Episode #42: Loic Bizel, CEO & Founder, Wantomo

Loic Bizel currently leads Wantomo, a premium Japan made recommended dog food company exclusively sold online. Mr. Bizel originally came to Japan from France in his mid-20s as the Export Manager for French shoe brands. As the leader overseeing the Asia branch, Mr. Bizel successfully introduced these shoe brands to Japanese department stores and select shops. Being a young leader, he sought to gain gradual trust from his team and was heavily involved in recruitment. Mr. Bizel specifically looked for people with international backgrounds who were open-minded and flexible about working in a smaller scale foreign company. Mr. Bizel also notes that the people he hired in Japan are very committed to the nature of their work.

In 2001, Mr. Bizel founded his own company, Lebiz Consulting www.lebiz-consulting.com, where he provided fashion consulting using his knowledge and connections from his previous company. Mr. Bizel provided consulting to brands who wanted to launch in Japan or brands who already had but were having issues with distribution, positioning, and strategy, and so on. He launched www.fashioninjapan.com, a street fashion photo collection site. During this time, Mr. Bizel explains that Japanese fashion was becoming globally known, and entrepreneurs from all over the world began to come to Tokyo to understand new fashion trends and concepts. To meet this demand, Mr. Bizel also created www.tokyofashiontour.com and organized customized tours to inform visitors of Tokyo fashion. Capitalizing on the Cool Japan boom in the early 2000s, Mr. Bizel gradually gained more media attention and buzz.

Mr. Bizel then joined Glamour Sales, a start-up company created by two French entrepreneurs. The company operated a membership-based flash sales business that distributed and promoted brands with excess inventory through pop-up stores and e-commerce websites. Mr. Bizel bought another flash sales company, Gilt Japan www.gilt.jp and changed the company names to Gladd www.gladd.jp, growing the business from 14-15 people to over 150 employees in 2016. Currently, the company has grown even further and is at about 250 staff.

While researching on some successful business models in Europe and on Japanese trends, Mr. Bizel decided to target Japanese dog owners, and founded Wantomo, a premium dog food company. Wantomo delivers dog food recommended by a veterinarian to owners based on the dog’s online profile through their online store, Leo & Lea www.leoandlea.com. Mr. Bizel hopes to market Wantomo through user generated content by building a rich online community, having customers post their experiences through social media.

Mr. Bizel again mentioned the importance of building trust and being involved in recruitment of all leadership roles including sales, marketing, finance, logistics & operations, HR and web. He says: “I need to build the structure in the, the wall of the house and, and I, so you need to find the right people, the right talent and the right fit with the company.” Mr. Bizel also values open communication and transparency to encourage his team to move in an agile manner instead of being too risk-averse and afraid of going in the wrong direction, like many larger corporations. When recruiting new hires to enter the Wantomo Mr. Bizel emphasizes: “the talent has to bring you something, but you have to bring them something also...that the Japanese company [doesn’t know how to].”

To newcomers leading in Japan, Mr. Bizel advises to “stay yourself” instead of “trying to be Japanese.” He adds that understanding the company culture is the key to succeeding and gaining trust. Secondly, Mr. Bizel advises to be curious and to be a good listener even towards opinions that you do not necessarily agree in order to maintain open and transparent communication.

Loic Bizel currently leads Wantomo, a premium Japan made recommended dog food company exclusively sold online. Mr. Bizel originally came to Japan from France in his mid-20s as the Export Manager for French shoe brands. As the leader overseeing the Asia branch, Mr. Bizel successfully introduced these shoe brands to Japanese department stores and select shops. Being a young leader, he sought to gain gradual trust from his team and was heavily involved in recruitment. Mr. Bizel specifically looked for people with international backgrounds who were open-minded and flexible about working in a smaller scale foreign company. Mr. Bizel also notes that the people he hired in Japan are very committed to the nature of their work.