Dots and Inc., founded in 2019, is a professional firm specializing in new business creation support. Its purpose is to continuously create innovative businesses that can be called innovation, and with strengths in reproducible and necessary new business creation methods, the company runs alongside various companies in their new business creation.
Representative Director and President Sho Noda founded the company after consulting experience at Accenture Inc. With the goal of implementing in society a system to create valuable new businesses through “community”-style collaboration where professionals work across organizational boundaries, he is vigorously developing activities. This time we asked President Noda about his journey to entrepreneurship and his thoughts on innovation and “community”-style organizations.
Sho Noda
After graduating from Keio University’s Faculty of Business and Commerce, joined Accenture Inc. In the strategy group, he led multiple PJTs including new business strategy formulation, marketing strategy formulation, DX concept formulation/execution support, and M&A strategy formulation. Manager in 2015, Senior Manager in 2018. With the desire to create a new form of professional community that continuously creates businesses that will become the common sense of the future in an unpredictable era, he founded Dots and Inc. in 2019 and became Representative Director and President.
From the desire to “deliver valuable businesses to society,” went from consultant to entrepreneur
——President Noda, were you aiming for entrepreneurship from a young age?
No, that’s not the case. I often read books and thought about things since childhood, but I didn’t think much about my career path. However, I liked the idea of independence—thinking and acting on my own—and from an early stage I had the desire to do what I find enjoyable and to launch a place myself where I could do that.
——After graduating from university, you joined Accenture Inc.
I had thoughts about wanting to learn in a large organization and gaining experience considering the possibility of starting my own business, but the biggest motivation was wanting to do work that creates valuable businesses through deep reflection and exhaustive thinking.
At Accenture, I belonged to the strategy department and started my career with consulting specializing mainly in marketing. After becoming manager, I mainly handled cases such as DX, new business, and M&A strategy formulation.
——You were promoted to Senior Manager but soon after established Dots and Inc. What thoughts led you to decide to start a company?
I really liked the consulting work I did for 9 years. Putting forth my best within set periods to produce the best deliverables toward goals—the process had strictness and tension, but there was great fulfillment and accomplishment.
But consulting is ultimately consulting, and I had doubts about whether I was actually producing results for the world. Can I dedicate my life to this work? When I asked myself this, I confirmed that I had a strong desire to create valuable real benefit for the world, to deliver businesses that move people’s hearts and greatly change the world, and to engage with society in such a way. So I decided to start a business.
——Your company runs business specialized in new business creation.
Our company is a professional firm specializing in supporting corporate new business creation, with two main businesses.
One is the corporate transformation acceleration business. This runs alongside client companies seeking the next pillar business for sustainable development, supporting realization of new business creation.
The other is the business creation studio business. In this, we ourselves as business owners use our own capital and work on creating new businesses while collaborating with external partners.
—— What kind of companies are your clients?
Thanks to many companies, we’ve received inquiries from various industries since founding, supporting new business creation for major corporate clients such as Lion Corporation, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., and Haseko Corporation.
Aiming for innovative new business creation that can be called innovation through reproducible and necessary methods
——Could you tell us your company’s characteristics and strengths?
Our business purpose is “to continuously create innovative businesses that can be called innovation.” The core of our new business creation is a method called “Innovation Science.” In our modern era with many uncertain factors, there are many “variables” to consider in creating innovation. Premising this, we deeply observe situations, deeply consider based on insights, and then take rational approaches.
What’s often seen in other new business consulting is that consulting firms serve as secretariat, host new business proposal competitions, and gather new business ideas. In our new business creation support, we firmly analyze the strengths and assets client companies have cultivated through existing business operations, organize structure while also considering market trends, and find new business “seeds” such as “this area might be good” or “this kind of business should be done.”
Thus, the rationality-focused business creation process is scientific, with reproducibility and necessity. It also makes rapid small starts easier as the first step in creating and nurturing business, enabling speedy verification of whether the business will be accepted and whether it can be established as a valuable business. This method is our characteristic and strength among many new business firms.
Of course, we don’t deny the method of creating businesses from completely new business ideas, and in the new business development process, there are situations requiring “jumps” rather than just extending existing business. In any case, we’re conscious of producing track record and real benefit, having some impact on the world.
——We heard you started new initiatives from 2024.
Yes, we’ve started the “Innovation Trend Research” business that globally analyzes market trends in each industry from a “bird’s-eye view” to decipher innovation trends.
When companies seek new business creation, understanding market trends becomes a great weapon, and having more perspectives for considering new businesses makes expanding thinking easier. We started deployment hoping it would be used as an initial thread.
——This time you’re recruiting for the corporate transformation acceleration business that supports client companies’ new business creation. How do you progress projects in this business?
Commitment forms are diverse. Some cases involve us consistently from initial concept formulation to actual business launch, while others have us helping with parts of projects. We’re currently progressing multiple new business development projects, such as promoting solution business concepts utilizing specific new technologies and launching businesses in new fields through alliances with other industries.
For each case, we form a team and tackle the project. Team members consist of internal members and external partner members, each handling business, UX, technology, etc. External partner members often join in the technology portion. Team scale varies, adjusted by case situation.
Those newly joining through this recruitment will mainly enter new business cases, taking on new creation support for client companies. In the process, they may also engage in DX, strategy, and marketing cases to acquire base skills.
Ideal is “community”-style collaboration connecting professionals. We seek talent with proactivity, honesty, and thinking ability
——How many employees do you currently have?
Including myself, 4 full-time employees, but we have about 15 external partners working on contract.
——What’s the reason you’re hiring this time?
The origin of founding our company that I continue to hold is the desire to seek a collaboration form like a professional “community”—where each capable professional, autonomous individuals, form teams flatly across boundaries, collaborate leveraging each other’s strengths, and create high results. We want to take on the role of a hub connecting individuals within that “community.”
To continuously create new values for the world, we of course pursue certain revenue and aim for business continuation and expansion, but the form we envision is the prosperity of the entire “community,” not enlarging the company organization itself. So we haven’t actively recruited.
However, that makes our presence in society small. We have set the long-term goal of realizing “a world of more originality and resonance,” but to realize this and do work that has greater impact on the world, we believe we need to develop the company’s strength and raise our presence.
So we’ve set the goal for the next 3 years as “becoming strong as a company that creates new businesses,” and we’re progressing initiatives such as strengthening internal personnel, strengthening external networks, and developing offerings to effectively promote new business creation. This recruitment is part of that.
——Please tell us about the kind of person you seek.
Our company’s code of conduct is “being self-centered.” This doesn’t mean acting selfishly, but having an attitude of always approaching things as a main actor and pursuing what you want to do.
Most important for realizing this code is proactivity. The ability to clearly have your own will and what you want to do, and to act proactively to realize it—not just doing told work—is essential.
Honesty and humility are also necessary. For us, who aim to collaborate with others in a “community”-style organization and create great value, an attitude of respecting others is essential. Additionally, without honesty, you can’t absorb things, and growth speed doesn’t increase.
And thinking ability. The ability to deeply think with your own logic, not just parroting others or memorizing knowledge—and further, the ability to output with your own opinions added after layered thinking—is necessary.
As mentioned earlier, in our new business creation, we observe and analyze facts to search for new business “seeds.” How to interpret one fact, what suggestions to gain from it, how to output that—each of these affects the value of the new business created.
Our work requires producing high value both in terms of contribution to client companies and from the perspective of what we aim to be. To do work that maximally raises that value, such thinking ability is essential.
Long-term, aiming for business model transformation. Want to enjoy together the process of building company strength and aiming for transformation
——How about specific skills and consulting experience?
Skills can be acquired later. Of course, having some skill or experience is even better, but what we value most is having the mindset just mentioned. Especially for young people, we welcome applications from those with motivation like “I don’t have skills yet, but I want to learn new things” or “I have things I want to do.”
—— So having your own will and motivation is important.
I believe the source of innovation is each person’s strong desire and deep reflection. And what’s needed for work is responsibility and enthusiasm. Deep reflection to progress work rationally, responsibility to strive to accomplish entrusted work, enthusiasm to create greater value—these are necessary for high-value work.
——Could you share points about “interesting aspects or merits of working at your company”?
In our business creation studio business, there’s a system where employees can propose new businesses. After internal approval, an annual budget of up to 2 million yen is provided, and actual business activities can be conducted. This system started last year, and some employees have been adopted and are currently promoting business consideration.
Those hired this time will mainly enter client company new business development support in the acceleration business, but using this system, they can also challenge their own envisioned business as a “side activity.”
Also, our company has track record of supporting new business creation for various companies so far. For those with something they want to realize, we can serve as a sounding board, and they can also draw insights from us. So I think it’s an environment where it’s easier to progress smoothly than starting a business from scratch alone.
——Entrepreneurial-minded people seem suited for your company too.
It would be great if you acquire skills at our company and continue being active here, but we also welcome those with enthusiasm to acquire certain skills and then go independent to start their own business.
In our “community” orientation, even after members go independent in the future, we might be able to collaborate as partners. If the “community” network expands that way and we can create valuable businesses together for the world, that would be what we hope for. We’d be very happy to have people who enjoy creating such a world join us.
—— Please tell us about your future outlook.
The center of our current business is the acceleration business, a consulting firm-style business model where we receive fees as compensation for project participation. However, going forward, we want to develop success-fee-based and profit-sharing-based projects, and long-term aim for business model transformation.
Also, while most current client companies are major corporations, going forward we envision forms with deeper engagement as a business main actor, including capital participation, and engaging in new business creation for small and medium-sized companies. We’ll also actively work on such mid-to-long-term “seed sowing.”
This recruitment isn’t about wanting someone to perform fixed work within a firmly established organization. We expect activities that, in a broad sense, expand the frame of Dots and as a company, to become a company that builds strength and continuously creates highly valuable new businesses.
Creating valuable new businesses isn’t easy, but when realized, there’s great joy, and the impact on society is significant. We want to create a good future together with those who enjoy the process and share the joy.
[Interview Postscript]
The organizational form of “professional community” that President Noda talks about felt like an ideal form where autonomous individuals resonate with each other. The company’s strength lies in reproducible and necessary new business creation based on “Innovation Science.” The system where employees themselves can propose new businesses, obtain budgets, and execute them will be the best challenge right for those with entrepreneurial spirit.
What particularly resonated in the interview was the attitude of respecting people who want to create valuable real benefit for the world with their own enthusiasm as main actors, not “selfishly” but “self-centeredly.” For those aiming for future independence, this company, where you can experience bearing risk as a business owner, should also be the best place of training. If you want to clearly have your own will and create a world where “originality” resonates through deep thinking, why not build your own strength in this constantly changing field?
ConsulNext / Senior Consultant
Masahito Tsukada
Dots and Inc. Company Information
| Company Name | Dots and Inc. |
|---|---|
| Location | WAVE Shibuya 3F, 2-25-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo |
| Officers | Representative Director: Sho Noda Director: Shugo Ishizuka |
| Founded | January 18, 2019 |
| Business | Corporate transformation acceleration business and business creation studio business based on Innovation Science |
