The choice not to stay

Around 2017, when the company had become stable and settled, Yamamoto, aged 49, decided to retire. In the final chapter, we would like to ask Yamamoto about the reasons behind his decision to retire despite still being at the prime of his working life, his thoughts on future generations, and his own plans for the future. Yamamoto's goal was not only to become independent as an individual, but also to make Reserve Link an independent corporation in the business world, and he achieved both. Where is he heading next?

In his life, Yamamoto-san has absorbed the essence of various people, not only from his mentors and close seniors, but also from famous people in the industry and cultural figures he sympathizes with. As a negative example, he had seen the owner-president staying at the company without realizing that old people were a nuisance, and causing the company to decline, so he felt that he should not be the head of an IT company after he was over 50. When he moved to Tokyo at the age of 40, he had already told his employees this, even though the company was still in its infancy. He realized that he had

deteriorated in all aspects from when he started the company in his 30s, including his intelligence, physical strength, business motivation, and mental health, and he also considered the stability and completeness of the company, and even the age and life of the next members he would entrust to. He also had a life plan of wanting to create a different life after the enjoyment period in his 50s, and the timing of his retirement was a decision that he made after considering the future of the company and his own life as a whole.

Yamamoto, who likes going from 0 to 1 and prides himself on being good at it, also said that he had no motivation or confidence in taking it from 1 to 10. Although the company's image of "30 employees and 500 million yen in sales" at the time of its expansion to Tokyo was almost exactly as envisioned, a major factor in the decision was that he could not clearly see what lay beyond that. Yamamoto, who has left us with the words "I won't say big things," may have made this decision based on his unique sense of balance in looking at himself objectively.

Just as Reserve Link is embarking on a new path as a company, Yamamoto himself will now be creating a new life. After completing the monumental task of seeing the company grow from starting a business to being accepted by society, which is almost like raising a child, what kind of future does Yamamoto envision?

Below are his themes for each decade, as seen in the Yamamoto family future timeline (see Chapter 3). It is interesting to see how he thinks about his future in the medium to long term, setting and clearly defining themes for each generation.

"I first wrote this in my late 30s before I moved to Tokyo, so it's a reflection on my 20s. During that time of trial and error, I didn't have time to plan for the future, and my mind and heart were full of my own concerns. But once I had something tangible and was able to realise my goals, I began to think that rather than hoarding what I'd been given up to then, I should share it with those around me and give it back to society. I think it's natural for humans to want to give back after they've grown up healthily while satisfying their own desires.

Also, it's often said that putting your decisions out in the open is a technique for making them come true, and I think it's actually a good idea. If you can imagine something, you should put it out in the open, whether it's by saying it or writing it down (Yamamoto)."

In my 20s, I cleared everything I had accumulated up to that point one after another. I think I'm the type of person who can't start a new one without starting from zero, and conversely, I knew from experience that something new would start by letting go of something. Of course, the "strength of being blind" that I had in my 20s is no longer there, and there is a "weakness of knowing". I'd be lying if I said I wasn't lonely, but I think my desire to experience life is stronger.

When I decided to retire, I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment for what I had done, but after I actually went through the procedures and left the company, I think the sense of accomplishment gradually began to seep out. In 20 years, I increased the value of the company 100 times and connected it to the inside instead of selling it to the outside. As someone who believes in 60% of life, I think I passed. If I had sold it to the outside, my financial assets might have increased, but my human assets might have decreased.

It's a cliché, but to support young people. To follow up with people who have the ability, physical strength, and motivation, but lack the experience, money, and human foundation. I've started to do hands-on angel investments in venture companies in areas that interest me, and even if money isn't the issue, I've started to get involved with interesting next-generation businesses and young managers.

In the last 20 years, I've been able to experience starting a company, creating a product, and getting it recognized by society. If I think about it in the same period, I'll be in my 70s at the end of the next 20 years. There won't be another chance after that. I think starting from here will be what I can call my life's work. Something that gives back to the world while also giving me personal growth, something that gives me a sense of fulfillment in my daily life, and something I've never experienced before. It's not going to be easy to find something that fits, though.

