Daisuke Kawabata

I worked with our CEO Kosuge at my previous company, which was also in marketing. He had been reaching out to me for a while, but I had just gotten married and had a newborn, so I couldn't commit to making the move. Then my division was restructured, and I saw it as the perfect timing. Since Kosuge had been inviting me, I decided to join IGNITE.

I've never been particularly drawn to large corporations — I wanted to join a smaller company where I could have real authority. These days, individuals can accomplish so much more than before. Resources that used to be exclusive to big companies are now accessible to small and mid-sized businesses too. With the internet, tools from Google and Microsoft available at low cost, and now AI expanding what's possible, I believe investing in personal skills leads to a richer life. That realization is what led me here.

I've been interested in the world beyond Japan since I was young. After studying abroad and doing a working holiday, that interest only deepened. Living overseas gave me a new appreciation for Japan's level of sophistication, the quality of its people, and why inbound tourism keeps growing. Recognizing Japan's uniqueness made me want to build even stronger connections with the international community.

I also studied economics in university, which gave me a strong interest in how money works. That naturally led me to see marketing as essential. I tried sales, but it felt like the job ended once the product was sold — I couldn't see the bigger picture. I needed to understand the systems behind it: SEO, website development, advertising, and marketing as a whole. That's what drove me to pursue marketing more deeply.

My current responsibilities are wide-ranging and broadly split into management tasks and marketing tasks.
On the management side, I handle resource allocation, organizational design, task delegation, project oversight, and building scalable systems. I also deal with financing, fundraising, and recruitment.

On the marketing side, I work on ad operations, SEO strategy, media planning, and data analysis. I also create proposals, manage client relationships, and handle translation tasks, among many other things.

One principle I always keep in mind is creating frameworks for people to work within. IGNITE has a unique organizational structure — between IGNITE and Hyblade, part-time staff actually outnumber full-time employees, probably by two to one or more. To help everyone work effectively, I focus on building clear structures.
For example, even for interviews like this one, I always ask people to create headings for each task — something like "What's appealing about working at IGNITE?" This gives people a framework to operate within. Complete freedom is difficult for anyone, no matter how capable. If you don't know what the person giving instructions expects, you can't move forward. I put a lot of thought into breaking things down and creating clear structures so that people don't waste time guessing or hesitate to ask questions. The goal is to let people work freely within a well-defined framework.

There are no boundaries between tasks, which means you develop a wide range of skills. You won't be told to just do one specific thing — you'll be asked to handle all kinds of work. It can feel demanding in the moment, but when you look back, you realize how much you've grown. The ability to work across many different areas and take on new challenges is a real draw.

Another appeal is that it's a workplace where you can use English. You'll have tasks like reading and understanding English documentation and doing translations. That's something you rarely find at other companies in the Kansai region.

On top of that, you gain hands-on marketing knowledge. Being able to learn marketing through real practice is a major advantage of working at IGNITE. There aren't many companies in this space, so it's a great environment for building expertise. While some larger or mid-sized companies offer practical marketing experience, it's rare to find a place where you're running ads, doing marketing strategy, managing spreadsheets, and handling social media all at the same time.

My goal is to systematize everything. I want to move our products and services toward a more standardized model.

The current challenge is that everything is fully customized. We create tailored proposals for each client, which means nothing is standardized. That makes each proposal time-consuming, and time equals cost. While it's unavoidable to some extent since every client has different needs, I want to standardize and systematize as much as possible. In other words, I want to define our offerings more clearly. By doing so, we can reduce the time cost per project and maximize revenue — which means we can take on more work and increase profitability.

Right now, the business runs on manpower. It keeps going because Kosuge, myself, and the other members are here — but if someone were to leave, things could fall apart. We need to build systems that run regardless of who's on the team. The ultimate goal is full systematization — building a structure that operates even without specific individuals.

On a personal level, I'd love to be able to live abroad. As long as I have an internet connection, I can work from anywhere, and with the right systems in place, I think it's achievable. I want to enjoy life more by living in different places — imagine spending a year in each country. My base would still be Japan, but I could import products from New Zealand, or bring in affordable beauty cosmetics from Thailand. I'd like to pursue those kinds of ventures while carving out dedicated time for them.

I think IGNITE is ideal for people who want to sharpen their skills, who are committed to continuous learning, and who blur the line between work and personal interests. If you want to grow your abilities and expand your potential, this is a great fit. On the flip side, a lot is expected of you, so you need to be genuinely passionate about learning. For example, people who naturally research things for fun — browsing the latest trends, exploring AI tools — that kind of intellectual curiosity is essential. You don't have to buy textbooks, but having the mindset of investing in your own knowledge goes a long way.

Conversely, if you expect everything to be handed to you, this isn't the right place. That applies to any job, really. We want people who see IGNITE as a springboard for their own growth.