Hikaru x Makiko Kawamura: 5 Common Traits of the Wealthy

Former Goldman Sachs MD with an annual income of 300 million yen.

A YouTuber entrepreneur with annual sales exceeding 10 billion yen, starting from a high school dropout NEET background.

When these two people with opposite backgrounds were asked, "What do people who become rich have in common?", they gave the same answer.

"How they use their time."

Makiko Kawamura said this during her appearance on PIVOT:

"Wealthy people have the idea of 'buying time.' Even during my days as a salaryman, I hired a driver out of my own pocket. If you use travel time for work, your sales will increase by that much."

Hikaru said this in an interview with President magazine:

"Fine dining and brand-name goods are only for the camera. Usually, I'm satisfied with a 400-yen beef bowl. I spend money on 'business and time,' not things."

People who earn hundreds of millions are not competing on "what to spend money on," but on "what to spend time on."

This time, based on the statements of Makiko Kawamura and Hikaru, we have organized the "common traits of people who become rich" into five points, adding Thomas Corley's "Study of 233 Millionaires" and Deloitte's wealthy individual survey.

1. "Buying Time": Why Makiko Kawamura Hired a Driver Out of Her Own Pocket as an Employee

The higher the annual income, the more people spend money on "time" rather than "things."

Specific episode of Makiko Kawamura:

When appearing on PIVOT's "Money Skill Set," Makiko Kawamura revealed this:

During her time as a Goldman Sachs employee, she hired a driver at her own expense.

The reason is clear. Traveling by train takes one hour round trip for one customer visit. With a car and a driver, you can prepare for the next business meeting while moving, and the number of visits per day increases by 2 to 3.

In a world where one business meeting leads to a transaction of tens of millions of yen, the monthly cost of a driver (several hundred thousand yen) is cheap as an investment. By simply converting travel time into "work time," annual sales can multiply.

Similarly, she asked a hair salon for hair styling every morning. This was to use the 30 minutes she would spend washing and drying her hair herself for "inputting financial news."

Hikaru moves with the same idea:

Hikaru runs about 10 businesses simultaneously: YouTube, ReZARD (apparel), dining, content production, and a GMO joint venture.

This is possible because he thoroughly lets go of "work he doesn't have to do himself."

In an interview with President magazine:

"Fine dining and brand-name goods are only for the camera. Usually, I eat a 400-yen beef bowl. I spend money on 'business,' not 'vanity.'"

What Kawamura and Hikaru have in common is that they spend the most money on creating time.

Thomas Corley's 233-person survey:

This is data from the "Rich Habits" study, in which American accountant Thomas Corley tracked 233 millionaires and 128 low-income earners for five years.

• 81% of millionaires make a daily To-Do list and complete more than 70% of it.
• 67% of millionaires keep their daily TV viewing time to within one hour.
• 77% of low-income earners watch TV for more than two hours a day.

In other words, rich people extremely dislike "actions that waste time" and invest in "actions that create time."

Practical methods:

• Calculate your "hourly wage" (monthly income ÷ monthly working hours). If you can buy time with a service cheaper than that hourly wage, buy it.
• Turn travel time into input time. Audiobooks for trains, podcasts for cars.
• Try outsourcing one household chore that you think is "cheaper to do yourself." Experiment with what you can do with the time saved.

2. "Never Stop Self-Investment": 88% of Millionaires Spend 30 Minutes Daily on Learning

Many people say, "I'm too busy to study."

However, the more people earn, the more time they spend on "learning."

Makiko Kawamura's 4 AM routine:

According to a video where Hikaru followed Makiko Kawamura's day, Kawamura's morning is like this:

**Wake up at 4 AM. Without eating, spend 3 hours inputting financial economy news and writing columns while the brain is freshest.

