[RECEPTIONIST CEO, Mariko Hashimoto 1] From a "receptionist" to an entrepreneur. Developed a cloud reception system and introduced it to 5,000 companies

Photo: Takuma Imamura

When I visited a large company at an appointed time, a long line formed in front of the reception desk, and the receptionist was rushed to intervene with the person in charge on the extension phone. Although many business negotiations have been replaced online due to the corona crisis, we still occasionally encounter such situations. [See all images] [RECEPTIONIST CEO, Mariko Hashimoto 1] From a "receptionist" to an entrepreneur. While developing a cloud reception system and introducing it to 5,000 companies, we often see reception systems using tablet PCs. When you designate a place to visit, the person in charge will be notified, and an admission pass may be issued to pass through the reception gate.

“Extraordinarily High Growth” Entrepreneurs

RECEPTIONIST (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), founded in 2016 by Mariko Hashimoto (40), has developed a reception system based on Hashimoto's 11-year experience as a "receptionist". Hashimoto, who has no experience in management, no knowledge of technology, and no financial resources, developed the system from scratch. Ogasawara Ogasawara (50), the representative of the venture capital (VC) "ABBALab inc.", which invests in the company, and an outside director, describes Hashimoto as having an "extraordinarily high growth rate." “She transformed herself into an entrepreneur by creating a product out of the inconvenience and waste she felt at the reception desk, and enabled people to concentrate on work that only people can do. Every time, I grow by absorbing the feedback of the people around me.” The job of “receptionist” still has a strong image in the world that “youth and appearance win.” Hashimoto himself has been told by people around him, "Are all the receptionists mistresses of executives?" Some employees looked down on the reception staff as "temporaries." There was a time when an employee who used to bow down in front of customers began to speak ill of them loudly in front of Hashimoto as soon as the customers left. Hashimoto's journey has the power to overturn the conventional image of a "receptionist". This is because it has caused a "paradigm shift" in which the system replaces the reception work that was previously handled by people, such as filling in handwritten reception forms and intermediary by extension phone.