Transforming buried technologies into hidden gems, refining them rapidly to continuously create new businesses.

New President Satoshi Konno Speaks on BIRD INITIATIVE's Challenges and Mission

In this interview, we spoke with Satoshi Konno, who has recently been appointed CEO of BIRD INITIATIVE, about his career journey, the background behind his appointment, business strategy, the role the organization plays in society, and his vision for the future.

Table of contents
1. Introduction of the CEO and Career Background
2. Company Mission and Vision
3. Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage
4. Corporate Culture and Organizational Development
5. Future Outlook

01Introduction of the CEO and Career Background

Q: Could you tell us about your career and professional experience so far?

For the past 30 years, I have consistently been involved in the front lines of new business creation. Although often challenging, I’ve repeatedly taken on the exciting and addictive world of starting from scratch (“zero to one”) and scaling businesses (“one to ten”), a realm so compelling that once you step in, it's hard to step away.

For the first 10 years, I focused primarily on mastering foundational, enduring technologies, beginning my career as an IT infrastructure engineer. Along the way, I supported and launched new ventures leveraging cutting-edge technologies, earning a President’s Award and being sent to pursue an MBA in the U.S. These experiences marked the beginning of my journey as a venture capitalist.

Over the following 20 years, I honed my perspective as an investor, serving as the lead capital manager for 23 companies. Of those, 13 successfully went public, building a solid track record of supporting startup growth (as of the end of March 2025).

I also co-founded a software development venture for data centers in Los Angeles, growing the team to around 60 members and successfully leading the company to an exit. In addition, I participated in the formation of a government-backed intellectual property fund worth approximately 30 billion yen, contributing to the creation of over 20 billion yen in upside. Through these experiences, I have gained hands-on expertise in driving business growth by integrating finance, investment, intellectual property, and intangible assets.

Since then, I have continued to support business growth by leveraging a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates technology, investment, and intellectual property strategies. This includes launching an IP-focused investment fund and serving as a startup mentor for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Japan Patent Office, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Q: Could you tell us about the background that led to you taking the helm of BIRD INITIATIVE?

As a venture capitalist and angel investor, I have supported numerous startups over the years. Among them, I have placed particular focus on fostering startups that emerge from large corporations — so-called “carve-out ventures.”

While many startups are founded by students or young entrepreneurs, strengthening Japan’s long-term competitiveness requires the growth of startups that leverage the technologies and expertise held by large corporations.

Against this backdrop, I was approached by BIRD founder Mr. Kitase and NEC CTO Mr. Nishihara, who expressed their desire to entrust BIRD to me as a new platform for bold challenges. I believe they saw a strong alignment between BIRD’s vision and my multifaceted background—as an engineer, investor, entrepreneur, and intellectual property strategist.

Q: Are there any individuals or events that have influenced you?

The greatest influence on me has been my father. He started out as an engineer and later went on to serve as the president of a U.S. subsidiary of a major Japanese corporation, working on a global stage. Watching him up close from a young age—his dedication to his work and employees, and his willingness to embrace new challenges—has had a profound impact on my own career. I also believe my fundamental love for technology stems largely from him. He nurtured my interest by guiding me toward pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering and giving me early exposure to computers and programming languages.

02Company Mission and Vision

Q: How do you view the mission of BIRD INITIATIVE?

BIRD’s mission is to be a company that continuously creates new ventures, known as “KOTORI” (＝new businesses).

What we aim for is not merely offering ideas or theoretical concepts, but actually creating businesses that move markets and make a real impact on society. Rather than focusing on short-term profits, we are committed to building sustainable businesses over the long term by developing strong differentiators and dedicating ourselves to technology-driven business creation.

BIRD Will Not Be This!
We will never become a consulting firm that “abandons support” after initial assistance.
We will not be a company that only produces reports without launching new businesses.
We will not be a company that just presents new business ideas that do not lead to profits.

BIRD is committed to remaining an "executor of new ventures" and a "place that creates business breakthroughs."

Q: How do you view BIRD INITIATIVE's contribution to society?

KOTORI is not just about new ventures; it must solve "social challenges" through the power of technology. By achieving this, BIRD’s creation of numerous KOTORI will ultimately lead to solving many social issues and become a driving force for shaping the future.

We will maximize the potential of technology, take on unresolved social challenges, and create new value, contributing from Japan to the world and into the future.

03Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage

Q: Could you tell us about your current core businesses?

At BIRD, we leverage our core strengths to focus on the following two main business areas.

（1）Consulting for New Business Creation Originating from R&D and Technology Development

Leveraging the insights gained from our past support achievements, we assist in discovering breakthrough technologies buried within large corporations and research institutions. We support the entire new business creation process—from exploration and validation to commercialization—utilizing these technologies. A key feature is our ability to handle the highly challenging “carve-out” approach, which involves external fundraising, thereby enhancing the feasibility of social implementation. We go beyond mere advisory services by actively supporting the execution phase, accelerating both the launch and growth of businesses. Of course, we also provide growth acceleration and synergy-focused support for the establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries or joint ventures beyond carve-outs.

（2）Carve-Out Studio Business (Trademarked as "Carve out Studio®")

Through BIRD’s unique “Carve-Out Studio Model,” which refines business plans, builds organizational structures, and guides startups swiftly from inception to company establishment—including exit strategies and fundraising—we aim to rapidly generate a large number of startups. By incorporating flexible support systems that integrate external perspectives such as investors, often lacking in new ventures from large corporations, we significantly increase the success rate of new businesses while enabling business creation and scaling using external capital and insights.

