XNUMX. XNUMX.Introduction

　Aztec Co., Ltd. will celebrate its 2024th anniversary in June 6.
With the 35th anniversary approaching, we wanted as many people as possible to learn about Aztec, so we spoke to President Ogura, the company's representative, about Aztec's founding and future plans.

2.　Opportunity for founding the company

・How did you come to found Aztec?

Before starting my own business, I worked as a patent manager at a development research institute for about 12 years while studying to become a patent attorney.
One day, an electronics manufacturer exercised its rights to a utility model patent on semiconductors, and the current intellectual property movement of ``protecting technology'' changed to a movement of ``attacking those who attack.'' . These two movements of "attacking and defending" have become commonplace, and each company has begun to put effort into patent research. Focusing on this trend, I decided to start a company specializing in patent research.
If I had continued working instead of going independent, I might have passed the patent attorney exam a few years later, but I thought this would be a great business.

・Have you always had the idea of ​​starting a business?

I've always thought about this since I was a student.
At the university I graduated from, there were many people whose parents were presidents of small and medium-sized enterprises, so when I visited friends' homes, I met the presidents and found that they were all interesting people who would make puns. .
I put the brakes on myself thinking that I have to graduate from a national university in order to become the president of a large company, but when I met presidents of small and medium-sized companies, I realized that I could do this myself. I had been thinking about becoming independent before I became one.

・Why did you choose a research company?

I didn't always want to start a research company; when I first started working, I was thinking of starting a business as a technology company.
In the precision mechanical engineering department of the university I graduated from, the curriculum was split evenly between electrical and mechanical engineering.
Generally speaking, the curriculum in the Mechanical Engineering Department is about mechanics, and the curriculum in the Electrical Engineering Department is about electricity, but the Precision Mechanical Engineering Department was unusual in that it was half-electrical and half-mechanical, which was very attractive and a strength for me.
I also attended night school to learn about software during my third and fourth years of university.
Perhaps because of this, I was assigned to the development and design section of the first company I joined. There, even though I was a new employee, I was given a theme that was under the direct control of the president, and I worked long hours while working on important developments. As I had gained more ability and confidence, I was thinking about a future involving development, but one day I realized the existence of intellectual property.
I wasn't taught about intellectual property rights in school, but as an employee of a manufacturer, it was a system that came naturally to me even back then.
In my third year at the company, a disclosure system was established, and I noticed an increase in corporate patent searches, and that's when I first realized the appeal of patent searches. From there, I had a vague idea that I wanted to start a business related to intellectual property.

3. Work at the beginning of the company's founding

・Did the company's founding go smoothly?

The people in the business department where I worked just before starting the company recognized my patent research abilities, so for about seven years after the company was founded, that company mainly requested research work. Over time, I started receiving requests from other companies as well.
In addition, I had real estate income, so that helped me in some ways.

・Where does the company name "Aztec" come from?

Aztec websiteAs mentioned above, we have created two words: "A to Z" x "technology" → "aztec" with the hope that we will respond to any request in order to contribute to the world's industry. I named it with purpose.
In addition to that, the company's origin also stems from the fact that the company was founded in Azabudai.

・Have you ever had any difficulties?

About a year after we started, the bubble burst, and right after we started, I really thought we were going to go bankrupt. Fortunately, I got through it by making various changes, but what was even more difficult was the Lehman Shock.
As a result, I received no requests from April to June of that year.
At that time, I couldn't sleep because I was worried that I might not be able to pay my employees' salaries.
At that time, for the first time, I had no choice but to cut my employees' salaries, and I did so with gut-wrenching determination. However, requests started coming back little by little from around July, and we were able to only make a difference in sales of a few tens of thousands of yen compared to the previous year, and we were able to fully compensate employees for the cut in their salaries.
There will only be one pay cut after that. I felt really frustrated and sorry, so I swore to myself that I would never let something like this happen again.

・How many people did you have when you first started your business?

At the beginning of the company, there were two people. From there, I increased the number of administrative positions, and for about four years when I was in Azabudai, there were three of us doing it.
Furthermore, since we moved to Ningyocho, we have added several new employees, including those who came to work with me when my previous colleagues retired.
Thanks in part to the large number of talented people who came to the company, the volume of research requests suddenly started to increase, so after that we started hiring all at once. I believe that increasing the number of people is important for the growth of a company.

4. Future Aztec

・Please tell us about Aztec's vision for the future.

First of all, we aim to be number one in this industry.
When there are many searchers, there are people with various experiences and abilities, so you can feel confident making requests from a customer's perspective. I believe that the size of a company is extremely important, so I believe that Aztec will eventually have to become an organization with several hundred employees.
Although our corporate philosophy is to "contribute to the development of global industry through intellectual property," we have not yet expanded overseas. We would like to increase the number of bases so that we can deal with not only domestic but also global companies.
If we have bases in the US or UK, we can conduct research 24 hours a day, which shortens delivery times and eliminates language barriers. The communication environment around the world has improved, so you can communicate with customers online from anywhere.
I would like to expand my research and analysis work to such an extent.

・Is there anything you would like to convey to Aztec employees?

People who stayed at this company because they thought it was a good place to work are now working for us, and we currently have a pool of extremely talented people. Won the grand prize at the patent search competition sponsored by the IPCC (2019 Wataru Hashima,2022 Mami Kudo), the company has earned high praise from customers and has become a company with excellent research capabilities.
In the future, I would like to further expand the workplace environment, salary, etc., and raise the standard of the company. I think that is the most important thing for employees.

・Thank you very much for letting me hear your valuable story.

5. Finally

　This time, I was able to hear stories that I didn't know before and during the company's founding, and it was a very valuable opportunity.
　I hope that you all got to know what kind of company Aztec is through President Ogura's story.
　President Ogura is a very positive, energetic person who is interested in everything and always takes on challenges.
　I once again thought that we would like to do our best to contribute in various ways to the future development of Aztec as envisioned by the president.

General Affairs and Management Department (Makoto Hashirama) Hisamitsu