ZEN Pirates #11 Yosei - It's not that I want to change society. I CAN change it.

He always makes meticulous plans based on past experience, and has the future steps in his mind. Today, we had a chance to talk to him right before he left for a trip to East Europe. Let us reveal his life to see what he is thinking behind his handsome mask.

People Pursue Money. I Pursue Vision.

- Hi Yosei! Thank you so much for taking time even though you are just about to get on the flight! So, can you briefly introduce about yourself?

No problem! I can't wait to leave Japan though. Hi, I’m Yosei Ito, I was born and grew up in Tokyo. I’m actually a senior at Sophia University, majoring in law.

- Oh, you’re Japanese! You really look like a K-Pop star! You must be so popular at university.

Zenport is so international, but I’m pure Japanese, haha. I was in a dancesport team in the University, though I'm pretty tone deaf.

- That is amazing! What were you doing other than dancesport in university?

Well, I was basically dancing 24/7. But before joining Zenport, I was working for an order-suit company as an intern. I was in the web-marketing team, and it was so much fun. I was able to learn a lot about the PDCA principle, which really helps me in thinking of sales or marketing strategies now. However, working there for over half a year, I started feeling like moving on to the next step. I was anxious to challenge myself with something new, and something harder.

- I see it. Was that the reason why you joined Zenport?

It was definitely one of the reasons. Also, I was really attracted to the IT industry, how I can feel the excitement that young people like me have. Many of my friends were seeking high-salary careers like trading companies or consulting firms, but I didn’t like that trend. One more, and also the biggest reason is that as I was working in the IT industry like last company, I got a desire to change society regardless of borders. I’ve seen many people creating something from scratch based on the ideas of how they want to change the world, not how their companies want to change the world. That inspired me a lot because I have always had a dream about how our society should be like. I think this is not a time to talk about sociology, but simply stated, I believe that people who do the good things should be rewarded properly, while today’s world is full of exploitation. Anyway, that kind of “I want to change the society” became “I can change the society”. With all these together, I was looking for an IT startup in the early phases, where I can keep getting inspired and can learn “how” I can change the society. It was at that time when I was introduced Zenport, and I thought it was the perfect place because I can not only learn how a business provides new value to the society but also its vision was really similar to the vision that I had for the society.

IT Can Change The Society Beyond Borders

- That sounds staggering. I really admired how passionate you are and what a great vision you have. So, what are you doing in Zenport?

I’m in the PR team and the Growth team. In the PR team, I mainly write blogs. I’ve never engaged in the promotion before, but it’s really fun to share attractive points because people may wonder what we are doing or what we are thinking as an international team and as a pioneer of the new field. And in the Growth team, I basically support the sales of Toshi-san (CEO) and Fumi-san (COO). Recently, I made the paper manuals and the video manuals. It is really difficult but fun to imagine how our clients will feel because I have no trading experience.

- Yeah, you published this article just recently. You are such a help as our company is growing rapidly. So, can you let us know the vision that you have for what you are doing from now in Zenport, and also in your future career?

In Zenport, I simply want to contribute more because the company is small and our resources are limited. I want to improve my work to the extent of hearing from our client that they choose Zenport because of the material that I make. I will start working for a mega venture from next year after graduation, operating finance media. I chose that company as my first career choice because the Internet is changing society from its infrastructure. There are endless possibilities to where and how I can work, so I'm not that concerned in following a particular career path. One thing I’m sure about though is that I want to always have my first priority on the vision of how I want to change society. So, I want to be on the frontier of the world’s movement like the Internet, being sensitive to the movement and problems of society, so that I can solve them. And when I say “society”, I do not care about the borders. I want to expand the society that I change as much as possible.

- You really are “Zenport”, breaking down the borders and changing the world. Thank you for sharing that inspiring vision! Well, last but not least, what kind of person do you want to work with in Zenport?

In Japanese, there is a homonym called “自立心” and “自律心”, which mean “self-dependent” and “self- disciplined”. I want to work with someone like that. When we work as a team, we need to have a reason for what you are doing. We can learn from each other as working with reasons. You don’t need to verbalize it, but you can tell if someone is doing it because they are told to do it. Oh, also, someone who is kind and doesn’t get angry, because anger is not good… Anyway, we welcomed new members recently, and everyone is so nice and it’s so much fun to work with them. Come, join us!