivated by HMD alone, and from the perspective of the future potential of the system infrastructure, we decided to proceed with design and development from scratch for the provision of this service.

What are your thoughts on global expansion?

We have been thinking about global expansion since the company was founded. We believe that one of the strengths of Metaverse is that it can be accessed from anywhere in the world via the Internet, and we would like to spread our products throughout the world. To this end, we would like to increase the number of our products in Japan first, and then use the knowledge we have gained in Japan to expand our business around the world.

One of the reasons we started in Japan is that Japanese people are good at embodying their imagination. For example, when we talk about the "Anywhere Door" from Doraemon, I think anyone in Japan can imagine it, but overseas, such ideas are not so readily available. I think Japan is a country that has an affinity for new technologies such as VR. Therefore, we decided to develop the project overseas after moving forward with it in Japan.

However, contrary to what I had imagined, Japan was negative about new fields, and the timing of the new coronavirus coincided with the global expansion opportunity that we missed. Just before the new coronavirus arrived, I was conducting research and traveling around the world in an effort to establish an overseas base. We were forced to withdraw from the project at that time,  but global expansion is essential for success, so we will continue to actively expand our business in the future.

An organizational culture that can change with the times

I saw a homey atmosphere when I visited the company. What is the organizational culture like?

Since we are dealing with a new field, many people like new things. And I think it is also characterized by the fact that many people are nerdy enough to get into what they like to do.

The at-home atmosphere is not something that we are aiming for, but something that we have come to realize. I think the company as a whole has an open environment, but I don't think that just having a good atmosphere is good enough. For example, when you want to do a lot of development in a short period of time, even if the team has a good atmosphere, if the atmosphere is too loose, you may not be able to fully pursue the project, and it may have the disadvantage of being too loose. It is good to be able to keep a steady rhythm, but the times are changing quickly, so it is important to create a team that can adapt to the changing times. 
As for the organizational culture, there is no such thing as Synamon Inc's organizational culture, and as I said about the sense of home, our stance is to change it according to the current situation.

Are you currently hiring?

We are hiring, but the criteria are changing in accordance with the company's phase. Previously, we were in the zero start phase, so skills were important, but we actively hired people who had enthusiasm and passion for service, and introduced the book concept of "all management mindset".

We are now in phases 1 to 10 and 10 to 100, and in order to add depth to the organization, we have created a hierarchical structure instead of having everyone work side by side. Therefore, we are looking for playing managers who can take the initiative and demonstrate their abilities to others. I would like to work with people who are able to take an active role not only in their own department but also in the organization as a whole.

Do you have any ways to refresh yourself on your days off?

Basically, I work all hours of the day, so I don't have many days off (laughs). However, I continue to research new things as a way to spend my days off. I have always liked to learn about new things, and it is good since it is also connected to my work. In particular, the flow of information on Web3 and the metaverse are so fast that I can't keep up with it if I just look at it from time to time. In fact, I can't say that I am keeping up with it all. But I enjoy researching, so I try to follow the information in my free time.

Can you give a message to startups from the pre-seed period to the seed period?

In the pre-seed stage, the product may not yet be finalized, but one thing I can say is that you must not be obsessive about it. Even if you have a product in place, you cannot be sure whether it will be successful or not, and if it is not, you may have to change the direction. I think it is good to stick to one product with conviction, but there are cases in which you may end up badly if you are too obsessed with it. I think it is important to be flexible and not be too adamant.

We also believe that it is important to have an organizational structure with no waste. The size of the organization should be considered cleverly because it is sometimes difficult to move as a company when too many people are added in the early stages. It is important to increase the number of people accordingly while watching fundraising and service growth. If you increase the number of employees all at once just because you have succeeded in raising funds, it may become a drag on the company.

"XR creates a natural world"

Finally, please tell us about the world you want to create and say a word of advice for our readers.

Today, many tasks have been streamlined, but the structure is such that the time saved by streamlining is used for other tasks. However, if we use the time created by improving efficiency not to perform a large number of tasks, but to take on new challenges, we may be able to find new points of efficiency, and we may be able to create new services. We will create such a positive chain of events by utilizing XR technology and other cutting-edge technologies, and aim to create a world full of challenges as a company.  

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