Japan Go-to-Market
Country Manager, Japan
Partnering with Square was one of the most rewarding go-to-market projects we’ve undertaken in our twenty-year career. Prior to its IPO, we partnered with Square ahead of its service launch in Japan to build out its go-to-market team and hire its first leadership.
The Challenge.
Square was still relatively unknown at the time; when working at established brands was seen locally as more stable. Japan had also yet to see its next wave of innovation focused companies resulting in global talent been in significant short supply.
Our Approach.
Aside from a handful of competitors with less established operations, our approach was to map the adjacent target companies we felt would have the international talent necessary to make Square launch a success.
We began mapping digital marketplaces and global technology firms; recognizing the limited talent pool. This allowed us to identify individuals with experiences working across global teams.
We directly engaged potential passive candidates (fun fact: our first hire at Square only met us after leaving 15 voicemails). We crafted tailored employer branding collateral to nurture curiosity with candidates.
We provided our local office as an interim headquarters for Square representatives to interview and meet candidates.
The Outcome.
In a 3-month period, our firm was selected as the exclusive recruitment partner to Square after successfully hiring the entirety of Square’s first go-to-market team. Core hires consisted of ten people across Sales/Partnerships, Customer Experience, Compliance Operations and Administration.
Our firm was again selected as the exclusive recruitment partner in 2013 to lead their Japan General Manager search.
Square led a successful IPO in 2015 has been in operation in Japan for over 10 years; employing over hundreds of people and supporting thousands of merchants on its platform. Square has also gone on to launch several new services and partnerships in Japan