The trajectory of a company unraveled from the encounter between an entrepreneur and JAFCO. We will talk about episodes and thoughts that can be told now, and prospects for the future.
This time, we will have a dialogue between Mr. Atsushi Kato, President and CEO of Stamen Co.,Ltd., who operates the engagement management platform "TUNAG", and Naoki Sato, the capitalist in charge of JAFCO.

【profile】
Stamen Co.,Ltd. President and CEO Atsushi Kato
Born in Aichi prefecture in 1981. After graduating from Kyoto University Graduate School, joined Chukyo Television Broadcasting. After that, he joined Ateam, an IT venture company in Nagoya, in 2008. In addition to personnel work, he planned and launched a wedding business, and became a director in 2010. TSE Mothers, even after experiencing the listing on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, plans and launches a bicycle mail order site as a new business. In 2016, he retired from the board of directors and founded Stamen Co.,Ltd. with the desire to create a company that focuses on "people and organizations," which is his belief.

[What's Stamen Co.,Ltd.]
Founded in Nagoya in January 2016 with the mission of "delivering excitement and spreading happiness to as many people as possible." Engagement management platform "TUNAG" developed by three founding members was released in April 2017. The purpose is to build a mutual trust relationship between the company, employees, and employees by communicating around the "in-house system". In February 2020, it was selected as the first-ever first place in the Tokai area in the "Best Companies to Work For" ranking in Japan. "Starting lineup" is an abbreviation of "Star Members", and the company name has the meaning that each employee becomes a shining existence like "Star" and wants to be a company where such "Stars" gather.

Portfolio

Why did you choose the theme of "people and organizations"? He understood the essential feelings for the business

 Kato I had talked with JAFCO once or twice before starting the starting lineup. I visited you when I held a new business event with my previous job, Ateam.

Sato That's right. The first person I went to see was another member of the same Chubu branch office. JAFCO's capitalists are moving around to network with many companies. Ateam is a vigorous IT venture in the Tokai region, so I was curious to hear that he was a person who started a new business with Ateam. Also, Mr. Kato said, "I might start a business someday," and I thought it was very interesting.

Kato: At that time, I think I was talking about a vague vision, saying, "If you create a company by" creating a good organization, "interesting services will be created." Mr. JAFCO is one of the largest venture capital firms in Japan, and when I decided to raise funds after starting a business, I wanted to consult with Mr. JAFCO first. I started starting with my own funds, but when I made a business plan, I could see that the funds would soon run out. It was very encouraging that Mr. JAFCO came to see me immediately after launching the service.

Sato Mr. Kato started a new business of bridal service and bicycle mail order site from 0 since the Ateam era, and has increased sales to more than a billion. I was also paying attention to the track record of expanding the organization as a director, so I was very much looking forward to seeing you.

Kato: As for this, the person in charge of Mr. JAFCO at that time said, "A great person will come to listen to the story," so I was messed up (laughs). Mr. Sato was a frank person and I was quite relieved.

Sato: That's right (laughs). Mr. Kato answered any questions very clearly and rationally. The question "Why do you want to do business related to an organization?" Also conveys Mr. Kato's awareness of issues regarding "people and organizations."

Kato: I was wondering if you would be asked in detail about numbers such as business model and sales scale. At that time, I was in the process of making a budget, so I couldn't talk about the "business plan". Then, most of the questions were qualitative, "Why" people and organizations "?" And "What do you want to achieve?" I was very happy that you tried to understand the essential part.

Sato: Regarding numbers, I was relieved because I was a director in my previous job and experienced listing. Startups never do what they want. It grows by repeating various trials and errors. Therefore, the entrepreneur's "ambition" for business is the basis.

Furthermore, the starting lineup business model focuses on "people" and challenges the universal theme of how to motivate the organization. Because it takes time, I was interested in how much Mr. Kato himself could face the business without giving up when thinking about the future outlook.

I was inspired by the enthusiasm of senior entrepreneurs who wanted to create an entrepreneur next to me.

Kato We started the development of "TUNAG" in August 2016, and in February 2017, six months later, we received a total investment of 240 million yen.

Since the official release of "TUNAG" was in April 2017, the product was not very well made at the investment stage. Even so, I was able to concentrate on my business with peace of mind because I was given many opportunities for non-financial support, such as finding a business partner together.

Sato: When I supported the sales of "TUNAG", I realized that "If you approach the management, you can make decisions quickly", so I used JAFCO's network to approach the investment destination. When I heard that it was decided to introduce it at a financial institution, I immediately listed it as "let's go around all the financial institutions that I know."

Kato I was surprised at the breadth of JAFCO's network. In addition, it is an invaluable asset to be able to establish a relationship where you can immediately call Mr. Sato for consultation when a difficult law or stock talk comes up.

Sato When Stamen started the Kansai branch office, JAFCO's Kansai branch office members came to the office every day and sometimes stuck.

Kato That's right. Everyone is warm, like "supporting" and "searching for a business partner". Sometimes we just talked to each other and came home (laughs). Mr. Sato also introduced a lot of senior entrepreneurs who have experienced IPO.

Sato That's right. I thought it was important to input information on companies in various phases, such as entrepreneurs who had just IPOed and entrepreneurs who had been IPO for a while, so I consciously introduced them. It would be better if it could lead to the introduction of services from there, and I wonder if it may be helpful in terms of points to keep in mind for IPO in the future and how to organize thoughts.

Kato: I am very grateful because there are often no specialists or experienced people in the company and I cannot consult with them. I felt the strength of the seniors who succeeded in listing, "I want to create an entrepreneur next to myself," and in this way, I was inspired to become a side that connects to the next generation.

We look forward to the success of the "entrepreneur training factory" from Aichi.

Sato In the Aichi area, the listing of IT companies, including Ateam, has been increasing since 2012. Mr. Kato follows, and many entrepreneurs come out from Stamen, and JAFCO will provide investment support there. I want to create such a flow from the Aichi area.

Kato I happened to be born and raised in Aichi and founded in Nagoya, but I was able to hire excellent engineers and create products because of the region. As a regional characteristic, the idea that "it is better to go to a large company" is deep-rooted, especially among parents.

It's like, "Don't go to a venture company you've never heard of even though you graduated from a famous university" (laughs). However, by growing the members who entered the starting lineup as new graduates, starting their own businesses, and living a rich working life, it is possible to gradually change the conventional consciousness of being overemphasized by large companies. I think that if a cycle is created in which good people join a company that can grow properly and that company grows, the number of companies originating in the region will increase steadily.

Sato Starting Lineup will continue to group in the future, and several group companies will be established. I hope that you will become like an "entrepreneur training factory" in this area and liven up Aichi.

Kato That's right. There is a strong desire to develop in-house entrepreneurs by launching new businesses. As an entrepreneur, I think it is important to decide where to step on the accelerator for discontinuous growth.

We would like to take advantage of our pride in organizational strength, product development capabilities, high quality of customer service after the introduction of the service, and the ability to carry out steady and muddy sales activities so that the business will not be distracted. It doesn't matter what the industrial domain is, but I want every business to have an axis of "making the world better." I hope that Mr. Sato, the chief adviser, will patrol the starting lineup so that it doesn't distract (laughs).


Sato: The service development of "TUNAG" is faster than originally planned, and it is growing steadily while making small improvements. In 2019, the global version of "TUNAG" has started. If the founding business becomes a solid foundation, you can safely propose "let's start the next business".

Kato I would like to give back to Mr. Sato first and then show the starting lineup growth curve that will make me excited. And it would be ideal if we could contribute to the birth of entrepreneurs in this area by transmitting the know-how of business creation from the starting lineup.