Who We Are

John offers 25+ years of experience and success in leading Sales and Marketing, Corporate Development, and Operations in U.S. and Asia technology markets. Having traveled to and done business in 60+ countries, John has a proven track record of maximizing sales, profits, and market share while opening and staffing offices globally. He provides high-level negotiations with strategic partners and VCs to facilitate expansion and is an adept leader for international operations and multicultural product development. John is also bilingual English-Japanese and is well versed in cultures throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

John has held executive roles at SEGA, Activision, Unity Software, Inc. (NYSE:U), and Labster ApS. He has consulted to the likes of Fujitsu, NEC, Epic Games, Crytek, Turner Broadcasting Systems, and many others.

In his spare time, John enjoys water sports, off-roading, reading, photography, and spending time with his large family.

Shinobu Toyoda is a videogame industry executive who has contributed greatly to the very foundations of the industry.

Most recently he had been the Representative Director of Unity Technologies Japan, from August 2011 to December 2021. In the 10 years he was at the helm he guided Unity to become the the leading real time 3D production platform in both videogame and industrial markets.

He was the co-founder of Ages Entertainment which provided consulting services to the videogame and media industries.

Toyoda was Executive Vice President of Sega of America from 1989 to 2003 where he was instrumental in building Sega’s North American presence and developing the iconic game/character Sonic the Hedgehog.

An Economics graduate from Japan’s prestigious Keio University, Toyoda is a well-respected corporate leader with a strong record of business success.

Long-time industry veteran, keynote conference speaker, and thought aggregator, Poulter was one of the pioneering class of graduates of the National Computing Centre’s pilot program in the UK to accelerate computer programmers into the industry. That and an interest in gaming led to LucasArts, Sega, Atari Midway, and others as an award-winning designer, producer, and executive producer before turning to developer relations and business development with Apple and other hi-tech firms. Formerly the Director of Strategic Insight at Magic Leap and most recently the Head of Worldwide Publisher Relations for an unannounced Ericsson Innovation Group Project, Poulter is also the go-to consultant on Games and Immersive for numerous Consulates and Trade Commissions in the Silicon Valley and multiple economic agencies worldwide.

In his spare time, Poulter is an active freelance writer covering television, television themes, and sports.

Susan Zurilgen is a resourceful “Chief of Staff” routinely coordinating and performing various administrative and customer service duties. She is focused on supporting cross-functional teams to increase productivity through process improvements. Susan brings over 20 years of experience in business and sales operations. She is a results-focused, customer service-oriented, innovative professional with proven results in sales management, problem-solving, process design, and improvement to meet business needs. Susan is well-regarded for her energetic and intuitive approach to process development and prides herself in knowing what people need before they know they need it.

In her spare time, Susan enjoys hiking, spending time with her family and two dogs, and exploring Idaho in the RV. She thrives on setting goals and achieving results and gets up every morning hoping to tackle a new challenge.

Based in Seoul, William is an experienced business development professional with over 20 years of experience in South Korea and Asia with a proven track record of high-level sales deals and top connections inside the Korean market. As an angel investor and business development advisor, he is highly skilled at creating new relationships and has in-depth knowledge of effective market entry strategies. Most recently, William has advised Foursquare Technology and Samsung Mobile HQ, having previously worked with Unity Technologies (NYSE: U), and PwC (Corporate Finance and cross-border M&A). 

As an analytical thinker with the ability to perform well under pressure, William is goal and team-oriented with strong leadership abilities and has a commitment to achieving important milestones to drive the growth of a company. William is also bilingual English-Korean and is well versed in a wide variety of cultures. His professional interests include New World Startups (game-changing/disruptive innovation) and Blockchain Technology (Mainnet Systems and Algorithms).

In his spare time, William enjoys hiking, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

Naoki Honjo is based in Tokyo and oversees our Japanese consulting practice. He is an expert in the establishment and operation of successful Japanese entities, from investment advice to GoToMarket strategies and execution. After graduating with a Business Administration degree from the world-renowned Meiji University, he gained experience in planning and designing digital marketing platforms for Cyber Wing K.K., a division of NEC. Subsequently, he oversaw sales, marketing, and new business initiatives at Prime Cross K.K., a digital advertising agency specializing in the real estate and lifestyle industries. He then founded Border & Porter K.K., an education-related digital creative agency that was successfully acquired. Using the proceeds of that he launched Hermanus K.K., a Consumer Experience design firm while working closely with John and his team.

Naoki joined VTP in 2021 as the team’s right-hand man in the Japanese market. He has 14 years of consultative experience in solving complex problems, personally investing in and guiding successful business units, and handling executive-level sales. He has deep experience in the enterprise SaaS and Edutech industries, not only in Japan but also in Israel, Denmark, and the United States.

In his spare time, Naoki enjoys camping, outdoor sauna, and time with family and friends. He loves steaks cooked medium rare in the style of American barbecue. John and Naoki have spent entirely too much time in teppanyaki and yakiniku establishments in Tokyo, Kobe, and other cities across Japan!

Justin is based in Shenzhen and leads our consulting efforts in China. After graduating from XiDian University with a Mechanical and Electrical (ME) Engineering degree, Justin worked for more than 15 years in different business areas across Asia. He began his career as an engineer at LG (Korea), followed by an engineering role at ITT (U.S.). Justin spent nearly eight years in Mumbai, establishing and managing a sales team across India, and managing large enterprise accounts such as Tata. Then his entrepreneurial instincts kicked in and he broke out on his own. Ever the accomplished multitasker, he also runs two other companies in China, one in consumer electronics and one in education technology.

Justin’s engineering background combined with his business operations experience provides a unique perspective to all we do at VTP.

Michael Shorrock’s career has spanned the educational, entertainment and hospitality industries and he has held senior executive positions leading product innovation, strategic direction, product and software development, and people management.

Michael holds an advanced degree in Educational Technology and has developed expertise in relationship management, product evaluation and market assessment, business planning, resource management, and contract negotiation. Michael’s spent his educational career working at Broderbund Software (education software in home and schools), Ninth House (Interactive management training), JP Kids (Kids on-line portal) and Leapfrog (educational learning toys).  Michael spent his entertainment years managing creative and product teams at Sega (video games), T & E Soft (Japanese game company), Sony (video games) and IGT (gaming).  Michael’s most memorable product introductions include delivering video games over satellite and cable in 1993 (Sega Channel), bringing “near touch” Leappad technology into Japan through business deals with Benesse (Quantum Pad) and Sega Toys (CocoPad) in 2001, and trail-blazing a VR skill-based tournament game into the Las Vegas casino market (Virtual Zone) (2017).

Michael has developed competence in leadership, business soft skills and people management including employee morale, engagement programs, community outreach, compliance training, business recovery planning and most recently Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

Michael’s international experience growing up abroad (Japan, Korea, Switzerland) and working for international companies has given him personal and work attributes of empathy, acceptance, resilience, organization, and flexibility.

Michael lives in Northern California, is happily married, with four grown children, three of whom are married, and delights in his three grandchildren.  The whole family loves the water, playing games of all types, watching baseball, cooking, eating and being together.