Entrepreneurial job-hunting way in the States from Japan

Target Readership

First, here is the target audience for whom this article will be helpful.

1. those who are worried about getting an opportunity to come to the U.S. and work as an immigrant

2. those who are worried about finding a job after MBA abroad

3. those who are wondering what to do next after M&A or selling their company Serial entrepreneurs who are worried about what to do next after M&A or sale of their company.

What opportunities was I going to take as a matter of policy?

I would like to start with an article I wrote at the time I retired as president of a group company of a listed company I was managing in Japan. First, I recommend that you stop sending out information only in Japanese and start sending out information in English right away. I continue to disseminate information in English using Linkedin. When I quit the Japanese listed group company subsidiary president position, I wrote the following article.

I thought to myself, as I wrote in my blog, that opportunities existed where I could overlap my interests and what I could do after I retired as president. In my case, I thought that the opportunities, when verbalized, could be summarized into the following three opportunities.

(1) Launching and expanding a Japanese subsidiary of a foreign tech company

(2) M&A and PMI execution overseas for Japanese companies

(3) Overseas IR for Japanese listed companies, including M&A and PMI strategies

How to expand connections with people who were moving immediately after arriving in the U.S.

I valued the three connections I made and was able to build trusting relationships in the United States. Instead of attending networking events at random, I prioritized meeting directly with people who were introduced to me by people whom I had trusted, who told me that if I were in the U.S., I should go to see them. I then built up relationships of trust with the people I had sushi parties with and the people I had thought up investment hypotheses with, through chance encounters at sushi dinners and by joining the community of people setting up VC firms.

1. recommendations from others

I was very grateful for this because when I first came to the U.S., I had virtually no contacts. However, while I was originally allowed to work as a subsidiary president in a Japanese listed group company, people I met told me that Mr. Atago had gone to the West Coast of the U.S., didn't they? Why don't you go meet him? I have not been able to count the exact number of such contacts, but I received at least several dozen.

I was so grateful that I made time to meet and talk with all the people who were introduced to me by people with whom I originally had a trusting relationship. I told each person who introduced me that I had met with them and thanked them for their time. In fact, the job I finally got, working for Ajinomoto in the U.S., was also based on a recommendation from this type of person. I am very grateful.

2. Sushi Making Party

When I came to the U.S., I immediately noticed that although there is an English barrier, as is the case when conversing in Japanese, it is difficult to continue a conversation if there are no common interests to talk about.

It would be nice if I already had a wealth of accomplishments as a businessman in the U.S., but I didn't have those accomplishments yet. Even if I told them about the accomplishments I had achieved with only a small team in Japan, it would be difficult for them to understand what I was talking about because it was only in Japan. So I thought of a way to start the conversation with sushi, which I love. Sushi is a word that is not unknown to most people. I am a sushi master, and my classmates, professors, and friends around me in San Francisco have been calling me by the nickname "Taisho" ever since I arrived here.

Later, after making and eating sushi together and getting to know each other, we began to talk more in-depth by telling each other about our detailed backgrounds, what we have done, and what we would like to work on in the future, and gradually our English speaking ability has improved I am now able to talk more in-depth (although I still have some issues to work on).

If you are interested in learning how to make sushi, please sign up for "Taisho Sushi Making" here! In the U.S., the sushi master is considered to be the hero of American comic books, even more so than Spiderman or Batman.

3. VC Lab/GoingVC

After arriving in the area, I was able to learn from several people that there are several communities involved in VC. While picking up information from non-Japanese people, I decided to join a program called VC Lab, which was run specifically for people who were going to start up a VC firm and sounded interesting. By participating in this program, in addition to finding people I could talk about investment hypotheses with, I was able to learn how to look at things from a VC perspective, where in my case I had a strong entrepreneurial background!

I also thought that I would like to do VC Lab Japan. I feel that the connections I have made here will definitely be a plus for my future business development in frozen foods, especially frozen desserts, in North America, while finding business partners. I participated in this program with the investment hypothesis that I would invest in the food area, which I am currently immersed in, and in the B2B area, which I am originally good at.

Specific actions

I don't assume anything before I do it. I like to act as if I can do it, see the results of my actions as they are in fact, and take improvement activities, so I took the following steps.

