[Interview with Hiroki Niizeki, CEO of Mendress Co., Ltd.] Aiming to Grow Into a Globally Successful Company, Regardless of Borders

Mendoless Inc. primarily handles consulting in the fintech space. The company is involved from the upstream stages of new business development aimed at creating new financial services, and provides accompanying support through to business growth while fulfilling a PMO role. The company plans to establish a base in Singapore and expand its business globally.

Leveraging its fintech expertise, the company is also actively venturing into the new domain of financial education services. We spoke with Representative Director Hiroki Niizeki about the significance of financial education, the kind of people he wants to work with, and his vision for the future.

Expanding from Fintech into the Financial Education Business

— Could you tell us about Mendoless’s business?

Our core is a consulting business specializing in the fintech domain, and we are engaged in new business development in the financial sector primarily for banks, credit card companies, and automotive manufacturers. We are involved from the upstream stages of building the concept for a new business, including systems requirements definition, and also take on a PMO role.

Going forward, we plan to establish a base in Singapore, from which we intend to offer financial education services for children in addition to our consulting business. We are developing programs designed to equip participants not just with surface-level financial knowledge, but with the wisdom to navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing social environment.

— Why did you decide to start a financial education service in Singapore?

The aim is to use the Singapore base as a springboard for business expansion around the world. Singapore is relatively close to Japan, and is a country with significant scale within Asia in terms of population, capital, and information flows. I also judged it to be a highly compatible market given the large number of people there who have a positive affinity with Japan.

The reason we entered financial education in Singapore is that I realized Japan lacks the foundation for financial education, and that demand is actually stronger overseas. In Japan today, there is virtually no opportunity to learn about finance during the compulsory education period of elementary and middle school — high school might cover a little economics, but that’s about it. School-based financial education tends to amount to lessons in surface-level knowledge at best, and the reality is that young people don’t even have a starting point for developing an interest in finance.

On the other hand, looking at the situation in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the other markets we are considering entering starting from Singapore, I sense that demand for financial education is rising faster than in Japan. Indonesia, for example, is preparing to relocate its capital, making the development of financial and information infrastructure urgent. Once that infrastructure is in place, fintech services will proliferate. This kind of social movement, I believe, will push up the necessity for financial knowledge. While financial education is certainly needed in Japan, I came to feel that countries overseas are even more hungry for it — and that convinced me the service should be built on a global foundation.

— I’d like to ask about the specifics of the work. Could you tell us about typical project duration and team size?

Consulting projects fall broadly into two patterns in terms of both team size and duration. The first is involvement in projects over the medium to long term as a PMO or operations member for system development. This involves supporting the operation of various payment services including QR code payment services. Most such payment services, once launched, essentially never shut down within a short period — in principle, we provide long-term operational support.

The second pattern involves launching new services or developing new businesses, with up to around ten people involved at busy times. Involvement is not permanent, but the duration varies depending on the scale of the project and other factors. Teams are divided into a planning team, an operations team, and a systems team, with one leader and approximately two members assigned to each team. We are currently recruiting primarily for people who want to work in the latter — new business development.

— You are actively hiring full-time employees. Could you tell us your current headcount?

We have one officer, one employee, and around five to ten contractors. Some of the contractors would like to transfer to an overseas post, and the plan for those individuals is to have them join as full-time employees and then transfer once the Singapore office is up and running.

The background to our full-time hiring push is the need to secure people who can be active domestically as we expand into Singapore.

— How would a mid-career hire get involved in projects? Could you also tell us about the working style?

The work starts with coordinating with stakeholders both inside and outside the organization on business and systems requirements. Deciding whose agreement needs to be secured and how to convey our own position in order to determine the requirements — sometimes that means listening to various stakeholders before locking down the requirements — the role is similar to that of a PMO.

In terms of working style, the default is on-site presence at the client’s location. That said, depending on the client and scheduling, there are times when work is done from home. The proportion of remote work is gradually increasing compared with before.

The primary counterparts in a project are typically at department head level. The day-to-day operational contacts are usually section managers, but for communication and opinion exchange, the impression is that we interact more often with people at senior levels.

What Are the “Rules” That Connect You with Someone You Don’t See Eye to Eye With?

