Serious shortage of DX personnel. The solution is GNUS, born from the Dentsu Group’s in-house entrepreneurship

Wildebeest, a cattle companion that lives in Africa. It is also known to form large flocks of several hundred thousand and perform large migrations.The name was born from the desire to aim for a business with such a sense of unity.Dentsu Groupof”GNUS”is.

Business-savvy readers will recognize that the Dentsu Group’s business is no longer limited to commercials, events, and campaigns. It may be more correct to recognize that the company is a technology company that makes full use of cutting-edge CT&T (Customer Transformation & Technology) solutions in an integrated manner. We focus not only on solving the business problems of client companies, but also on the sustainable development of society beyond that.

GNUS also has a mission to commit to the sustainable growth of the company through product planning, development, and operation in the DX area.Led by the Dentsu Group, which has launched two new businesses in the pastBunbun KunihikoMr. Why did Mr. Fumbun launch GNUS, and what do you have in mind for the future? We asked him about the future he is aiming for as an in-house entrepreneur.

Form a team of freelance specialists according to the project content

“The main business of GNUS is DX solutions centered on the planning, system development, and operation of digital products. Our core value is to provide a one-stop service from planning to implementation and operation, while maintaining the quality of our products.” (Mr. Bunbun)

Taken at face value, it sounds like a not-so-uncommon type of business, but GNUS is characterized by its system development structure. In general, there are two patterns in the system development system. One is the method of developing projects received from client companies with in-house engineers. Another method is to outsource development to a partner company.

“On GNUSBuild a network centered on freelance members. We assign appropriate members according to the client’s needs, create a team, and work on system development. I am often asked what the difference is from a temporary agency, but while a temporary agency introduces people to clients, we provide services as a team. Another big difference is the command system. In the case of temporary staffing, the client is fully responsible for giving instructions to the dispatched staff. in our case,The project manager leading the team gives appropriate instructions(Mr. Bunbun)

For each project, members with expertise are gathered each time to solve the problem. Where did this idea that reminds you of the movie “Ocean’s 11” come from? When I asked Mr. Bunbun, he replied, “In 2017, I was seconded to Dentsu Holdings USA in New York.”

“At the time, DX was not as popular a buzzword as it is now, but Dentsu Holdings USA was the first to work on DX projects for local subsidiaries of Japanese companies. My mission was to develop products for new services. However, we faced the problem of not being able to find a partner for product development.Actually, I was involved in product development in Japan, and I felt that there were few development partners.However, I thought that in the United States, it would be easy to find one. I had a preconceived notion that I could not find at all.In particular, there were no partners who could even link with enterprise systems (large-scale systems on a company-wide scale).” (Mr. Bunbun)

It was a start-up based on the West Coast that got out of this pinch.GigsterIt was an encounter with Gigster was building a system to provide software development solutions by teaming up with freelance members. Using this mechanism, Mr. Fumbun leads product development projects to success.

Trying Gigster’s mechanism in Japan for when Dentsu steps into the DX area

Mr. Fumbun was already thinking about new challenges while proceeding with the DX project. It is to try the mechanism of Gigster in Japan.

“At the time, the word DX was not yet common in Japan.When Dentsu steps into the DX area, securing DX human resources should be a missing piece.Intuitively, the Gigster model fills that gap.I did.” (Mr. Bunbun)

When you find something you want to do, you can’t help but act. That is Mr. Bunbun’s nature. In his own words, “If you take it easy, you might miss the wave of DX and miss out on business opportunities.” Then, while in New York, he contacted a Japanese team and formed a team with freelance engineers to create a PoC (proof of concept) to provide a product development solution.

“When I think about it now, I am grateful to the Dentsu Group for letting me do it. When I returned to Japan temporarily, I talked to various executives. branch)

What the PoC revealed was the method of risk management. Mr. Fumbun said, “I wasn’t worried about the potential of the market. I was thinking about the negative side. Gigster’s business model is optimized for American society. In light of contract practices and operations in Japan, , we conducted a negative check to see if there were any compliance risks.” After PoC, Dentsu and Gigster signed an exclusive business alliance agreement. It led to the establishment of GNUS in 2019.

Advantages and disadvantages of internal new business

GNUS is actually the third time Mr. Bunbun has launched a new business. The first is a service to read magazines with an app. The second time was an application development infrastructure service. From that experience,Advantages and disadvantages of starting a new business in-houseis said to have come into view.

“The advantage is the trust that the company has. If you start within a company, you can partner with a major company from the beginning, but that is difficult for a startup. , it also came out that they were transferred away from the launched product

Another point is that the concept of P/L is different between companies and startups. (Mr. Bunbun)

In launching GNUS, Bunbun was most conscious of cultural separation.

“At GNUS, it is essential to cooperate with tech-related personnel who were not in Dentsu’s economic sphere until now. At that time, Dentsu had a strong image of being in the commercial and marketing fields, and it was not necessarily a positive for building relationships with tech personnel. Considering this, we decided that instead of commercializing GNUS internally, it would be better to make it an external subsidiary.” (Mr. Bunbun)

Initially, Mr. Fumbun was seconded from Dentsu and served as representative director, but from October 2022, he was completely transferred and became the manager of GNUS. In the three and a half years since its establishment, Mr. Bunbun recalls, “We’ve worked hard to provide value to our client companies and thoroughly verify whether what we’ve been trying to do will be accepted by the market.”

“There is no doubt about the potential and growth potential of the business itself. Our core value is to provide a one-stop service from product planning to implementation and operation while maintaining expertise, centering on freelance members who do not have direct employment contracts. On the other hand, if we can collaborate with freelancers who have a high level of expertise in various fields, we should be able to generate value from multiple perspectives, centering on digital product planning, system development, and operation. Based on the business we have cultivated over the past year and a half, we will further expand the possibilities of service development and business strategy.” (Mr. Bunbun)

Not all requests will come true.But if you don’t make a request, it will never come true

currentDentsu Grouporganically integrates multiple solutions,IGS (Integrated Growth Solutions)Fumibun, who has been with Dentsu for nearly 20 years, is also aware of the recent changes.

“In the past, we may have been able to achieve results by being active in existing business areas. ,The number of in-house start-ups within the Dentsu Group is increasingI have a feeling.” (Mr. Bunbun)

Mr. Fumbun says that he feels a sense of “responsibility” for being one of the first to start an in-house business.

“The GNUS business will continue and grow together with the group companies within the Dentsu Group. And GNUS employees will be happy.Become a model as a successful example of a new businessI think. If there is a precedent, it will be easier for those who challenge from now on. From now on, I would like to get people to want to spread the GNUS-like approach across the Dentsu Group.” (Mr. Bunbun)

The Dentsu Group expands its business domains and provides integrated solutions with a view to the sustainable development of society. To that end, human resources who take on new challenges are essential. Finally, he told me the words that Mr. Bunbun always has to his juniors.

“I had the experience at Dentsu to find a problem that made me want to start a business.

When you work for a company, even if you make a request, it doesn’t mean that everything will come true. but,If you don’t make a request, it will never come true.For the time being, say it out loud, and if it doesn’t work, think about it from thereIsn’t it?

I’m open to new challenges, so it’s a waste to think that even if you have an idea, you won’t be able to take action anyway.” (Mr. Bunbun)

Click here for details on the Dentsu Group in Japan