#4 Rob Weiss, how he became an Associate Engineer in a Japanese company

Hello!
This is Casey, and I’m now working at Open Room Inc. as an internship.

In this series, I aim to show what Open Room is doing through a model, who has no experiences in business, learning Japanese real estate industry, Digital Transformation (DX), and SaaS business in an international startup which tackles the DX in real estate industry that is said one of the most difficult venture in Japan.

We have seen two out of three members from our tech team so far. This time, last but not least, we will introduce our associate engineer: Rob!
Let's focus on how he is different from other members, and how he sees same direction with them.

How a boy who were building contraptions in a yard became an engineer in Japan

C: I’m glad that I can finally talk to you in person!  I read the previous interview article of yours and have some basic info, but I prepared some questions that I wanted to know more about you.  Which part are you from in the States?

R: Me too!  I’m from Long Island, New York.

C: My father is from Buffalo, New York, and I’ve visited the city, too.  And, how old are you?

R: Cool!  I’m 24 now and I guess I’m the youngest team member.

C: Maybe so. Well, I want to start with your personal story and know how you have built your values.  How would you describe your childhood?

R: Hmm, I guess I feel the same as I am now.  I don’t know, but I don’t think I have changed so much since then.  When I was a kid, I was interested in more traditional engineering stuff, such as building contraptions around my house.  So for a long time I wanted to do mechanical engineering or aerospace, but as I got older, I started to get more into computers.

C: When did you begin to build your interest toward computers?

R: I guess it was around middle school.  When I was really young, I didn’t play video games, but watched my brother playing instead.  But in middle school, me and my friends started to play Xbox, and that’s when I started to get interested in video games, computers, and started to build computers.

C: In that age, you already started to build computers by yourself.

R: It was kind of a fun experience putting a bunch of things together like a puzzle while learning the technology, and I also wanted to play games with my friends.  I still have the computer sitting somewhere in my house.

C: That’s impressive.  So it was natural for you to get into digital fields it seems.

R: Yeah, I started to take some engineering classes in high school.  One was mechanical engineering, and another was electrical engineering.  I started to become more interested in the electronics and robotics discipline, but by the time I graduated, I decided that I wanted to do more software than hardware stuff.  Then I pursued software engineering in college.

C: Why do you think these fields interest you so much, and how do you get the enthusiasm for them?

R: What got me interested initially was airplanes, trains, motorcycles, boats, etc...  I like that stuff, I still like that stuff especially from a technology perspective.  Then the ideas that make something that doesn’t currently exist, or make something that 200 years ago people couldn’t possibly imagine.

C: I see.  That makes a lot of sense.
I heard that you came to Japan for the first time as an exchange student in college.  Why did you choose to come to Japan, and what interested you?

R: That’s actually an interesting story that I’ve told many times.  I originally wasn’t intending to come to Japan at all actually.  I was planning to go study abroad in South Africa with my English professor.  I needed to do 4 credits in humanities and I could do that in 2 weeks there, but then the professor got sick or something happened and he ended up canceling the trip.  I was sad, but since I was ready to study abroad, I thought “why don’t I pick another place to go.”

C: That’s shocking…

R: I was looking for some interesting places, and I decided to go somewhere not as westernized.  I started to look around Asia, and I looked at Japan.  In the research I did for Japan, it seemed it was a terrible place to work.  So I was like “Okay, I’ll study abroad there, and enjoy all the positive aspects while avoiding the negatives”.  That was the original reason why I came to Japan.

C: Wow, it’s very interesting haha!  At first you had rather a negative feeling toward Japan.

R: Not toward Japan really.  Everything seemed great, like the food and the nature except to work there.  

C: Then how did the negative perspective turn out?

R: It’s not as bad as the media makes it out to be I think.  They always highlight the extreme stories.

C: True.  
Besides engineering, do you have any hobbies?

R: I like to go hiking a lot, especially when the weather is nice.  I like anything that involves enjoying nature, spending time outside, and traveling around to see new places.

C: Where do you usually visit?

R: I usually go around the Kanto area, mostly Yamanashi.

C: You seem more extroverted compared to Jonathan and Gensuke, who rather stay inside and do something.

R: I don’t like to spend too much time inside because I start to feel all cooped up.  Also the nature is one thing that I like about living here since it’s super easy to access places close to Tokyo by train.  There are so many mountains in Japan and I like to spend time in nature when I can.

Provide more seamless experience to the users

C: Now I’ll move to the topic of service and engineering.  First of all, What is fun and hard about developing Forest?

