Yusuke Asano: Spearheading the World’s First AI-Powered Source Code Marketplace

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, One Act Inc. is a multinational start-up involved in system and software development. The company is currently developing and managing the world’s first AI powered source code marketplace, PieceX, where companies and businesses can fairly share source code. The marketplace allows sellers to create a new income stream by selling source codes, and buyers save over 80% on software development time and costs by utilizing ready-to-use source codes by trading software components globally.

Also, to accommodate the Open Source Community, the organization has recently launched PieceX OSS, which allows developers to provide paid support, customization, and debugging that enables users to get the support they need for their projects. Ranked as the 13th top start-up in Japan, PieceX serves more than 160 countries with a global team from more than 12 countries. With its global offices spread across France, India, U.K., and the US, PieceX already has a track record of transactions in over 170 countries worldwide and creates a web infrastructure where anyone in the world can quickly develop new services, creating new companies.

In a recent interview with The Inc. Magazine, One Act Inc’s CEO Yusuke Asano shared valuable insights into the organization’s progress and solutions that are transforming the business world.

Below are the highlights of the interview.

Please tell us about your professional journey.

Yusuke: I started my career at Keyence, a company with the third largest capital in Japan after Toyota and Sony, and engaged in Sales and Management for eight years. After that, I oversaw the launch of two venture companies before establishing One Act in 2013. In 2021, I established One Act UK in London and One Act US in California. Now, I am representing the three companies and expanding my business worldwide.

What was your inspiration behind turning into an entrepreneur?

Yusuke: I never had the ambition to be an entrepreneur in the first place. However, in order to launch a “world’s first” service that contributes to the world, starting a company that allows me to create my own organizational culture was the best choice, so I opted to start my business.

What led to the inception of One Act?

Yusuke: While overseeing the launch of two IT companies, I often faced long-standing challenges in software development, such as excessive development time and cost and the lack of IT engineers. That’s why I established One Act to create a groundbreaking service that solves those pains in the form of a marketplace for buying and selling source code under the name of “PieceX.”

How is PieceX disrupting the entire industry for the better?

Yusuke: PieceX can reduce the time and cost of conventional software development by more than 80% by globally distributing source code, which is a software component that can be used immediately.

Buyers can quickly launch new services, and sellers can earn new revenue. This will be a new infrastructure for the software development industry and will improve the effective use of the world’s intellectual resources.

How has the global pandemic affected One Act?

Yusuke: The pandemic was the worst unexpected recent event in the world. However, it also served as an opportunity to change conventional system development and thus had a positive impact on PieceX. People are required to develop efficiently through remote work, and they are constantly looking for new development methods.

Our One Act team has been working remotely since before that, and now members from 12 countries around the world are strongly connected to form One team.

How do you ensure that your clients get the best quality code for their projects?

Yusuke: As the main priority, we focus most on quality control. We run state-of-the-art AI-powered quality control and also have our QA team verify all source code on the marketplace.

What are the priorities for One Act in 2023 and beyond?

Yusuke: We are trying to create a vast global infrastructure to be pioneers of the first-ever high-quality source code marketplace. PieceX has already spread to 220 countries and has a track record of transactions in 170 countries. We are planning to have partners in all different regions to penetrate the global market further. Companies interested in partnering together with us are always welcome to contact us. We welcome all countries.

What would you advise budding entrepreneurs who are looking to start their businesses?

Yusuke: Speed is VERY important. As is often said, fail fast and improve fast. If you rapidly keep repeating this, you will find yourself in a different place. I believe that software development should not be an obstacle to that end, and that’s why I recommend that you first look for ready-to-use products that suit you on PieceX.