A 12-week guided program that takes growth-stage companies from "we want to be in Japan" to "we're live and selling."
They DIY it, hire consultants who deliver PDFs but not outcomes, or make cultural missteps that take years to recover from. A failed entry costs $200K–$500K+ in wasted time, bad hires, and lost opportunity.
By the end, you won’t just feel ready to launch in Japan. You’ll know you are.
We’re selective about who we work with — not because we’re exclusive, but because your success depends on readiness.
The groundwork that makes your first Japan hire a confident next step, not a costly experiment.
Before we change anything, we need to understand everything. These three weeks give us (and you) a complete picture of where you stand, who you’re up against, and how Japan’s buyers think about your category.
We start with a 90-minute deep-dive strategy session covering your product, positioning, marketing, sales process, pricing, and Japan goals. Then we independently audit everything a Japanese prospect would encounter — your website, ads, pitch deck, onboarding, pricing page — across 10 dimensions including product-market fit signals, messaging suitability, cultural adaptation needs, and team bandwidth.
A comprehensive diagnostic scoring your business across all 10 dimensions. Each gets a clear rating with specific observations and recommended actions. The final section is a prioritized roadmap that becomes the backbone of the next 11 weeks.
Deep research across Japanese search engines, tech media, industry platforms, and review sites. For every meaningful competitor, we document positioning, messaging, pricing, channels, and traction signals. We also map the broader ecosystem: analysts, conferences, media, and channel partners that shape how your category is bought and sold in Japan.
A competitor matrix, gap analysis, ecosystem map, and 3–5 strategic implications with actionable observations specific to your market positioning in Japan.
We research how your target buyer discovers, evaluates, and purchases in your category in Japan. We identify communities, media, influencers, review platforms, events, and potential channel partners. We also tap our network for informal validation from people in the Japanese market.
Your recommended channel strategy, a partner shortlist with 3–5 vetted prospects, a community and media map, and a buyer journey analysis showing how Japanese companies actually buy products like yours.
Now we take what you have and rebuild it for Japan. Positioning, messaging, website, sales materials — everything gets pressure-tested and adapted so it actually lands with Japanese buyers.
60-minute messaging workshop with your marketing lead. We identify which proof points resonate with Japanese buyers, discuss tonal shifts required, and create adapted versions of your tagline, value propositions, and elevator pitch — all differentiated against what competitors are saying in Japan.
Adapted positioning in English and Japanese, reframed key messages, a messaging do’s and don’ts guide, tone-of-voice guide, and elevator pitch script for Japanese business settings.
We review your highest-performing marketing assets and evaluate them against Japanese market expectations — covering visual design, calls-to-action, social proof formatting, and campaign structure. This goes deeper than language.
Asset-by-asset guide covering what works as-is, what needs cultural adaptation, what needs rebuilding, and Japanese best practices. Includes a vetted vendor shortlist of Japanese copywriters, designers, and agencies.
End-to-end review of your sales process mapped against Japanese B2B norms. We also audit your pricing structure against Japanese expectations around bundling, payment terms (net-60 is common), and discounting norms.
Restructured sales process for Japan with stage gates, timeline expectations, meeting guidelines, follow-up cadence, and a pricing adaptation guide covering structure, invoicing norms, and presentation recommendations.
Working session on entity type, hiring approach, physical presence, banking, and regulations. Plus warm introductions to 3–5 vetted service providers: law firm, accountant, EOR, virtual office, and payment advisor — often with negotiated preferred rates.
Entity structure decision framework, hiring roadmap with salary ranges, payment setup guidance, regulatory checklist, and a vetted service provider directory with preferred rates.
We build the repeatable systems for ongoing Japan marketing, sales enablement, operational infrastructure, and your forward roadmap — so you can execute with confidence after the program ends.
90-minute strategy session synthesizing all prior work into specific launch decisions: target segment, channels, realistic timeline, and budget for in-market activities.
