Japan Cloud discovers outstanding SaaS companies around the world and collaborates with them to enter the Japanese market. At the center of this is Yasutaka Fukuda, a partner of Japan Cloud Computing and president of Japan Cloud Consulting. He previously served as a senior vice president at Salesforce and as president of the Japanese subsidiary of Marketo, a marketing automation company. Japan Cloud aims to deploy new SaaS technology to Japanese companies to help improve productivity, develop the careers of the next generation of leaders, and contribute to improving the competitiveness of Japanese companies.
This time, we asked Mr. Fukuda about how Japan Cloud works and how to create a successful career based on his experience.
Japan Cloud, a joint management company that brings overseas SaaS to Japan
–Japan Cloud discovers outstanding SaaS companies around the world and works with them to enter the Japanese market. What makes us different from traditional distributors of overseas products and services?
A
Fukuda
agency is a distributor of a company’s products; the product manufacturer and the agency are different companies, and the product manufacturer is not involved in the management of the agency. On the other hand, we at Japan Cloud act as a shareholder and owner of the Japanese subsidiary of a foreign company entering Japan, and we manage the company together for a long period of 8 to 10 years. That is the big difference between us and an agency.
–How do companies entering the market from overseas evaluate Japan Cloud?
Fukuda:
They see us as a partner who can promote business together and share management from the same standpoint. We are looking for a partner who is committed not only to short-term sales but also to building a long-term business foundation in the Japanese market and achieving steady growth. We are in a situation where these companies are reaching out to us.
–What kind of overseas SaaS companies have entered Japan so far?
FukudaI
myself have been involved in the launch of Salesforce and Marketo’s Japanese subsidiaries. Currently (as of January 2024) I am involved in the management of 11 Japanese corporations.
–What is joint management with overseas companies? Could you please tell me specifically?
Fukuda:
First, the overseas headquarters of the participating company and Japan Cloud will both invest to establish a Japanese corporation as a joint venture. A board of directors will be established there, and the management team will include the president of Japan, myself and Aruna Vasnayake from Japan Cloud, and the CEO and CFO of the head office. I believe that building a system like this will lead to a strong commitment to the Japanese market, and is a sign of our intention to manage our business over the medium to long term.
Specifically, the first thing we do is hire the president and management of the Japanese corporation. In some cases, we also recruit sales and engineers. Japan Cloud has specialists in strategy, marketing, PR, etc., so our team members will handle these tasks in the early stages of launch.
This type of approach is said to be rare even overseas, and Japan Cloud is a unique business model that is unique in Japan.
Increase success rate by sharing past successes and failures with the new company
–What kind of career paths do Japan Cloud have?
The
Fukuda
Consulting team has approximately 10 people, and many of our employees have previous experience working at Japanese companies with which Japan Cloud has been involved. We compile examples of successes and failures from past companies as Play Books, and share this information with new companies.
We also play the role of coordinating 11 companies (as of January 2024). It is of course important for each company to develop and manage its own strategy, but we also form communities for each role, such as marketing, inside sales, human resources recruitment, and market strategy, and each specialized member of Japan Cloud serves as a liaison. It is characterized by functioning as We aggregate the knowledge of 11 companies and provide useful information to each company.
I myself received support from Sunbridge when I was president of Marketo. SunBridge was founded by the co-founder of Japan Cloud and got its start in 2000 when it was involved in establishing the Japanese subsidiary of Salesforce.com. Japan Cloud was spun out from Sunbridge. Sharing best practices and working together gave us a sense of security, and we felt that being able to rely on each other was of great value. Now I want to become a support provider and expand these activities even further. In the future, we plan to increase the number of companies a few times a year, develop human resources, and accumulate experience.
–What kind of people are at the top of the 11 Japanese subsidiaries that Japan Cloud has launched?
All 11 presidents of each company hired by
Fukuda
Japan Cloud had no experience as president. In the foreign IT industry, there are many cases where presidents move to other companies and become presidents, but we provide opportunities for many talented people who are active in Japan to experience a career as presidents and develop human resources. At the same time, I want the people under me to grow as well.
This is not to say that people with previous president experience are not allowed, but as a result, we are having people with no experience become president. In terms of age, most of them are in their early 40s.
–What are the differences between working at a typical Japanese company and working at a company affiliated with Japan Cloud?