But the problem of the earth is unavoidable. If the earth is destroyed, it's no time for business. If you want it to continue forever, it's not good to think that it's okay until you die. There's a limit to what one person can do, but just like giving back to the parents who gave birth to you, we should give back to the earth. Even if we can't do anything that will have an impact on the Earth, I think it's important to think about it and take action.

Every time I go abroad, I always stop by a bookstore, and every country has shelves of self-help books with books like "What makes me happy?" lined up. I think it's a universal, simple but difficult eternal theme for humans. It's said

that Maslow's hierarchy of needs actually had a sixth stage, and from the first stage, physiological needs, to the fifth stage, self-actualization needs, all of which are about desires defined within the scope of the self. However, the sixth stage defines oneself as including others, saying "the happiness of the community to which one belongs is one's happiness." Maslow, an American during the Cold War, sealed away this altruistic claim in the sixth stage because he thought it might touch on communism. However, there are quite a few people in today's world who have reached the sixth stage and are active.

Maslow's theory is the law and providence of humanity, so it must be natural for humans to climb the stages and then behave altruistically to lead to one's own happiness.

Apart from part-time work in college, I have never really felt like I was working since I entered society, and the word "work" doesn't really ring a bell. I've only ever done things that I thought would help me grow and that I found interesting, so the word "activity" might be more appropriate than work. The most difficult thing is when my friends ask me, "Have you been working lately?" You could say that I'm always working, or that I'm not working at all... (bitter smile)

This is not the time to work to live and eat. In the Stone Age, people worked every day just to eat, and in the Edo Period, a person's job was decided from the moment they were born and there was no choice. In this day and age, there are plenty of jobs to do just to eat, and there are more than just one or two options for occupations. We are now in an age where we can choose our work from various perspectives, such as what we want to do, what we can do, the value we can create from it, what we can be proud of in front of our families, and social meaning. Of course, it starts with making a living, but gradually it becomes about self-actualization, and ultimately working for the whole community, including yourself, which should essentially lead to your own satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness. So

take a long-term, holistic view of your life and think about what kind of work life would make you happiest? What are the important values ​​to you? Think about these things in your own original way, not in comparison with others. Then, choose your job, company, and even your way of life.

Generally, if you have money and time, you're called successful, but I don't feel that way. I think the definition of success is different for different people. Success is generally something that takes on some form, and people who have achieved it are called successful. It's like a dot. For me, it's not a dot, it's a line. I record my self-evaluation of each day, like ○△×, whether that day was good or bad, and if more than half of the total are ○, I think I could call it a success. Whether that day was fulfilling enough to satisfy you, that's what life is all about. So I don't think you can judge whether you've been successful or not until you're on the verge of death.

In this day and age, there is no one to protect you, not your country, not your company, and in some cases not even your family. It is a world where the basic principle is to take care of yourself. (1) Don't give up no matter what happens, even though relationships with others can easily put a strain on you. (2) Be able to think for yourself, using your wisdom, not knowledge. (3) Maintain a healthy body with your own immune system, not with external influences such as medicine or treatment. The combined strength of all these aspects of the mind and body is considered vitality.

For example, illness. There are things that come from the outside, like COVID, and things that come from within your body, like cancer cells, but the strength or weakness of your mind is correlated with your own immune system, and you can't protect your own body unless you have the brain to select the right information from a mixture of good and bad information. This is starting to sound a bit tragic, but it's not like that. I want you to live an offensive life while having a minimum level of defensive ability. It's not fun to live a life where you're just defending, is it? I want you to prepare your vitality and carve out your own path in life.

The ups and downs of life, where the peak is depends on the individual. Some people reach the peak in their teens, while there are rare cases of people who die without ever reaching the peak. A life where you can do things you've never done before, not a life where you hang on to the peak. I want to keep climbing little by little, even if it's only Y=1/20x.

