Zeptor Corporation

Tatsunori Suzuki
President & CEO, Zeptor Corporation

In July 2009, he and some peers founded Zeptor Corporation in a spin-out from Intel Corporation. Making use of cutting-edge materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) and semiconductor production techniques with extremely high volume efficiency, Zeptor Corporation is currently developing CNT/metal composite film electrodes for use in energy devices and sensors.

Incubation Site: Silicon Valley (BIC) (November 2009 to present)

Developing an F1 Engine

Ever since I was a child I've loved cars, and I had a special interest in Formula One. Not so much the racers, but the F1 engineers. (laughs) So when I grew up, I wanted a job related to cars, or to become an inventor like Thomas Edison.

The first company I worked at was a Japanese corporation that developed car parts. It was a small company, so I didn't think I would have anything to do with F1, but the chance to do such work did come my way. The company started developing F1 engines, and I was selected to lead a team developing an engine control system. I was really lucky. Even to this day, I cannot forget the high-pitched hum left on the circuit during the test run of an engine we ourselves had developed. That was 1992.

However, I hadn't thought I would achieve my dreams so quickly, so even as I felt satisfied, I was also somewhat confused. I didn't know what to do next. Then, as I was worrying over that, I remembered something I had experienced on a business trip to Los Angeles.

Next Stop: Green Business!

Two years prior to that test run on the circuit, I had gone on my first overseas business trip, to Los Angeles. A close friend who had entered the company the same year as I did was stationed there. We were in the car on our way from the suburbs into L.A. when I noticed the sky growing murky, and he told me it was smog.

Up until that time, I had mostly only paid attention to generating greater power by introducing lots of air and gasoline into the engine. I had never seriously thought about environmental problems. I remember telling myself strongly how from now on humans, who use automobiles, must be more conscious of and address environmental issues.

After recalling that experience upon completion of the F1 project, we started up a completely new kind of project at the company. At that time, automotive navigation systems were just becoming popular. It was a project for joint development with a major OEM of a product that would use the car navigation monitor to encourage ecological driving.

It was quite an ambitious project, but I handled a wide variety of areas, from planning to product design and project management. We made it so you have tropical fish displayed on the monitor of the car navigator and its living environment changes according to how you drive.

For example, if you're driving in an environmentally friendly way, the living environment improves, the fish are happy, and they grow up rapidly. However, if your driving is rough, the fish get wild, the water temperature increases, and they die.

That idea wasn't the only thing innovative about it. You could put the data from your car into your computer, and you could use the memory card slot to set pictures you had taken with a digital camera as the background. We included a lot of technology that was revolutionary for the time.

Everyone on the team thought, "We're gonna change the world with this!" and development took off at an extremely rapid pace. At that time, there wasn't a great deal of environmental consciousness in the market, so it wasn't a phenomenal hit. It was a high-risk project, so to this day I am full of gratitude toward my boss, who supported it from the planning stages, and toward the person in charge at the OEM, who later became a close friend.

The Desire to Do Green Business in America

I wanted to do research on low emission vehicles, so after the tropical fish project completed, I got the company to send me to America in 1997. At that time, America's efforts in low emission vehicles were ahead of Japan's, requiring, for example, California car manufacturers to sell a certain amount of low emission vehicles.

However, before I could achieve what I wanted, the order came down for me to return to Japan. So I put my car and household items in the care of a warehouseman I knew, and went back to Japan--of course with the intention of coming back to the U.S. someday.

Later, when I left that company, I found a job in the group company of a corporation that possessed an overwhelming share of the fuel cell components market, and they dispatched me back to Silicon Valley. That was 1999.

Second Stay in America and Move to Intel

Just as I had hoped, I returned to America. However, my assignment was semiconductor manufacturing industry rather than clean tech. I had used semiconductor chips before, but I had never made any, so I cram-studied and managed to do my work without causing anyone any trouble.

However, I was still interested in green business. While I was doing my regular work, I proposed a business to the head office in Japan. It involved a new energy making use of the company's metal thin film processing technology. I was busy with my current work, however, and time began to pass by without much progress being made.

About then, Intel headquarters, which was a client of ours, contacted me. I thought I might be able to achieve what I wanted at Intel, but also thought perhaps I should keep trying to get my current company to accept the new business proposal I had put forth. The person who eventually gave me the push I needed was my boss, who had always looked out for me ever since I joined the company.

The Catalyst for Setting Up a New Company

At Intel headquarters, I proposed a research project for a new type of energy. But with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and other economic problems in the latter half of 2008, we didn't have the budget for that project. In order to pursue my dreams of clean energy, I spoke to the members of the project and we decided to found Zeptor. In the end, everyone I invited came on board. I was especially happy that my former boss was enthusiastic about it.

Experts in physics, materials and chemistry are the core of engineering. They're the professionals who change lab technology into a mass production system for a fabrication plant.

Leadership, Confidence and Hard Work

I am the only Japanese person at Zeptor. The other members are from all over--India, America and Singapore. We need to respect each other's cultures and values or it won't work well. This is my first time to be in the position of CEO. Leadership seen as pulling the company along no matter the circumstances is an ability that the CEO of a venture company absolutely must have. I think the ability to inspire others and an attitude of unwavering confidence are also important.

Positive Thinking

Since starting the company, my acquaintances often ask me, "Don't you feel any stress? However, I don't often grow uneasy or feel stress. If I think positively, that will spread to those around me. Whenever someone joins the team, I always tell them, "The condition for joining Zeptor is positive thinking."