1. online, I applied for 100 job postings, but I could not pass on them

In Japan, I would get scouts from headhunters, and I had basically never experienced much trouble with job-hunting interviews. So the first thing I did was to accept the fact that I had applied for so many jobs and had received so little response. Having worked through this behavior, I was able to make up my mind to stop applying for jobs without referrals from other people.

2. connect and speak directly to the person with HR authority to get the opportunity.

Very gratefully, if a person introduced me to someone, would you like to work with me? I was able to receive 5/5 offers to do so. With the help of the people around me, I was able to feel that "depending on your approach and way of thinking, you can even work in the U.S." I am grateful to the people who supported me and happy that I was able to experience my belief that "anything is possible depending on your approach and way of thinking" in this challenge as well. I am grateful to those who supported us and happy to have experienced my belief that "anything is possible depending on your way of thinking and approach.

Last Chance Selection

(1) I want to be a bridge between Japan and the U.S.

(2)I want to be the best in the world in the food industry.

(3) I want to utilize my experience in M&A, PMI, and new business development that I have gained so far with my small team.

As a result of combining these three factors, I was given the opportunity to work at　Ajinomoto Food North America as an intern, and then in September, I was given a very valuable opportunity to work locally at an office near Los Angeles. I am grateful for this opportunity.

One basic piece of advice for job hunting in the U.S. is to not change more than two things (because even just changing the country you work in is a big change).

In my case, I would do new business development in the US in the area of frozen foods, especially frozen desserts, making the most of my experience in IT. The opportunity to be responsible for new business development in the North American frozen foods market, especially in the area of frozen desserts, is very exciting for me. I would like to introduce a little bit about this market as well.

The global frozen food market size was $282 billion (about 30 trillion yen) in 2021. And it is projected to reach $519.8 billion (about 55 trillion yen) by 2031. This is a large market, comparable in size to the computer market, which is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1% from 2022 to 2031. Relative to the growth rate of the computer market, this is a market that is expanding at 2-3 times the rate of the computer market, despite its enormous size. Focusing on the U.S. market alone, the U.S. frozen food market was worth approximately $57.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach approximately $83.4 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% from 2022 to 2030.

I believe that frozen foods are an area where Japan's strong production and quality control technologies can be utilized, and in this area, I believe we can become the world's No. 1.

Of course, I am also keeping a close eye on the revolutionary development of AI and wondering how it can be applied to the food industry. I want to make full use of my experience as an entrepreneur who originally came from a tech startup based in Tokyo. Therefore, I am always keeping my antenna in the viewpoint of AI technology utilization in the food industry. There is a problem of recruiting people in the food area, and labor wages continue to rise in the United States. In San Francisco, where I live, the minimum hourly wage is 3,500 yen (as of June 2024) due to the weak yen and inflation in the U.S. In such an environment, how to consider labor costs? I am certain that the trend will become more important in this environment.

In Japan, Timee has gone public, and in the U.S., Instawork has advanced to the Series D round. In both Japan and the U.S., the spot work market in the food and logistics fields is also booming. How can we improve productivity in this area while also utilizing the power of AI? From the perspective of someone who has been in the human resources business for a long time, I see this as a very exciting and exciting opportunity.

Of course, I would like to make the most of my experience as an entrepreneur and manager in the HR tech field and the connections I have made there, but to be honest, working in the U.S. is completely new to me. To begin with, I have only started speaking English on a daily basis since I moved to the U.S. a year and two months ago and started living in San Francisco.

As something I told myself in order to get the opportunity to work in the U.S. first, I told myself that it is important to believe that anything is possible, but it is also important to always be objective from the other person's point of view and think about how you look like? At the same time, I told myself that it is also important to think about how I look from the other person's point of view. Why don't we start with a new business here in the hood and do it? Why don't you try reaching out to these companies? Why don't you talk to them first so I can introduce you to this person? I am grateful for the numerous helping hands (some Japanese, some non-Japanese) who gave me a lot of productive feedback.

The fact that the degree to which I could speak and hear English was gradually increasing also helped in the end, in terms of getting a wide range of such helpers at a minimum. If you cannot consult in English, your opportunities are still limited. Even when consulting with immigration attorneys, I would run into the problem of not being able to ask the questions I wanted to ask in English.

And Ajinomoto is a company with the following characteristics. In fact, when I had the opportunity to speak with the president of Ajinomoto North America for the first time, I immediately asked him whether I could work there.

