Since September in 2023, the Japanese startup company Elephantech joined in the 1st Batch of LITEON+ Accelerator program at the X SITE. The co-founder Masaaki Sugimoto and Shintaro Ozaki who is responsible for overseas sales, take turns flying back and forth between Taiwan and Japan. Below are the highlights of this interview.
Masaaki Sugimoto is the Co-founder of Elephantech Inc., formerly known as AgIC Inc. in 2014. Appointed as a Director in 2014. He holds a Master of Science degree from the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo.
Shintaro Ozaki was born in Tokyo and is 46 years old now. He majored in commerce at Meiji University. After graduation, He stayed in 3 companies, and Elephantech was the third one. He joined in this company after its mass production and has specialized in overseas sales for 3 years.
Masaaki Sugimoto: I majored in Earth and Planetary Science at the University of Tokyo, but at the same time, I was very interested in the aerospace field and started several projects on my own. At that time, Japanese university students were the first in the world to successfully launch the world's smallest satellite (known as COTS) using parts that could be purchased in Akihabara rather than expensive spacecraft parts.
I was impressed by their activities and learned that it does not take only a few experts to start with DIY to create the next generation and that serious amateur challengers can innovate and become the next generation of professionals. This experience helped me to challenge myself in a field related to electronics manufacturing, which is far from my university specialty. In Japan, it is said that strangers, idiots, and young people will change the next generation. I believe we must have been like that. Or still like that.
Masaaki Sugimoto: That’s why I decided to open a café nearby the University of Tokyo in 2008. The cafe was the analogy of the “common room” of Domi. The common room is a sharing living room. This special place grabbed so many interesting people, including the students and teachers from the University of Tokyo. They came here to exchange ideas. When many specialists drank coffee together, what happened? Easy to get a new idea. Maybe there is an angel investor walking around, too. What happened? Easy to launch some projects to implement the idea or proof of concept in the market. You can make it; you can do it. So this is what I want to make, the new culture. So I made the café.
At first I launched this pool table. It means the projection machine, pool table. After that, I tried to buy not only 3D printer, but printed circuit board printer. But my co-founder introduced me to inkjet manufacturing circuit. However, we cannot buy it because it was not in the market. So I said, why don't we make a company to launch this technology in the market? That's the beginning of my company.
Thanks to this space, I and the co-founder Shinya San, as well as Prof. Kawahara formed the core R&D team for Elephantech.
Masaaki Sugimoto: Elephants are revered creatures in Hinduism and Buddhism, known for their intelligence and the ability to overcome any challenges despite their slow pace.
Moreover, the combination of Elephantech consists of Ele + Fun + Tech, with the aim of hoping that each employee can enjoy developing new technology and contributing to the world.
Shintaro Ozaki: I am 46 years-old now and was born in Tokyo. I major in business in the University and worked for three different companies after graduation, with Elephantech being the third. I joined this company after participating in the 'first-stage mass production' in 2020 and has been in charge of overseas sales for three years. Elephantech as a somewhat well-known startup in Japan, differs in many aspects from traditional companies. For example, the management team is relatively young, the company atmosphere is akin to a school environment, less formal language is used during communication, and the company culture is more relaxed and informal.
Similar to Elephantech's product, P-Flex, the company culture is characterized by being flat, flexible, and transparent. The term 'flat' refers to the lack of hierarchy, fostering a more equal interaction among team members. 'Flexible' pertains to the work time/methods, as Elephantech allows employees to work remotely from different locations. However, to facilitate communication, the company has established a 'Core Time' system, encouraging employees to be in the office or online between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm for timely communication.
Transparency is a distinctive aspect of Elephantech's corporate culture and also one of the reasons why I chose to join this company. Transparency refers to the 'transparency of information flow,' where communication between employees and internal/external parties is open for everyone to know, including discussions among management levels, aiming to maintain a culture without secrets. While, like any policy, it can have both positive and negative impacts, transparency fosters a sense of trust among employees, helps prevent misunderstandings and suspicions caused by concealment or gossip.
Masaaki Sugimoto: “Transparent” means visible communication from management to execution level. Running a company is like playing a soccer game. Whether to pass or defend, move forward or backward, what the next steps are—all of this information (except for personal privacy) comes from transparency, enabling quick action within it. Transparency promotes efficient communication among team members.