Since the afternoon is filled with meetings, she allocates the "3 hours in the morning when no one disturbs her" to the heaviest tasks.**

Kawamura also stated in an interview with Nikkei Woman:

"Investment makes time your ally. The moment you realize it is the time to start. If you continue studying using current affairs, you will acquire a certain amount of knowledge in 2-3 years."

Hikaru's "Investment in Learning":

"Vaguely wanting to 'become rich' is no good. I was able to succeed on YouTube because I clarified 'what I wanted to be' and decided on a path."

During his high school dropout NEET days, Hikaru watched videos of successful people day after day and devoured business books. "I learned the 'form' before taking action," he says.

Thomas Corley's data:

From the survey of 233 millionaires:

• 88% spend 30 minutes or more every day on self-education and reading.
• More than 85% read two or more books a month.
• 79% regularly read literature in their professional field.

On the other hand, only 2% of low-income earners spent 30 minutes or more a day reading.

The difference is not "talent."

It is the accumulation of "whether or not you do 30 minutes of learning every day."

Practical methods:

• Kawamura style: Use the first hour of the morning for "input." Use news, books, and podcasts instead of SNS.
• Hikaru style: First, learn the "forms of successful people" for 100 people in the field you are aiming for.
• Start by reading one book a month. This alone will get you out of the "98% who don't read for 30 minutes every day."

3. "Don't Compete Head-on": No Wealthy Class Without Differentiation

People who become rich do not do the "same thing as others."

Hikaru's differentiation strategy:

"The first condition for winning at work is 'not to compete head-on.' There is no success without differentiation."

Hikaru's break on YouTube was a project that no one else was doing at the time: "exposing the darkness of scam products." Instead of participating in the competition to make interesting videos, it was a strategy to be number one in a "place where no one else is doing it yet."

ReZARD (apparel) is the same. It wasn't rare for YouTubers to create apparel brands, but Hikaru differentiated himself with "high quality x low price x D2C," and survived while 90% of influencer brands failed.

Furthermore, Hikaru says, "It's tough if you don't eventually move to direct billing. If your life is held by Google, you are a slave to YouTube," and he has built a business model that does not depend on YouTube advertising revenue.

Makiko Kawamura's "Top-down Sales":

Kawamura is also a person who rose through "differentiation."

Statement during PIVOT appearance:

"Acquire customers with 'top-down sales.'"

At Goldman Sachs, instead of sales where you bow your head and say "please" to customers, she was selling with the attitude of "you will benefit if you trade with me."

The reason why a delinquent with a deviation score of 42 was able to become a 300-million-yen player at Goldman is because she chose a "way that other people don't do."

Deloitte's wealthy individual survey shows "differentiation":

In the Deloitte Tohmatsu "Domestic Wealthy Individual Consciousness and Purchasing Behavior Survey" (FY2024), wealthy individuals are classified into five types.

What is noteworthy is that all types have a strong tendency to "avoid taking the same consumption behavior as others." Wealthy people avoid "places everyone goes" and "things everyone buys," and emphasize their own experiences and routes.

In other words, no one became wealthy by being "the same as everyone else."

Practical methods:

• Find one thing that "no one else in your industry is doing yet."
• Ask yourself if you are fighting with the "method everyone else is doing." If you are in a red ocean, change your position.
• Hikaru style: "Don't compete head-on. Shift and win."

4. Spend Money on "Investment" Rather Than "Consumption": 400-yen Beef Bowls Except in Front of the Camera

Rich people live flashy lives.

This is a public image and, in many cases, not true.

Hikaru's "Surprisingly Frugal Life":

**"Fine dining and brand-name goods are only for the camera."

The "surprisingly frugal life" of wealthy YouTuber Hikaru**

Hikaru spends money like water in his videos, but his usual meal is a 400-yen beef bowl. He spends almost no money except on high-end rental apartments.

Where he should spend is "business investment" and "human resources." Zero consumption for vanity.

