All Quiet on the Startups Front
The news coverage in Japan is dominated by war, with variety shows filling most of the daily slots, but coverage of the economy and businesses has almost disappeared. Entrepreneurs in Tokyo are increasingly gutless these days, issuing only the occasional press release that reads like a public service announcement. One by one, my colleagues are changing jobs, giving up their stock options. This atmosphere reminds me of Remarque's novel. A hero is killed in action, and the military report gives the status of the war in one sentence: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
In the five years around age 30, I founded my own photo production company and began to serve as a founding director of a SaaS company. Since then, I have been involved in business development and revenue improvement projects at several SaaS companies.
Startups are not yet influential enough to contribute to the growth of the national economy in this country, and they have little impact on both capital and labor productivity. The public has little interest in the reality of SaaS startups' struggle in Japan, so it could not be big news when a high-profile SaaS goes out of business or goes public.
My first career at a SaaS startup challenged me in a variety of roles over an eight-and-a-half-year period. Those were very meaningful years for me, but they might narrow my perspective as a business developer. What I noticed in supporting several SaaS companies was that they were extremely homogeneous, had almost identical ideas about customer success, and seemed afraid to relearn their methodologies. This homogeneity was more pronounced among the younger members and undergraduate students studying management.
Recently my perspective may have broadened as I have more conversations with startups and engineers overseas. In addition, I find it interesting that there are several Japanese companies founded around 2020 that have short-circuited discussions about methodology and are seeking the fastest possible growth.
In the startup circles in Tokyo in 2021, just as I was about to change jobs, there was a lot of chatter about slowing sales growth, rising employee turnover, and additional funding. There were several stories of investors willing to offer the next round to startups whose growth had slowed to less than 50% per year. It might seem contradictory, but in retrospect, I realize that such a phenomenon is and will continue to be emblematic of the economic situation in this country.