First of all, I would like to focus on producing fact-based results and doing a good job at Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc.

(a)Ajinomoto has the world's top share in the production and sale of umami seasonings (MSG), providing umami seasonings in more than 130 countries

(b)Ajinomoto is a leading company in the frozen foods field

(c)Ajinomoto's corporate value is approximately 3 trillion yen (May 2024)

The last adjustment of conditions

I thought it was necessary to learn how to talk to people when they actually asked me to work for them. Unlike in Japan, the interview process is different in that both a resume and a cover letter are required. As an immigrant, it is also essential to understand the visa process and which visa to use to obtain a job opportunity. Understanding the visa process is also essential.

CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, L1, E2, O1, Green Card (EB1, EB2, EB3) Understand the differences in their nature and which route is best for you. Think about it.

As for visas, it is a really difficult question. By having the experience of coming from Japan to the U.S. and working here, I feel that I have gained a great deal of respect for those who come to Japan from other countries to live and work. It is difficult to empathize with their hardships unless you are put in their shoes. I was born and raised in Japan, and including my work experience since I was a student, there is a big gap between what I had seen and what I saw during the 12 years I worked in Japan, and what I saw has changed 180 degrees. I also saw many wonderful things about Japan. Also, when negotiating terms and conditions, the principle is to have clear non-negotiable points and negotiable points. In my case, the top priority was to get visa sponsorship. My first priority was to get the opportunity to work in the U.S. and to work in the U.S.

Is an MBA worth it in the US? However, from the perspective of finding a job in the U.S., the OPT, and STEM OPT programs give you the opportunity to work in the U.S. for up to 3 years, and I honestly believe that this is the most valuable aspect of an MBA, putting aside the content of the coursework. Of course, making friends from all over the world is a priceless value!

I am also using this OPT visa at first, and at the same time applying for a visa that can be further utilized in the mid- to long-term. It is good to have the desire to start a business or work in the U.S., but in order to make it an attainable goal and not just a dream, it is important to do things step by step and in a systematic manner. I am still in daily communication with all of our immigration attorneys.

Finally, when I looked at this American job-hunting process from a bird's eye view, I felt that it was very similar to the M&A negotiations I had completed in Japan. I had originally established a business in the human resources field and managed a company, so I mistakenly thought that I was knowledgeable about the job search process, but I was surprised at how different the job search process is between the U.S. and Japan. I was surprised at how different the job search process is between the U.S. and Japan. This is probably one of the reasons why I came up with the idea of trying to bring something overseas from Japan in the human resource-related business, but I could not imagine it going very well.

Having at least three offers will make it easier to negotiate; it is difficult to negotiate in a situation where you only have one offer. It is recommended that you research the area, the position, and its salary and conditions on salary.com or other sites before proceeding with negotiations.

What I want to accomplish next with my team after completing my job search in the U.S.

I have been running my business in Japan for 10 years, and the connections and relationships I have made there have helped me this time as well. I am grateful for that. I also have many friends, benefactors, and family in Japan. They have always pushed me strongly. And now that I live on the West Coast of the U.S., the friends and benefactors I have met since coming to the U.S. have pushed me even harder.

With their support, I wondered why in the world I continue to challenge myself, with my team, and with everyone. I felt it again. I am a person who is motivated by the sentence I am about to express here.

Through my business, I will show people that anything is possible, depending on how you think and what you do. In order to convey this message, I continue to take on challenges with my team. First of all, I was given the opportunity to work in the U.S., and I am keeping my antennae up for the following three things.

(1) I want to be a bridge between Japan and the U.S.

(2)I want to be the best in the world in the food industry.

(3)I want to utilize my experience in M&A, PMI, and new business development, which I have done so far with one team.

For the sake of those who gave me the opportunity to step into the batter's box, I would like to take a full swing, and with one team, achieve fact-based results in new business development in the area of frozen foods, especially frozen desserts, by making the most of my experience in IT at Ajinomoto North America.

If this can be achieved with fact-based figures, wouldn't it be a dream come true? I think it is a dream. I am confident that we will be able to meet the next challenge if we work together with our team. I will not forget the spirit of "conveying through our business that anything is possible, depending on how you think and what you do.

"We can do it"Thank you for reading my blog! You can do it!