How I Became a Jungler#3 PdM Mutta SHIMIZU's case
Introduction
This is the third article in a series of entries in which crew members=JUNGLER will tell you about the attraction and company culture of JUNGLEˣ and talk about their encounter with JUNGLEˣ and motivation for joining.
How I Became a Jungler#2 T TSUMURA's case2022/4/25 6:482022/5/31 10:21The first and second articles were written by M MATSUMOTO and T TSUMURA, who are practically new graduates, but this time, Mutta SHIMIZU, an experienced PdM(Product Manager), is in charge.
How I Became a Jungler
I moved to JUNGLEˣ in December 2021 as a PdM.
A quick list of my past career history shows that I have consistently been involved in the global service for consumers, especially in the entertainment area, mainly as a PdM.
- Joined DeNA as a new graduate. Became a mobile social game producer from the new EC business.
- I took a leave of absence from DeNA to study language in the Philippines. After returning to Japan, I developed a smartphone game for the overseas market, which became No. 1 in sales in the U.S.
- Assigned to DeNA San Francisco as a producer of mobile socail games.
- At 30, resigned from DeNA as planned and went around the world with my wife.
- Joined Southeast Asian startup YOYO Holdings to promote business and apps that bring the Free Internet to everyone.
- Joined pet startup PECO to launch pet video business, then launched China business and apps, and promoted pet video and pet insurance business.
However, since starting the China business at PECO, I have been a jack-of-all-trades, more like a president than a PdM, and I had a sense of crisis and hunger to stay away from product development for almost three years.
I was considering changing jobs due to the closing of the China business at PECO, so I informed them of my intension to resign in October 2021 and went through the job search process while using my paid vacation time in November.
I received a lot of feedback through the above Tweet, and I also made full use of agents, recruiting websites, investor acquaintances, etc. I checked over 200 companies and interviewed more than 50 companies.
As a result, I found out and felt the following.
- I am not interested in BtoB SaaS, and I can't make use of my experience.
- I want to do global services for consumers.
- I want to be the first PdM to join a company where there is a lot of room for change.
As a result, I narrowed it down to two companies, JUNGLEˣ and FiNANCiE.
Since I live in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Panja and I arranged to meet in Tokyo on a date. Then I had breakfast that day with Kunimitsu-san from FiNANCiE and dinner with Panja from JUNGLEˣ.
After that, Kunimitsu-san talked with me several times, and I also spoke with the CXOs of FiNANCiE. From my experience in social games, I had the feeling that the trendy areas attract excellent people and that my experience there would be useful for the next 5 to 10 years, so it seemed reasonable to jump into the web3 business FiNANCiE now. However, in conclusion, I decided to forgo it.
Why did I choose JUNGLEˣ? Intuition, more interesting, more obscure, bigger vision, out-of-conform zone, aesthetics, and sense of beauty were some of the keywords, but another important one was this.
When I was 30 years old, I decided that I would work on environmental issues in the next decade. I joined the Southeast Asian startup YOYO because ,at the time Uber was launched, transportation optimization was gaining momentum in terms of environmental issues, and I had a desire to start a business in the Southeast Asia x transportation area but I was new to Southeast Asia and startups.
I was always on the lookout for environmental startups where I could apply my skills, and I also looked at electric power companies when I changed jobs last time.
However, I knew that most of those startups could not utilize my skills, that there were limits to what I could do with gamification alone, and that all of the initiatives had monetization problems.
In the midst of all this, I came across a powerful weapon: betting, where even a garbage pickup showdown can be a betting target and create a flow of money.
By using betting correctly, we can create a non-zero-sum game where everyone is happy, whether they win or lose because they enjoy betting and even if they lose, it goes back to the people and athletes who are picking up the trash.
I joined JUNGLEˣ to realize the vision of not only focusing on sports betting but also solving all the world's problems through betting.
And when I entered, I found that it was a company that could aim at the center of web3, and I am convinced that I made the right decision.
Conclusion
How was this article?
If you are interested in reading this entry and wondering what kind of organization JUNGLEˣ is, were a highly sought-after PdM like Mutta turned down an offer from a major company to join, please visit our corporate websiteJUNGLEˣ HOME(EN) .