Reon Hiruma

Chief Executive Officer

Reon's career of bringing foreign startups to Japan began in 2018 when he successfully brought UK-based startup to Japan with an exclusive partnership with Mastercard. He left the company to found Potentialist.
As a Dutch-Japanese living in Tokyo, Reon speaks four languages (English, Japanese, French, and Dutch) and was an award-winning student of Stanford’s SPICE.
He also hosts a podcast show on YouTube and Spotify called "Potentialist Show" which discusses strategies with top-tier entrepreneurs and VCs. 

Yuji Ito

Board Member

Former Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

In 1999, Yuji joined Goldman Sachs Tokyo office, where he contributed across various divisions including Equity and the Asian Special Situation Group (ASSG).
After his role as Managing Director in the Securities Division, Yuji pursued new ventures beyond the corporate sphere and co-founded Wings and AILE, a principal investment firm that focuses on diverse asset classes in Japan. Presently, Yuji is an active investor in the healthcare and financial technology sectors, offering his guidance and insight as a board member for several companies, including a publicly-traded Japanese corporation.
In December 2018, with a vision to nurture innovation across borders, Yuji, along with Reon, established Potentialist. At the firm, he uses his extensive network and deep understanding of the Japanese market to assist global technology companies in navigating and succeeding within Japan and beyond.

Hiroyuki Suzui

Board Advisor

Former Director of Accounting of Goldman Sachs Japan.

After working as a tax accountant at KPMG’s Madrid office between 1988 and 1996, Hiroyuki served as Director of Accounting at Sun Microsystems.

Later in 2004, he joined Goldman Sachs Tokyo office and played a key role in establishing "'Japan Hotel & Resort'“, Japan’s first ever hotel-focused J-REIT listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

For five years from 2007 to 2012, Hiroyuki was the CEO of Goldman Sachs -backed J-REIT and CEO of its management company (AUM $1.7 billion), managing 5 hotels in Japan and its 1,000+ employees.

After successfully changing the REIT's sponsor and merger with a different hotel-focused REIT, creating “Japan Hotel REIT”, he decided to leave the company to support younger generations of companies as their advisor and tax accountants.

Hiroyuki began to support Potentialist since 2020 as its advisor and helps Potentialist for its strategy execution efforts in Japan.