Taku:<\/strong> One of our core strategies is building a one-stop supply chain. While some customers focus on price, many of our larger customers\u2014restaurants buying hundreds of SKUs\u2014care far more about reliability and convenience. They want one trusted partner who can deliver everything consistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis allows us to avoid pure price competition and instead focus on long-term customer retention. Another key moat is operational quality: on-time delivery, high fulfillment rates, and full supply chain control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because these strengths are hard to explain before customers experience them, we invite customers to visit our farms and warehouses. Once they see it, they immediately understand how different we are. We are proud of the supply chain we\u2019ve built\u2014and we will keep investing to stay ahead of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scaling requires founders to let go of control\u2014without letting go of responsibility.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Zun:<\/strong> You\u2019re known as a very hands-on, detail-oriented founder, especially in Kamereo\u2019s early days. How did you transition from that hands-on role into leading a 400-person organization?<\/p>\n\n\n\nTaku:<\/strong> In the beginning, I spoke to everyone directly. Today, that\u2019s no longer possible. I realized that I can effectively manage about six to ten people directly\u2014beyond that, it becomes inefficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo now, I manage around six leaders, and each of them manages their own teams. Delegation is not easy, but it\u2019s necessary. At the same time, responsibility always comes back to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the hardest decisions a founder must make is deciding whether someone should continue leading a team or whether they need to be replaced. Avoiding those decisions only creates bigger problems later.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDelegation works only when trust is built on shared values, not just competence.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Zun:<\/strong> Many founders struggle with delegation and trust as their companies scale. How do you decide what to delegate, and how do you empower leaders to grow the organization?<\/p>\n\n\n\nTaku:<\/strong> Every founder has a different style\u2014this is just mine. As a foreign founder, I knew from the beginning that I couldn\u2019t do everything myself. That awareness forced me to build a strong team early.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe intentionally avoid hiring too many senior managers from large corporations, because adapting to startup speed and culture is often very difficult. Instead, we focus on developing younger talents internally and promoting them step by step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What matters most is not just skills, but shared core values. That\u2019s why we invest heavily in educating our team\u2014not only professionally, but culturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Core values are only meaningful when they guide real decisions, not just words on the wall.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Zun:<\/strong> Core values seem to play a central role at Kamereo. How have they evolved over time, and how do they support governance and integrity?<\/p>\n\n\n\nTaku:<\/strong> Our core values are simple: integrity, teamwork, and continuous improvement (kaizen<\/em>). We use them as concrete evaluation criteria\u2014for performance reviews, salary discussions, and daily feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGovernance doesn\u2019t always require complex systems. For us, consistency is the system. If someone doesn\u2019t share our values, we cannot work together\u2014no matter how talented they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDiscipline in leadership means knowing which decisions you can delegate\u2014and which you must own.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Zun:<\/strong> Discipline is often associated with Japanese leadership. From your personal experience, what does discipline mean to you as a founder?<\/p>\n\n\n\nTaku:<\/strong> Discipline, for me, is about responsibility. I delegate decisions where mistakes are acceptable\u2014mistakes may cost money, but they shouldn\u2019t kill the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHowever, decisions that determine whether the company survives or dies\u2014that responsibility stays with me. A founder\u2019s job is to keep making those decisions and owning the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long-term motivation comes from solving a problem you truly care about.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Zun:<\/strong> As a final question, what advice would you give to early-stage founders who want to stay motivated over the long term?<\/p>\n\n\n\nTaku:<\/strong> If you want to build for the long term, you must choose an industry and problem that you genuinely care about. If you chase trends, you will eventually lose motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m building Kamereo because it solves a problem I personally experienced. I understand it deeply, and I truly enjoy it. What keeps me going\u2014especially on difficult days\u2014is pride in what we\u2019ve built, pride in our team, and pride in supporting thousands of businesses across Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSummary: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n Taku-san’s insights on building sustainable businesses and the organizations that support them were not merely ideals or abstract principles, but practical approaches rooted in making core values function deeply within the organization. Avoiding price competition and differentiating through value creation. Clarifying accountability. And operating the organization based on shared core values. All of these are key to sustainable growth. KAMEREO’s success in Vietnam demonstrates the importance of maintaining a long-term perspective and committing to solving fundamental problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: This report reflects information as of January 15, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This report is part of our Orbit Workshop series, spotlighting key insights from leading investors a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[68,913],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights-en","category-community-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Orbit-WS_1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20819"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20860,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20819\/revisions\/20860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesiaventures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}