【Inside beBit】 Head of Corporate Strategy Unit - Masafumi YABE
Inside beBit - A project in which we ask 10 questions about a beBit member's work and personal life.
Our memorable first installment is from Masafumi YABE, Head of the Corporate Strategy Unit!
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Masafumi YABE
●Department & Title： Executive Officer, Head of Corporate Development, Head of Corporate Strategy Unit
●Year Joined： 2021
●Education：Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo (BS & MA), China Europe International School (MBA)
●Career：
Joined Recruit Co., Ltd. after completing a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Tokyo. After being assigned to Shanghai, he joined a local start-up as the Chief Marketing Officer.
Received his MBA from the China Europe International Business School. After returning to Japan, he worked for IBM and SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) before joining beBit in 2021.
１：Tell us more about your background
I’ve experienced 4 companies, and beBit is my 5th. At Recruit Co.,Ltd., which I joined after graduating, I was assigned to Shanghai in the autumn of my 3rd year. There, I worked as a product manager until the end of 2008 when I was asked to return to Japan. As I wanted to stay in Shanghai, I decided to leave the company. Afterwards, I invested in a local Japanese startup and joined their team as the Chief Marketing Officer.
A short period later, I received my MBA from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) located in Shanghai and returned to Japan. After working in consulting, software marketing, and executive support at IBM Japan and spending 3 years in business development at SRI International (Stanford Research Institute), I joined beBit.
２：Why did you join beBit?
I met Nakajima-san (Katsuhiko NAKAJIMA: Executive Vice President of beBit) through a mutual friend back in 2011, 10 years prior to joining. Back then, beBit was looking for an individual who can speak the Chinese language and had local managing experience to expand business in Shanghai and Taipei. Unfortunately the position was not what I was looking for at the time, but I was approached many times over the next 10 years. It was an honor to be approached for such a long period of time, and felt strongly that at some point in my life I wanted to be of service to beBit.
３：Tell us about your department’s responsibilities and missions
I am currently the head of the Corporate Strategy Unit. As the name suggests, the Corporate Strategy Unit plans and executes strategies to maintain “Corporate == beBit as an organization”. Specifically, we are in charge of recruiting, internal training, global expansion, integration of global offices, raising funds, executing M&As, enhancing the managing structure, and building alliances with partners.
While this department, established in 2022, is new to beBit and can be difficult to understand, I feel this team will be essential to our success as we grow in size and plan expansions to new locations.
４：What does your team do best in the company?
It’s difficult to say what we’re “best” at, as there are many individuals who excel in many areas within the company. If I had to choose, I would say we excel at handling many jobs at the same time. This is a skill that I picked up while I was working as executive support at IBM.
IBM executives are directly connected to the global headquarters, which boasts 9 trillion yen in sales. Emails shower them every day, and because of the global time differences work piles up even as they sleep. Every morning I would wake up and go through the massive amounts of emails to organize the work that needed to be done. From noon, I would work on the tasks that needed to be done for Japan. Through this work environment, I learned to work from muscle memory as I had no time to think deeply about each task.
５：Tell us one thing you like most about beBit
This may come as a surprise, but I love the culture in which new grads can develop properly at a company of this scale. I felt it may surprise some people as it’s not related to UX.
It takes time and patiences to train new grads. Small companies tend to rely on hiring individuals with previous work experience to quicken the time until results are delivered, but this makes it very difficult to establish a company culture. As a person working to develop this organization, I feel the fact that beBit has continued to nurture its members even when the company was smaller is very important.
６：Tell us how members who (may) work with you should communicate with you
I’m of the belief that everyone can work as they would like to, but one thing I do ask is that you always respond to communication. If I message you on Slack, even a reaction is OK.
When I worked in foreign investment, I was surprised at how many people don’t respond to emails. It was difficult to schedule meetings because of the time difference, and there were often times in which I would be stuck waiting for people to respond to my emails. Because of this, I ask that anyone taking directions from me reacts or responds to my messages.
７：Are there any individuals in senior management with abilities you find amazing?
Everyone in senior management has achieved great success, and I cannot even begin to compare myself with them in their respective departments. Out of these great individuals, I’m often impressed by Shiozawa Yoichiro-san, who oversees the solution management team, and his conversational skills.
Whether it’s during interviews or meetings, Shiozawa-san speaks very softly without using any difficult words. In some ways, it feels like a conversation during drinks after work. It allows me to carry out the conversation in a relaxed manner, but afterwards I’m always left with all the information I was looking for. I guess I shouldn’t be fooled by the friendly smile and atmosphere!
８：Tell us your goals in your department, mid- to long-term vision, and what you expect from your team members
As a team that strives to strengthen the company as a whole, it’s difficult to have an exact goal. Currently, we are working hard to establish basic rules and infrastructures to handle beBit’s fast paced growth.
Our mid- to long-term vision is to create a flexible yet powerful organization to push our global expansion.
I would like my team members to contribute to the creation of an organization that leads the UX industry. Each member excels in a specific field, so I hope they can utilize those skills and deliver work they can take pride in.
９：Is there anything you would like to keep in mind for the future of beBit?
While the company is still small, the founders and employees can communicate effectively and the company culture can be maintained without any special measures. As we expand to new locations and new members join our company, culture is difficult to establish with just communication.
For beBit to grow, every member of the company must understand the thought process condensed into “1 trillion smiles” and our culture of valuing UX. This would be what I want to “keep in mind”. If at any point I struggle to make a decision, I will rely on these ideas to ensure that my team and I are working with the organization at the heart of our focus.
１０：Finally, a passionate message for the employees!
To the individuals working at beBit and the individuals who are going to join us - I hope that you have the skills and flexibility to accept change. beBit as a company has decided to grow at a speed that cannot be achieved through ordinary efforts.
As efforts beyond the ordinary are required, teams and individuals must work diligently to change. Each one of us is riding this wave of change, while at the same time creating new waves as well. Everyone has the same amount of time in a single day. I hope that we can enjoy the time we spend riding these waves and look back at how far we’ve come, together.
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