Shinya Motohashi of EDGEMATRIX Inc..
Tell us about yourself?
Shinya Motohashi is Co-Founder of EDGEMATRIX with a demonstrated history of working in the telecom and computer software industry.
Motohashi has over 25 years of experience in corporate planning and management at Japan’s biggest telecom operators.
After graduating from Hitotsubashi University, he joined KDD (now KDDI) and held key posts in corporate management, including service planning, corporate planning, and corporate secretariat office for two decades.
As partof Vodafone’s global strategy team, he was responsible for the development of corporate strategy in Japan. At Softbank Mobile, he led its WiMax efforts and was the creation for a joint venture with eAccess/eMobile. He obtained an MBA at the University of Southern California.
What do you think is the single biggest misconception people have when it comes to startups?
Many people think that startups can quickly implement innovative ideas for products, services, and business models, unlike large companies.
However, I believe that what is more important for startups is to be able to transition products and services from experimentation to commercialization, and to create and maintain a highly reliable system that can continue to operate stably with few resources.
If you could go back in time to any moment from your journey, and give yourself one tip, what would it be?
I would advise myself to live abroad and have more business experience in a diverse environment, not just in a core organization within a large company.
What makes you stand out as an entrepreneur?
I have learned and experienced management in a central management department of a large company where time and resources are abundant.
This accumulation is useful for the management of startups that require quick decision-making.What are some of the best working habits you’ve gained over the past couple of years?
Work in an online environment. By eliminating travel time, the amount of work that can be handled has increased.
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
EDGEMATRIX provides the “Video Edge AI” business through product services that process images such as surveillance cameras with AI on-site (edge).
It is expected to play a role as the “eyes” of a smart city that watches over the safety and security of the city and operates efficiently.
Where do you see your business in five years?
You can see the EDGEMATRIX logo on the robust Box (Edge AI Box) installed next to the surveillance cameras that watch over dangers and abnormalities in social infrastructure such as roads, railways, stations, and large-scale facilities.
What do you think the biggest challenge will be for you in getting there?
Unlike conventional methods such as 24-hour monitoring by humans or storing images in the cloud and analyzing them after an incident occurs, “Video Edge AI” analyzes camera images on-site with AI.
Therefore, dangers and abnormalities can be detected in real time without human intervention. It is a big challenge for the world to understand this advantage and introduce it to society as soon as possible.
Talk to us about your biggest success story so far?
In order to start the “video edge AI” business ahead of the rest of the world, we obtained funding and business cooperation from NTT, Shimizu Corporation, and the Sony Group, and commercialized it.
How do clients and customers find you? Are you much of a salesperson for yourself?
We have only three sales specialists, but stockholders, banks, securities companies, etc. introduce us to customers. In addition, although we have not yet allocated a large budget for marketing, our customers find us on social media, etc., and send us inquiries from our website.
What one tip would you give to fellow startup founders?
It is important to find shareholders who will not only provide funding, but also support the growth of the business in the industries and areas you target.
And finally, what do you hope the future brings both you personally, and your business?
As a company, we want to achieve the goals we promised to our shareholders as soon as possible. Personally, I want to relax quickly by fulfilling this promise.
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