With companies affiliated with
Fukuda
Japan Cloud, you can be involved from the start of the business. Companies go through the process of growing from a startup period and eventually reaching maturity, and the experience of participating in that startup and growth period is extremely important.
I myself joined Oracle Japan in 1996, five years after its establishment, and experienced rapid growth, and the company was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2000. After that, I joined Salesforce Japan, a company with less than 30 employees, and experienced the start-up phase. It was because of this experience that I was able to become president of Marketo Japan Corporation and start the business from scratch.
It’s not often you get the chance to see a successful company from the inside or experience it yourself while being involved, but you can gain valuable experience by working at a Japan Cloud affiliated company. These opportunities can provide invaluable experience as you build your career.
–How is it different from the Japanese branch office or base of a typical foreign company?
Fukuda:
In a typical foreign-affiliated company, the Japanese top management is in a position below the APAC (Asia Pacific region), and it can be difficult to communicate directly with the head office. Also, when a boss changes in Japan, APAC, or at the head office, company policies often change, making it difficult to understand what happened before.
In the case of Japan Cloud-related companies, we are always present on the board of directors and are directly connected to the headquarters, so we can understand past history and maintain continuity and consistency of management. . This is something that I place importance on when it comes to relationships with customers, and it can be said that this is a feature that is very different from typical foreign-affiliated companies.
Jump at opportunities and seize success in an environment where you can experience success.
–Mr. Fukuda, what do you think about your career path? Also, if you have any tips for young businesspeople, please let me know.
FukudaThe
idea of career development is to decide on a goal and create a career path toward that goal. However, I’m not that type of person; I find the work interesting while doing the work in front of me, and then move on to the next position.
To tell you the truth, when I was young, I didn’t want to be a manager, and sales was the last thing I wanted to do. However, by chance, I became a sales manager, and then I jumped at the opportunity that came my way and became company president. After doing so, I found the jobs of both a sales manager and company president surprisingly interesting, and I realized that people’s interests and orientations change depending on their experiences.
Based on my own experience, I would like young people to try different things and broaden their horizons, without limiting themselves from the beginning. I often hear young people say things like, “At what age do I want to become a country manager?” but they may be limiting their own potential at that point. When you’re young, you have more options, so I want you to jump at opportunities and try different things.
–Please tell us if there are any important things that new graduates should focus on when joining the company or changing jobs.
FukudaThe
experiences you have when you are young form the foundation for your later life, so it is important where you gain that experience. There is one memorable story that I heard from Chikara Sano, the then president of Oracle Japan, when I joined the company as a new graduate.
When Mr. Sano was a university student, he asked his mentor, “What kind of place should I work for?” and the teacher said, “Go to the most successful company in that industry. There’s a reason for that. You should be able to learn that.” So Mr. Sano joined IBM Japan and gained many successful experiences.
By chance, I was able to join Oracle Japan at a time when it was undergoing tremendous growth, and I learned a lot. In other words, in order to achieve significant growth, the environment in which you work is extremely important. Especially for young people, I encourage them to work for a successful company.
How to identify successful companies
–How do you identify and define a “successful company”?
What is important is whether
Fukuda’s
management team has been involved in the company’s success. As was the case with Oracle Japan and Salesforce, companies that are run by people who have had success in the past, and companies that have been evaluated by such people, have a high probability of success. By working with people who have experienced success, you can learn the rules of success.
Therefore, when Japan Cloud considers a new
SaaS
company to work on, it is true that we look at the experience and personality of the management team, including the company’s CEO and CFO. However, it may be a little difficult for young people to make such decisions.
–If it is difficult to determine the success experience of business owners, what method do you recommend?
FukudaThe
way you choose your career will be different depending on whether you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s. It is important not to make a mistake in the order according to age.
One option for those in their 20s, as I mentioned earlier, is to join and learn from a large, already successful company. In mature companies, various environments are already in place, and it may often be difficult to understand why certain systems and processes have achieved success. However, if you carefully observe your surroundings and accumulate experience, you will reach a point in your early 30s when you start to feel that things will work out if you do things this way.
On the other hand, if you are in a large company, you may not be able to get a position with responsibility. This is a situation where the top is at a standstill. In such a case, it would be a good idea to jump into a company where you can be given responsibility, such as a small start-up company.
You can’t go wrong with a Japan Cloud affiliate as we choose them from many SaaS companies around the world. If you are in your 30s or 40s and don’t want to be content with your current position, please join us.