R: There are a few fun parts.  One is that we get to use interesting technology.  Two is that we get to make something that is really helpful for the users.  I guess the hardest part is knowing where to take the product.  
So the first one, the technology, since we are a startup and a small team, we can do things largely however we want, use whatever tools in a very flexible manner, which is one of the biggest benefits.  For the second one, in the real estate industry in Japan, everything is still analog, everything is on paper, and it seems inefficient for them to work.  I think that using our software, they can work much more effectively, and also it’s better for their customers as well.  The hard part is predicting what customers want before they want it.  I think we’ve done a good job satisfying their needs, but there's still some distance to go for sure.  

C: Currently, what do you think is the key feature of Forest?

R: Right now I think the key feature is “obigae”, the replacement feature.  The users seem to be in love with it.  It’s a good feature, but I think the real value of the software is beyond there.  I think the people who are just using that feature are just dipping their toes into the water.  They can benefit from the CRM, the shared folder, and some things we are planning for the future, which helps users to compare properties more easily.

C: Nice.  How do you like your job?

R: As I said, since we're a small team, you have a direct impact on things you work on compared to working in a big company on a huge project where you might touch only a small part, or the stuff you make would not directly reach the customers.  I enjoy the fact that some of the things I’ve worked on are regularly used by the end users, and are actually making an impact on how they work.

C: What do you want to attain with the service and the company?

R: My goal would be to make the whole process of searching for apartments, homes, etc… better overall for both agents and customers.  I think the way it stands now, printing and faxing things around, won't stay for a long time.  When I looked for an apartment in Japan, even though I was happy with the agents I used, it seemed disorganized and hard for them.  I hope that, like other countries, Japan provides a more seamless experience where people can do more online.  

C: How is the situation in the US?

R: In the US, I would search for an apartment or a property through a web service where I am able to see all the information and details I need with pictures.  But in Japan, sometimes they don’t even give you the name of the property.  Instead, it would be like “5 minutes walk from Shinagawa station”, right?  So the situation in the US is much easier than that.

C: Sounds quite different from the situation in Japan.

"Open Room is a place where you can work on something that impacts people and the industry"

C: So next, I’d like to ask you about the team and company.  In the previous interview, you mentioned that you were interested in the website of Open Room when you were job hunting.  How did you find it out at first point?

R: I was looking at a website which focused on small startups.  At the time, a lot of the listings were junk, and questionable companies.  Open Room stood out much more than others and when I visited the website, I realized that it was a real company.  I sent Toyo a message telling him I’m interested, and we started there.

C: What was your first impression of Toyo?

R: It was interesting.  He was super open about the company, he told me everything I wanted to know, he was very straightforward, and easy to talk to.  So I had a good first impression of him.

C: How has the impression changed as you worked together?

R: I think I mostly feel the same way.  He’s always forthcoming with the business, transparent with everything, and I really appreciate that.

C: How would you describe this company in short?

R: In a short sentence…  That’s a bit hard, haha.  But I would say that Open Room is a place where you can work on something that impacts people and the industry.

C: I’m amazed how everyone tells me exactly the same thing.  I guess that’s because all the members are facing the same way.

R: True haha

C: Jonathan told me that in the tech team, you don’t have a specific work division, but what do you mainly contribute to the team?

R: I work on our mainstream product, Forest, and various technical tasks.  I think everyone touches almost every part of the software, but there are some parts that we are more specialized in I guess.  For me, I worked a lot on the CRM part, and recently the video meeting function.  We usually just split off and work on a few different things at the same time, so what we are working on always changes.

C: I feel that you all cooperate well.
How would you describe Jonathan?

R: I think Jonathan is very straightforward and honest.  He is hands-off, so he guides us, but doesn’t give us strong direction on where we have to go.  Still, you can ask him for an opinion on whatever you’re working on, and he always has something to say.

C: How would you describe Gensuke?

R: I feel Gensuke deals deeply with technology.  He is very invested and interested in it.  He dives deep into the aspects he works on.

C: I understand that. 
Both Jonathan and Gensuke told me that Rob’s documenting skill helps the team a lot.  Do you find yourself like that?

R: For me, to be a useful engineer, you have to do not only the coding and technical stuff, but also have to document what you’re doing. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, somebody else should be able pick up right where I left off.  I think making everything clear is very important even for myself because I will forget what I did a month later.

C: What kind of person do you think would fit well in the tech team?

R: Since we all work in a full-stack capacity, we need someone with a wide breadth of experience, and who is willing to touch every part of the software.  In Japan, engineers are often either frontend or backend, so it might be less common to work like us.  I think someone with an ability to understand, or someone willing to learn various technologies would be good.

C: I see.
So that’s pretty much all that I wanted to ask you, but do you have something more to say?

R: I think you have dug it all out of me.  I think you have everything!

C: Cool!  Thank you for having time, and it was interesting to talk to you!

R: Likewise!

How did you find his character? I felt he is very friendly, and precise about what he is saying. It was also interesting how he is different from others, but still having the same visions.
I hope you enjoyed and learn the culture of our tech team. See you soon in another interview!

Casey

If you are interested, check the recruiting page