Q. How does a “carve-out” differ from a spin-out where a company creates a wholly owned subsidiary?

A carve-out might be unfamiliar to some, but it refers to the process of separating and spinning off non-core businesses or new technologies within a large corporation to create new startups or operating companies. This approach is a common business development method in Western countries and has been gaining attention in Japan in recent years.

Among these, rather than simply establishing a wholly owned subsidiary funded 100% by the parent company, BIRD promotes an “entrepreneur-led” carve-out model that increases management autonomy through external fundraising.

In this model, motivated business managers within large corporations become entrepreneurs themselves, collaborating with BIRD and external investors to establish new companies. The introduction of external capital allows for greater flexibility in growth strategies, enabling faster decision-making and a more market-oriented approach that traditional subsidiary models could not achieve.

Furthermore, BIRD consistently supports carve-outs from the conceptual stage through refining business plans, fundraising, establishment procedures, and initial customer acquisition. By bridging entrepreneurs aiming for new challenges and corporations, we accelerate the creation of businesses that pave the way to the future.

※ For those who would like to know more about entrepreneur-led carve-outs, we refer you to the following Guidance on Entrepreneur-Led Carve-Out Practices published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Please take a look at page 10, "Significance as a business company."

URL：https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/tech_promotion/curveout_guidance.pdf

Q: What do you consider to be your competitive advantage within the industry?

BIRD’s greatest competitive advantage lies in its unique know-how that dramatically increases the success rate of new business creation, supported by an execution environment built to back it up.

A key strength lies in our practical ability to build systems based on the international standard Innovation Management System ISO 56002, which we have developed through supporting new business creation in large corporations. The ISO 56000 series is an international standard designed to systematically promote innovation activities within organizations on a continuous basis, providing a framework that covers everything from strategy formulation to execution and evaluation. BIRD applies this framework flexibly according to each company’s unique challenges and culture, taking an approach that embeds it as an effective, operational system within the organization—far beyond mere formal adoption.

BIRD’s Driving Force!
We are a specialist team focused exclusively on new business creation originating from large corporations.
With a culture that values “trial and error” over “preparation,” we believe in first taking action and “just giving it a try!”
With our in-house development team, we rapidly build MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) to accelerate validation at lightning speed.
By leveraging generative AI, we can boost the productivity of new business creation by 100 times.
We build systems that leverage intellectual property strategies as powerful tools for business growth.

By combining these elements, we are creating businesses at speeds and scales that were previously unattainable with traditional methods.

04Corporate Culture and Organizational Development

Q: What kind of corporate culture do you value?

We deeply value the commitment to “never abandon support.” This means that at every phase of business assistance, we go beyond mere verbal advice and actively accompany KOTORI until it truly “takes flight.” Even if BIRD’s support concludes at some point, we approach our work responsibly, believing that our involvement will serve as valuable experience for KOTORI’s future growth.

Q: What values and mindset do you expect from your employees?

New ventures come with a mountain of challenges. It’s certainly not an easy path, but fundamentally, we believe it’s important to embrace innovation positively—as something “fun and addictive” that you simply can’t give up on.

It’s a world full of things you can’t understand without trying. While tackling challenges that emerge only after taking action can be tough, the excitement of venturing into the unknown, the sense of accomplishment upon achieving goals, and the personal growth gained step by step—these positive aspects are what truly matter. We want to work with team members who find value in this forward-looking mindset.

Q: What initiatives are you taking to foster organizational growth?

We hold irregular in-house study sessions called “BIRDEMY,” providing a platform for members with diverse backgrounds to share their experiences and candid insights gained from projects after their completion. Additionally, we organize casual social gatherings known as “Visa Meetings” (lunch meetups) to promote natural communication among employees.

Through these initiatives, we are promoting the creation of an environment where the sharing of knowledge and the cultivation of a growth mindset happen naturally.

05Future Outlook

Q: Could you share your growth strategy for the future in more detail?

At BIRD, we accelerate sustainable growth through the following three steps.

Step 1: Exploration and validation of business opportunities through consulting services
We identify promising technologies and intellectual property within the technology assets that large corporations and research institutions have developed through significant investment of time and funds. We provide hands-on support in exploring new business opportunities, assessing whether the technology holds the potential to shine when refined, and polishing it through validation to prepare it for KOTORI (new business creation).

Step 2: Creating and scaling KOTORI through the Carve-out Studio business
By leveraging insights from external experts and investors, we continuously nurture scalable startups. BIRD aims to be the birthplace of the next generation of unicorn companies.

Step 3: Establishing a growth engine through revenue model development from KOTORI
The success of the startups we create generates profits in various forms, including dividend income, business sale gains, and revenue or profit sharing. These returns are then reinvested into creating more KOTORI, helping to build a sustainable ecosystem for business creation.

Through this ecosystem, we aim for BIRD itself to become the "parent" of next-generation unicorn companies.

Q: Could you share your thoughts as the CEO?

BIRD is not a company that merely follows trends; we aspire to be a creator of the future itself. In other words, we are the “market maker” of new business creation!

We plan to publish the "Future Technology Report 2035" by this summer. Moving forward, we will continue to update this report annually, looking ahead at technologies 10 years into the future, to proactively anticipate upcoming societal needs.

Rather than waiting for technological evolution, BIRD aims to take the lead by transcending corporate boundaries and collaborating with government, academic institutions, and startups to create the industries of the future.

Q: Lastly, could you share a message?

BIRD is not just a company that supports new business ventures.
As a player shaping the future, BIRD aims to lead Japan’s industrial competitiveness and continuously create new value!