Makiko Kawamura's "Usable Investments":

Investments Kawamura has been doing since her days as a salaryman:

• Domestic and international real estate
• Index-linked investment trusts such as S&P500
• Self-investment (driver, hair salon = investment to buy time)

She says that most of her salary was "naturally going into investment," not because she "had no money to spend on consumption," but because she "knew that using it for investment had a larger return than consumption."

The reality of wealthy individuals seen by a former National Tax Specialist:

According to the Walkerplus article "Former National Tax Specialist Reveals How Millionaires Spend Money":

"The wealthier the person, the more frugal their life. However, they do not hesitate to invest millions of yen in situations where they should."

There are four characteristics of how wealthy people spend money:

1. Spend money firmly on investment and education.
2. Buy high-quality things and use them for a long time.
3. Share money information with family to prevent excessive spending.
4. Do not gamble.

Practical methods:

• Try classifying this month's expenses into "consumption" and "investment." What is the percentage of investment?
• Stop one "expense for vanity." Turn the saved money into investment.
• Kawamura style: "When you get your salary, first put it into investment. Live on the rest." Make that the order.

5. "Action is Abnormally Fast": Move While Thinking, Rather Than Thinking Before Moving

The last common trait is the simplest and the point where the most difference is made.

Hikaru's "Just Take Action":

Multiple articles analyzing Hikaru's success have reached the same conclusion.

"At the root of Hikaru's success is the stance of 'just taking action.' It's more important to move first than to seek perfection."

Starting YouTube from a high school dropout NEET, getting back up even after being flamed, launching businesses one after another, and withdrawing and going to the next even if he fails.

Not all of Hikaru's 10 businesses are successful. However, because the number of times he "stands at the plate" is overwhelmingly high, the total amount of success is also high.

Makiko Kawamura's "Speed of Changing the Environment":

Kawamura is also changing her life with the speed of her actions.

• Decided to "take a leave of absence and go to the US" in her third year of high school with a deviation score of 42.
• Studied abroad at an international school in the US.
• Went to UC Berkeley.
• Joined Goldman Sachs.
• Became independent and achieved annual sales of 2 billion yen with zero employees.

The common point of these decisions is that she didn't "move after thinking," but "thought after moving."

Kawamura herself says:

"The first step started with a strong motivation of 'I don't want to stay as I am' and a small habit of reading the news every morning."

Thomas Corley's data:

73% of 233 millionaires answered that they "learned the value of 'taking action' from their parents."

Also, of the 177 people who became millionaires on their own, 80% "wrote down their goals every day" — in other words, they visualized their actions and put them into practice every day.

Practical methods:

• Stop saying "I'll start when it's perfect." Start at 60% and fix it while running.
• Take "one" new action today. Register for a side job, open an investment account, or buy one book.
• Kawamura style: If you think "I don't want to stay as I am," move on something that day.

Why the Answers of the Two Matched

Makiko Kawamura and Hikaru.

A former Goldman Sachs MD and a YouTuber entrepreneur from a high school dropout NEET background. Their backgrounds are polar opposites.

However, when asked about the "common traits of people who become rich," both point in the same direction.

1. Buy time — The destination of money is "time," not "things."
2. Don't stop learning — 30 minutes of self-investment every day works with compound interest.
3. Differentiate — Don't compete in the same place as others.
4. Investment over consumption — Zero consumption for vanity, and use it only in places with returns.
5. Fast action — Move while thinking, rather than thinking before moving.

These five are patterns consistently confirmed in Thomas Corley's survey of 233 people and Deloitte's survey of wealthy individuals.

And most importantly, not one of these five depends on "talent," "educational background," or "family environment."

Kawamura started from a deviation score of 42. Hikaru started from a high school dropout NEET.

The reason the two were able to earn hundreds of millions is not talent, but because they "continued to do" these five actions.

The way to become rich is actually very simple. However, "continuing to do simple things every day" is the most difficult.

Thomas Corley's words: "95% of our actions are driven by 'habits.'"

People who become rich have habits that make them rich. That's all it is.

Finally

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