Masaaki Sugimoto: The seven cultures are not what we are. That are what we want to be. Culture is made by many behaviors. Many behaviors made by decisions. Many decisions make one culture. We make this public on our website because it is also helpful for hiring people. We attract the people who admire these cultures and the right people join our team.
Since September in 2023, the Japanese startup company Elephantech joined in the 1st Batch of LITEON+ Accelerator program at the X SITE. The co-founder Masaaki Sugimoto and Shintaro Ozaki who is responsible for overseas sales, take turns flying back and forth between Taiwan and Japan. Below are the highlights of this interview.
Masaaki Sugimoto: I majored in Earth and Planetary Science at the University of Tokyo, but at the same time, I was very interested in the aerospace field and started several projects on my own. At that time, Japanese university students were the first in the world to successfully launch the world's smallest satellite (known as COTS) using parts that could be purchased in Akihabara rather than expensive spacecraft parts.
I was impressed by their activities and learned that it does not take only a few experts to start with DIY to create the next generation and that serious amateur challengers can innovate and become the next generation of professionals. This experience helped me to challenge myself in a field related to electronics manufacturing, which is far from my university specialty. In Japan, it is said that strangers, idiots, and young people will change the next generation. I believe we must have been like that. Or still like that.
Masaaki Sugimoto: That’s why I decided to open a café nearby the University of Tokyo in 2008. The cafe was the analogy of the “common room” of Domi. The common room is a sharing living room. This special place grabbed so many interesting people, including the students and teachers from the University of Tokyo. They came here to exchange ideas. When many specialists drank coffee together, what happened? Easy to get a new idea. Maybe there is an angel investor walking around, too. What happened? Easy to launch some projects to implement the idea or proof of concept in the market. You can make it; you can do it. So this is what I want to make, the new culture. So I made the café.
At first I launched this pool table. It means the projection machine, pool table. After that, I tried to buy not only 3D printer, but printed circuit board printer. But my co-founder introduced me to inkjet manufacturing circuit. However, we cannot buy it because it was not in the market. So I said, why don't we make a company to launch this technology in the market? That's the beginning of my company.
Thanks to this space, I and the co-founder Shinya San, as well as Prof. Kawahara formed the core R&D team for Elephantech.
Masaaki Sugimoto: Elephants are revered creatures in Hinduism and Buddhism, known for their intelligence and the ability to overcome any challenges despite their slow pace.
Moreover, the combination of Elephantech consists of Ele + Fun + Tech, with the aim of hoping that each employee can enjoy developing new technology and contributing to the world.
Shintaro Ozaki: I am 46 years-old now and was born in Tokyo. I major in business in the University and worked for three different companies after graduation, with Elephantech being the third. I joined this company after participating in the 'first-stage mass production' in 2020 and has been in charge of overseas sales for three years. Elephantech as a somewhat well-known startup in Japan, differs in many aspects from traditional companies. For example, the management team is relatively young, the company atmosphere is akin to a school environment, less formal language is used during communication, and the company culture is more relaxed and informal.
Similar to Elephantech's product, P-Flex, the company culture is characterized by being flat, flexible, and transparent. The term 'flat' refers to the lack of hierarchy, fostering a more equal interaction among team members. 'Flexible' pertains to the work time/methods, as Elephantech allows employees to work remotely from different locations. However, to facilitate communication, the company has established a 'Core Time' system, encouraging employees to be in the office or online between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm for timely communication.
Transparency is a distinctive aspect of Elephantech's corporate culture and also one of the reasons why I chose to join this company. Transparency refers to the 'transparency of information flow,' where communication between employees and internal/external parties is open for everyone to know, including discussions among management levels, aiming to maintain a culture without secrets. While, like any policy, it can have both positive and negative impacts, transparency fosters a sense of trust among employees, helps prevent misunderstandings and suspicions caused by concealment or gossip.
Masaaki Sugimoto: “Transparent” means visible communication from management to execution level. Running a company is like playing a soccer game. Whether to pass or defend, move forward or backward, what the next steps are—all of this information (except for personal privacy) comes from transparency, enabling quick action within it. Transparency promotes efficient communication among team members.
Masaaki Sugimoto: The seven cultures are not what we are. That are what we want to be. Culture is made by many behaviors. Many behaviors made by decisions. Many decisions make one culture. We make this public on our website because it is also helpful for hiring people. We attract the people who admire these cultures and the right people join our team.
