Oki Ito is ByteDance's first employee in Japan. Listen to Oki's story on how he joined ByteDance in his own words, and his journey in the Global Business Development team.
My name is Oki, and I work for ByteDance Japan in the Global Business Development team.
Being in Business Development entails finding external partnerships to develop our business, attaining music and video licenses; but the global element of my job also means that I work on a global scale, and speak Japanese, English, Mandarin, and occasionally Korean in my job.
I was introduced to ByteDance through a friend while I was working as a director at a major broadcasting firm in Japan. I was curious about ByteDance, and did a search of the company, eventually coming across a video of the CEO, Zhang Yiming. In that video, he spoke about how ByteDance was a platform that enabled everyone to be a creator, and that technology could enable anyone to be creative. I felt inspired by this speech and made the decision to become the first ByteDancer in Japan.
One more thing inspired me was a launch of the app TikTok in Japan after I joined ByteDance. Before having TikTok, only people in the creative industry like broadcasting and filming, or a limited number of creators could produce professional quality videos and have the ability to reach out to audiences numbering to the millions, but TikTok gave everyone the power to become a creator with music created by professionals. It helps people spread their creative visions worldwide.
As my major in graduate school was Media Studies, I studied how the Internet makes people's communication interactive, multimedia and how it changes the way of human communication. TikTok's recommendation engine allows for people's visions to be shared worldwide in a blink of an eye. And through work of people such as myself, every video in TikTok can be empowered by licensed professional music to aid in their creative expression.
With these advanced technologies and ideas, TikTok takes down the walls of culture and language beyond geographical boundaries. In other words - I see TikTok as a form of new mass communication, one where the masses are truly involved interactively. It maximizes the inherent potential of the internet.
Working here at ByteDance is really exciting and enjoyable for me. I am working with likeminded people who all share the same vision for building a creative platform, and I feel proud to be a part of all this.
I believe ByteDance is the perfect environment for one to truly flourish and grow. If you are looking for a new challenge, or you love change, ByteDance is the place for you.
