Blog

Name

Kakeru Tsubota

Hometown

Fukui, Japan

What did you do prior to Tuck?

I worked as the Chief of Staff to the Chief Transformation Officer at SAP Japan.

What made you want to be part of the CDS fellows program? What is the best part about being involved with the center so far?

Essentially, I was interested in publishing some work aligned to my interests and expertise through Tuck. I have enjoyed so many opportunities to learn and absorb from Tuck, but the CDS Fellows program will be one of a few opportunities where I can finally give back and output what I believe about digital strategies.

In addition, I enjoyed all the intellectual interactions with Executive Director Patrick Wheeler, Professor Alva Taylor, and other students and staff throughout the first year serving as an MBA Associate. I feel lucky to be actively involved in such a profound and unique community here at Tuck.

What other activities are you involved in at Tuck?

Student Board (Quality of Life Chair); Technology Club Co-Chair; Entrepreneurship Club Co-Chair; Asia Business Club Co-Chair; Tuck Admissions Associate (admissions interviewer); Tuck Club of Japan (alum chapter) Board Member; Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship Student Leadership Board

What has been the biggest growth moment at Tuck, where you stepped out of your comfort zone? What did you learn from that experience?

Leading a 300-person tech conference for the CDS and Technology Club in the fall of 2022 was one of very few opportunities where I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone. Alongside three other talented co-chairs, I spent more than five months planning and preparing for the event. We were in charge of every single piece of the event, from reaching out to speakers of our dreams, marketing the significance and importance of the event inside/outside the community, financing the event through funds and donations, and tirelessly running the logistics during the event. Meeting the great speakers in-person (including  TJ Parker, Founder of PillPack, Jon Radoff, Founder and CEO of Beamable, Justine Modot, Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft, among many others) was the most fulfilling part of the experience.

What CDS learning opportunities or experiences have you learned the most from your time at Tuck so far?

In addition to the tech conference, I enjoyed interacting with CDS alumni at a happy hour event in San Francisco in summer 2022. I was impressed by how many alumni maintain ties with the center despite diverse career choices they made after graduating from Tuck. I’m excited to be part of the extended network in a couple months.

What class at Tuck pushed your thinking the most?

The First Year Project, the capstone project-based course at the end of the first year. I partnered with Dream.org, a California-based nonprofit working toward criminal justice reform and tackled an 85 billion-dollar problem to find an alternative solution to the existing incarceration system in the U.S.

As a project lead, I faced a significant dilemma between the enormous social impact potential and limited time and resources allocated to the course. We eventually arrived at a structured peer support model, in which:  formerly incarcerated mentors would be trained and paid to provide logistical and personal support to newly released inmates. I learned a ton about running an ESG-focused project with such a diverse team.

What books are you reading, podcasts are you listening to, or shows are you watching?

I enjoy listening to Lenny’s Podcast by a tech product leader, Lenny Rachitsky. He is great at uncovering product manager-myths with a wide variety of guests. More excitingly, we recently had the privilege of hosting the latest guest, Ravi Mehta, former Chief Product Officer at Tinder, to the Tuck campus to ask some follow-up questions. What a life I am living in!

What do you like to do in your free time?

As a father of three kids, I enjoy watching them grow every single day. The journey to move from Japan to the U.S. wasn’t easy, especially for them since they were born and raised in Japan. Despite the cultural challenges they have faced, they have taught me how we can be resilient, adapt to new environments, and grow. I am fortunate to have teachers and role models so close at hand.

What advice do you have for Tuck students interested in tech- and digitally-focused career pathways?

Never underestimate the power of networking, especially with the Tuck network. The major reason I can launch into my dream job is that I leveraged the alumni network to connect with the hiring manager. Tuck may not be the physically closest campus to the tech scene, but has the strongest and most active alumni community on the planet.