Kazuma Yamauchi says his company’s mission is to “unleash the potential of people’s creativity by helping them to build growing and financially sustainable business activities.” What does that mean?
For Yamauchi, a Hong Kong–based entrepreneur who started his career working for the private equity firm Apollo Global Management in Asia, it meant starting an investment firm that cofounds and co-invests in all sorts of businesses with people whose talents he admires.
For example, Yamauchi has started several companies with artists and entrepreneurs, including “tidying” guru Marie Kondo. But it hasn’t been a straight path to his unconventional startup.
What was your “aha moment” for founding KZM & Company?
I wanted to mingle with some of the most talented people who have the power to change the world. I was a seven-time winner of national student tournaments of Shogi, a Japanese variation of chess. A friend of mine became a top professional player and I loved the time I mingled with future geniuses like him, every day. Having entered the business world, I wanted to partner with some of these talented people and create businesses together. What is the type of job that can achieve a desire like this? Starting my own company and building businesses with top talents in each respective field was the only path for me.
What is your biggest, thorniest challenge?
If I had a large fund I would like to invest more in many of our projects. Sometimes it is not easy to prove the potential of business to external people.
What is one fun fact about you that people may not know?
At the age of 23, I was hardly able to speak English. My English conversation typically ended within 10 seconds, and I was apologizing about not being able to speak English to foreign people I met. Now it has become much better.
The Fortune Founders Forum is a community of entrepreneurs chosen by Fortune’s editorial team to participate at the annual Brainstorm Tech conference, which took place in Deer Valley, Utah, in July. Our inaugural cohort was selected based on a variety of factors, including the potential impact of their companies, and reflected a diversity of geographies, sectors, and demographics.