— Could you tell us about the kind of people you want to work with?

I want to work with people who are energetic and considerate. Of course, a minimum level of aptitude such as logical thinking is necessary, but at our company we place greater value on people who communicate in a positive and considerate way.

Large-scale projects naturally involve many stakeholders, and the people and counterparts involved change depending on the phase. Because systems are developed while taking into account the perspectives of all these different parties, people who can communicate in an upbeat and energetic way are a great fit. The motivation of our own members also rises when they get to spend time alongside someone with energy.

The second thing is the ability to communicate with the other person’s position and circumstances as the top priority. For example, following up an urgent email with a quick phone call to confirm it was received, or taking the time to look things up yourself before going to the other person with a question — someone who can anticipate and consider the other person’s needs will be able to build harmonious relationships with clients and counterparts.

— What attitude or mindset is needed to build considerate relationships with others?

Setting yourself aside and thinking as deeply as possible from the other person’s perspective is what matters. Beyond that, it is also important to establish rules that are necessary for showing consideration to others. The approach is to accept that “you cannot change other people,” and then think about rules that will allow the other person — who you cannot control — to function effectively. For example, sharing agreed expectations, or exchanging the conditions each party is seeking, to think through arrangements where both sides can benefit. Rather than pouring your energy into trying to change someone else, you direct your attention toward the means of pursuing the same goal alongside someone who won’t change. You consider systems and rules that accept the other person’s way of working and thinking, while ultimately arriving at the same destination. This kind of effort becomes the catalyst for building a good relationship with the other person.

For example, imagine you send an emotionally charged, harsh message over chat. Words left in writing that are inappropriate will be painful to look back on — for both you and the other person. In cases like this, the first step is to think about a way to convey your feelings to the other person — perhaps calling or meeting in person first, and then following up with chat as a supplement. Because you can have a face-to-face conversation, the risk of the relationship deteriorating is lower. Even when there is someone you find it difficult to get along with, there are surely things that can be resolved if rules and structures can serve as the bridge connecting that person and yourself.

— Are you specifically looking for people with deep knowledge and expertise in the financial domain?

No. We don’t place particular weight on financial domain knowledge. We have people in their twenties with no financial industry experience who are thriving at our company. We believe that anyone with two to three years of consulting experience in any industry, who has built a solid foundation, will do well here.

While fintech is our primary focus at the moment, going forward we are hoping to broaden our connections so we can focus on operational improvement across a wider range of industries. We are open to applications regardless of whether someone has financial industry experience.

Never Stopping — Aiming to Become a Company That Can Make an Impact Globally

— Could you tell us about your career background and what led you to found the company?

I joined Accenture Technology Solutions — an Accenture affiliated company — as a new graduate, working as a systems engineer, and in my third year transferred to Accenture’s financial services sector. There I was brought into a team launched by a London-based partner and got involved in a large-scale project, which became a major turning point in my career going forward.

I had already been thinking about starting a business since my student days, inspired by the IT bubble era, and the desire to take on that dream again grew stronger after my Accenture experience. I left Accenture and joined Infcurion, a fintech venture. My experience working on fintech business in Japan and Southeast Asia gave rise to a new goal: to be active on a global stage.

— Could you tell us about the meaning and origin of the company name “Mendoless”?

It embodies the idea of “reducing what is troublesome and cumbersome” (in Japanese, “mendo” means hassle or bother). I believe that business is born when people want to make life easier for themselves. If building convenient systems and structures can give clients more free time, there is nothing more satisfying than that.

— Finally, could you share your vision for the future?

Domestically, the goal is to add depth to the consulting business by handling not just fintech consulting but also BPO through offshore operations. In parallel with the domestic business, we also want to accelerate the globalization of the business from our Singapore base.

We are still a company with a small headcount, but we want to develop a broad business with fintech at its core — so that we can be trusted with support both in Japan and overseas.

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【Post-Interview Note】

Mendoless Inc. — Company Information

Company Name	Mendoless Inc.
Founded	January 17, 2019
Representative	Representative Director & CEO: Hiroki Niizeki
Business Activities	Planning, research, and development of financial education services Strategic planning and business development consulting
Location	Kuwano Building 2F, 6-23-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo