Influencing company growth by facilitating cross-functional collaboration

Could you tell us about what your childhood was like, and what kind of interests you had?

I was born in Japan. There was a period of my early life where I could have succeeded my grandmother and become a traditional Japanese Nihon Buyo dancer. However, life took a different turn because I moved to the US when I was four and continued to move back and forth between Japan and the US while growing up. I grew up exploring various disciplines, and my interests were scattered. But I’ve always loved traveling and learning about different cultures and walks of life. In terms of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I went from dancer to astronaut to neurosurgeon to humanitarian relief; now, I’m currently pursuing business and technology. I still pause to reevaluate every few months. It’s an ever-evolving process.

You previously worked at a large Japanese corporation. What was it that drew you to SmartNews as the next step in your career?

One reason was I thought that SmartNews would be a great opportunity to work in a fast-growing tech company that had the business exposure and ability to influence growth cross-functionally. I was also interested in the technology platform; SmartNews is an AI/ML-driven company and draws great talent to build that solid technological platform. The third reason was the company’s intersection with Japan. As I grew up going back and forth between the US and Japan, I feel like I am a hybrid of many different microcultures, so the fact that SmartNews is a Japan-headquartered company going after a universal mission and building a universal platform resonated with me.

Lastly, I met a ton of really smart people and got a sense of the company culture through my interviews. I had the opportunity to speak with several people across the organization, including the CFO and CSO. I felt that SmartNews was a place where individual ideas are welcomed and that there are a lot of opportunities to branch out to new areas and grow in the way you want. Everyone was very smart, articulate, and passionate about where they wanted the company to head. Moreover, I felt that the people are very passionate and care about the quality of what they build. The fact that I left each conversation feeling energized, excited and like I could learn from my colleagues every day swayed my decision.

Tell us about the division you joined at SmartNews and how it interacts with other business units.

My division is Corporate Planning. Corporate Planning is a common function in Japan, but less so in the US. The division sits at the company’s center, forming the intersection of all function groups, including the management team, product, engineering, marketing, BD, and corporate. Our purpose is to help define the strategy and vision of the company over the next quarter, year, or five years. We then help build the business plans needed to reach the goals we set out and then follow them through to execution. We monitor company performance to see how we are tracking against the objectives we set. Our work is very collaborative. By learning what the different divisions are doing, we can provide them with an external perspective and coordinate to ensure we’re aligned. If any issues arise, such as missing resources, we sort that out; if the strategy itself needs refining, we fix it. We also get involved with any company-wide issues or initiatives requiring cross-divisional collaboration. I would describe what we do as a combination of corporate strategy, corporate development, business operations, and chief of staff functions.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part is influencing change across our global team. An interesting part of SmartNews is our very different cultures and geographies. There are differences in the growth stages and markets for each office. It’s exciting to bring all of our strengths together in product, engineering, design, and marketing to push the company forward.

What value do you think the company provides?

The company’s mission is “delivering the world’s quality information to the people who need it,” and I feel like I have a close connection to this statement. When I was in high school, I had a transformative experience where one New York Times article that I just happened to come across one day ultimately propelled me to create and run my own NPO over several years. It was exciting for me that this one piece of information became the motivation to create something new and keep going even when times were challenging. I truly believe I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for that article, and it speaks to how information can shape people’s actions, perspectives, and identities. For me, SmartNews is a vehicle that enables this process of personal discovery by shedding light on valuable information and delivering it to the right person at the right place and at the right time.

What excites you most about the future of SmartNews?

We’re an open-ended platform, chasing after a critical, universally important mission. SmartNews may seem like just a news aggregation platform from a very granular perspective, but the work we do is really about the broader universe of information that you may come across or need on a daily basis. We’re building an information infrastructure that allows us to find, organize, and deliver all kinds of information in an effective and compelling way. We have the opportunity to bring all kinds of information onto the platform, and everyone in the world is our potential audience. That’s the most exciting part about working at SmartNews.

What qualities do you look for in potential team members? What do you want them to know about SmartNews?

At SmartNews, there’s a sense that we can influence the growth and evolution of the company. People here are very inclusive, and curiosity, proactiveness, and willingness to shape the company are welcomed at all levels. Being able to start with an idea, talking to people, and building a foundation from the bottom up is part of the excitement of working at SmartNews and a company at this stage. The nature of the job is so multi-functional; you have to be willing to jump into that and help support the entire company’s growth.