Leadership Team
Because every consulting engagement is unique, StrategyCore builds the right team to execute your specific requirements and enhance your Japanese business results. The StrategyCore leadership team consists of a group of StrategyCore employees and corporate advisors who are seasoned professionals with extensive research, analysis, strategy, sales, and management within Japan's enterprise technology markets.
Brian Sandler, Managing Director
Brian Sandler launched StrategyCore to meet the consulting requirements of global technology vendors in Japan. Prior, he was director of nihon-silicon-search K.K., a Japan market entry and executive search consultancy where he worked with Fortune 1000 and venture funded technology vendors across a wide range of industries. Having extensive Japanese experience with emerging technologies, most of Brian's business experience has been centered on Japan's technology, OEM and security markets. He graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Melbourne, Australia
Rob MacGregor, Managing Director
Before taking on the role of managing director at StrategyCore K.K. in 2001, Rob was director and founder of nihon-silicon-search K.K. where he delivered market entry and executive search consulting services to a wide range of Fortune 1000 and venture funded technology vendors in the Japanese market. Prior, Rob was Asia Pacific human resources manager for Nike International Inc., Hong Kong; management consultant with TMT, Inc., a Japan based human resources consultancy working with global technology subsidiaries; and IBM Canada marketing education staff, delivering education services to internal IBM employees. Rob's interests lie in advanced mobile, green, and media technologies. He received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Seiji Miwa, Corporate Advisor
Seiji Miwa has nearly 40 years of experience in the Japanese and U.S. electronics and software industries. Prior to his current position as President of AmmoCore Japan, Miwa-san was chairman and president of Magma Design Automation K.K., where he was instrumental in helping the company go public in 2001. Previously to Magma, Miwa-san served as president then chairman at Cadence Design Systems Japan K.K. As vice president of the Japanese subsidiary of Teradyne, he was responsible for sales of semiconductor test systems. He received his degree in Business Management from the University of Kyushu, Japan.
Mitsu Sano, Corporate Advisor
Mitsu Sano has numerous sales achievements in his 30-year career. Prior to working in partnership with StrategyCore, Mitsu was the CEO of ValiCert Japan, an enterprise security company, where he was instrumental in developing the start-up having developed 9 distribution channels in 2 years. Amongst his notable achievements included selling to all 33 Japanese prefecture governments. Previous to this, Mitsu was managing director of Citrix Systems Japan, where he signed over 80 resellers in under 2 years; Director of Channel Sales for Sybase Japan, responsible for US$100 million in partner revenue; and Sales Executive, Sun Microsystems Japan. Currently Mitsu is President of Progressive Systems, Inc. a provider of secure document management solutions to the Japanese government. Mitsu implements StrategyCore partner search and selection for clients across most application software segments. He earned his B.A. in Politics from Nihon University.
Jun Manbo, Consulting Advisor
Jun Manbo is Senior Management Consultant with the Mizuho Research Institute Corporation, think tank of the Mizuho Financial Group. Together with StrategyCore, Manbo-san advises on research, analysis, and strategy engagements. Responsible for developing and implementing competitive advantage using information technology, Manbo-san has worked across a wide range of vertical industries including financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and government for over 30 years. The bulk of his clientelle consist of large corporations within the Mizuho Group, and associated family organisations. Manbo-san has an M.A. from the University of Illinois-Urbana, USA and a B.A., Business Administration from Seijo University, Japan.
Hiroshi Suganuma, Executive Advisor
With over 35 years experience selling and marketing healthcare products in Japan, Suganuma-san's executive relationships, expertise, and industry network is vast. He was Senior Managing Director, Sales & Marketing at Aventis Pharma Japan, where he successfully transformed sales and marketing into a single business unit organization, built brands Allegra (#1 anti-allergy agent), Amaryl (#1 oral anti-diabetic agent), and Taxotere (#2 anticancer chemotherapy agent) in terms of Japan sales and market share. Previously, Suganuma-san was Executive Vice President at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Japan, where he initially launched Taxotere and was responsible for strategic alliances, product portfolio management, long term business planning, new product pricing, and sales distribution. Suganuma-san is currently CEO of Hiro BS, a healthcare consulting firm assisting foreign providers of healthcare products and services with strategic advisory services. He has his B.Sc. in Political Science from Keio University, Japan. Suganuma-san assists StrategyCore with market research, partner sales, and business management services for global healthcare companies in Japan and China.
Akira Nakamura, Corporate Advisor
Nakamura-san's experience covers over 35 years of technology sales and general corporate management in Japan's automotive, factory automation, manufacturing, and semiconductor industries. During his career, Nakamura-san has consistently achieved outstanding corporate results, having responsibility for key sales accounts while helping global technology subsidiaries in Japan build profitable businesses. Previously, Nakamura-san held CEO positions with Cognex Japan K.K, a machine vision factory automation technology provider; and Intergraph K.K., a CAD software vendor; was National Sales Director for Silicon Graphics Japan K.K., selling workstations, desktops, and servers to engineering, design, and testing groups of OEM and industrial makers. Prior to this Nakamura-san was a manufacturing sales executive at IBM Japan Ltd., and branch manager at IBM's Nagoya automotive division. He graduated from Tohoku University with a B.Sc. in Electro-Communication Engineering.