Structured launch plan with monthly milestones, weekly activities, channel tactics with budgets, KPI targets, and a RACI chart. Specific enough that your team can execute independently.
We build the repeatable systems for ongoing Japan marketing: PR templates, partner outreach sequences, content workflows, campaign briefs, and measurement frameworks.
Complete set of templates, workflows, and SOPs including outreach templates, vendor briefing docs, campaign tracking, publishing calendar, and reporting dashboard template.
Live mock Japanese business meetings with real-time coaching on pacing, tone, body language, and response strategy. We simulate first meetings, product presentations, negotiations, and objection handling — the Japanese way.
15–20 page operational guide covering meeting prep checklists, flow guidance, business etiquette reference, objection handling scripts, follow-up templates, and a guide to reading indirect communication signals.
We build a repeatable partner development process with approach strategies for each target partner, plus an ecosystem engagement plan covering events, communities, and industry bodies.
Target partner profiles, outreach templates, partnership proposal frameworks, evaluation scorecard, and a 6-month ecosystem engagement calendar.
We re-score your Japan Readiness Scorecard, review every deliverable, address remaining gaps, and present a 6-month forward roadmap with an honest risk assessment.
Before-and-after Scorecard, deliverable summary, prioritized 6-month roadmap, risk assessment with mitigations, and a recommendation on next steps (hire, distribute, or continue remotely).
Founder, Japan Launchpad
Dana Wang has nearly 15 years of experience in the startup ecosystem, with deep roots in Japan where she is based. Her career spans founder networks, mentorship, and venture investment through to Series B, with hands-on experience working with incubators, accelerators, and business promotion officers across Japan and internationally.
A consistently top-performing sales professional across both individual and institutional clients, Dana understands what it takes to build commercial traction in the Japanese market. Her cross-border network — spanning China, Singapore, Spain, Finland, Canada, and the US — gives her a unique perspective on helping founders navigate Japan’s business landscape from the outside in.
Simple, transparent pricing. No surprises.
one-time • 12 weeks • everything included
Confidence guarantee: If after the Week 1 deep-dive you don’t feel the program is the right fit, we’ll refund your fee in full. No questions asked.
The program isn’t designed to complete your entire Japan entry in 12 weeks — it’s designed to give you everything you need to execute it independently. By the end, you’ll have a complete strategic foundation: market intelligence, adapted positioning and assets, an operations plan, a go-to-market strategy, and the playbooks your team needs to run with. Most companies begin active selling within 30–60 days of completing the program.
Most Japan consultants deliver research reports and recommendations. We deliver a productized, done-with-you sprint that produces operational assets your team can use immediately. Every week has a concrete deliverable, not just advice. And at $18K, the program costs less than a single month of most Japan consulting retainers — while delivering more tangible output.
That’s what the qualification call is for. If we don’t think you’re ready, we’ll tell you — and we’ll tell you what needs to happen first. We’d rather turn you away now than take your money and deliver a strategy you can’t execute. If you’re unsure, apply anyway and we’ll give you an honest assessment.
We work primarily with B2B SaaS and D2C companies. The frameworks and processes are industry-agnostic, but the specific research, competitive analysis, and channel strategy are deeply customized to your vertical, target buyer, and product category. Every deliverable is built for your business, not a template.
You keep everything — all deliverables, playbooks, templates, and frameworks are yours. Most companies execute independently from there. If you want continued support, we offer an ongoing advisory retainer ($3–5K/month) that includes monthly strategy calls, Slack access, quarterly reviews, and network introductions. But it’s optional — the program is designed to make you self-sufficient.
Yes. If the full program isn’t the right fit, we offer individual services like competitive analysis, positioning audits, and sales training on a project basis. These are ideal if you have specific gaps rather than needing the complete market entry framework.
We accept a limited number of companies to ensure quality. Apply and we'll schedule a qualification call to see if the program is a fit.