Kōnosuke Matsushita (松下 幸之助, Matsushita Kōnosuke; 27 November 1894 – 27 April 1989) was a Japanese industrialist who founded Panasonic, the largest Japanese consumer electronics company. Matsushita is referred to as the "God of Management" in Japan.

Kōnosuke Matsushita was born on 27 November 1894 in Wasamura, now part of Wakayama Prefecture. His father was an affluent landlord in the farming village of Wasa (part of present-day Wakayama city) and was one of the wealthiest men of his community.

Shortly after Matsushita left school, he was sent away to Osaka to become an apprentice for a Japanese barbecue restaurant. However, the business failed within a year, and Matsushita was left looking for other employment. He then applied for a job with the Osaka Electric Light Company, an electrical utility company, where he received several promotions over the next few years. During this period, he married Mumeno Iue, a friend of his sister.

At the age of 22, he was promoted to the position of electrical inspector. It was during this time that Matsushita attempted to introduce his boss to the invention of a new and improved light socket that he had perfected in his spare time. His boss, however, was not enthusiastic.

In 1917, Matsushita left Osaka Electric Light Company to establish his own company. Lacking capital, formal education, and experience in manufacturing, his company faced significant challenges. He set up his shop in the basement of his tenement where with his wife, his brother-in-law, and several assistants, he began producing product samples. However, he attempted to sell the samples to wholesalers but was unsuccessful because he did not offer more than one product.

As a result, most of Matsushita's assistants left the company, leaving only his wife and Iue, who played a key role as a salesman and manager. The company faced financial difficulties and was on the verge of bankruptcy until it received an unexpected order for a thousand insulator plates for electric fans. From there, Matsushita was able to continue producing his light sockets. They became popular as wholesalers realized the product was better in quality and less expensive than comparable products in the market. The early years of the company were difficult: he once had to pawn his wife's kimono when he found himself short on money. Matsushita's products were originally marketed under the name brand of "National" and later moved on to the more recognizable names of Panasonic, Quasar and Technics.

One of Matsushita's best products was the development of a more efficient battery-powered bicycle lamp. During the 1920s, bicycle lamps were candles or oil-burning lamps which were highly inefficient as they usually only lasted for three hours. Matsushita introduced an created an oval lamp that used a battery for power and a lightbulb for illumination. To promote the product, he personally marketed it to retail bicycle shops.

While attempting to introduce his bicycle lamp to wholesalers, Matsushita recognized the importance of sales in business growth. He realized that having a superior product was insufficient if there were no effective distribution channels. As a result, Matsushita began devising ways to create sales channels for his products by concentrating less on manufacturing and more on building a sales force, which led to the establishment of a retail store network and finally strengthened the company's position in Japan's electrical manufacturing and retail industry.