And in the end, use it up in a good way. Wouldn't it be nice to use up all the resources you have, such as your wealth, body, and wisdom, as close to zero as possible and then die suddenly? On the other hand, it would be a waste to die with those things, and it would create regret that you should have used them. Being aware of how you will die may also be a life skill that will help you live your life to the end.

Are you using 100% of your potential right now? Are you holding back? There are differences in what people are born with, and there is no superiority or inferiority in that. It's just a starting line. How much you can improve from there is what determines your value. Even if you have the ability to begin with, if you hold back, it's a minus and just uncool. Putting yourself in an environment where you can give 100% requires strength, but

there are people who are suited to starting a business and people who aren't, so it should be different for each person, but I just want you to put yourself in an environment where you can use 100% of your potential. You should be yourself compared to yourself, not to others. An original life comes with responsibility and risk, but it also gives you a lot of joy and returns that are different from others. Even if you fail, I don't think you'll regret it.

The turning point of the times, when the value of "precedents" and "common sense" becomes relatively low, is an opportunity. Around 2000, when the Internet was released, the world's changes accelerated at a rapid pace. I think that because I started a business in that field at that time, I was able to ride the trend and achieve results beyond my own ability. And around 2020, the coronavirus shock has caused major changes in lifestyles, people's values, how we learn, work, play, and even how we interact with each other. For better or worse, precedents are no longer valid, and new values ​​are more likely to be recognized. I think that people who can start something at a time like this will have exciting days in the next few decades, growing and achieving results they could never have imagined.

A manager's job is to make decisions. Even if many people are involved in the process leading up to the decision, the final decision must be made by one person. Making decisions with multiple people tends to be conservative and conventional, and therefore lacks originality and competitiveness with other companies. Because it is a series of serious battles, there is a lot to think about and a lot of responsibility, but the sensations and experiences you can have are different from others and are large. Because you are the top, you can meet people and have deep conversations with them, and because you are the top, you can experience challenges and successes, and conversely, you can experience failures from them. The absolute value is large. I recommend being a manager to people who want to set their own rules rather than entrusting their life to rules set by others. However, be

prepared because no one will praise you. As people get older, the number of people who protect them decreases and the number of people they need to protect increases. In the end, you will be the one who protects your parents as well. Every time a staff member had a child, my shoulders got stiffer (laughs). If you are too strict with yourself, you won't last, so you also need the flexibility to be able to praise and criticize yourself appropriately.

"A peaceful workplace with honesty, sincerity and at your own pace" We were aiming for a safe work environment, but stability has become the norm, the sense of crisis has faded and an organization that has lost its desire to grow cannot expect any further development.

In terms of the life cycle curve, the reserve link is in the stage of going from the founding stage to the growth stage and then to the stable stage. Even though the number of companies being founded is increasing, the average lifespan of a company is getting shorter. This company has been in business for over 20 years, while the 5-year survival rate is said to be 40%, the 10-year survival rate to 10%, and the 20-year survival rate to 0.3%

Just because they have survived this long does not mean that they will be safe from now on, and rather the company's negative legacy may be clinging to places that are hard to see, and new threats may be emerging without us noticing. This is not a company that survived by fighting the outside, but a company that has followed its own values ​​and asked itself questions, so if it collapses, it may be from within. The departure of the founder means an opportunity to rebuild from scratch! I wonder if this is what Yamamoto's departure means for Corporate Reserve Link?

Yamamoto will leave, and the next manager who succeeds him will also be gone someday, but Reserve Link as a corporation can live forever. The moment you make a corporate philosophy cool and clear, it becomes a little cheap, right? I think it's best not to say it out loud, but to keep it in the back of your mind, and let it pop up when you're in doubt or when it's time to make an important decision. A company can't survive without changing, but I'd be happy if the values ​​at the root of this company, which has a slightly different approach, could continue to remain.