THE SPREAD OF THE NEW CORONAVIRUS HAS BROUGHT RAPID CHANGES TO THE GLOBAL BUSINESS SCENE. UPWARD, WHOSE MISSION IS TO "REVOLUTIONIZE THE LAST MILE OF THE WORKPLACE," IS DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS THAT SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE LOCATION INFORMATION AND CRM, AND IS AIMING TO GO PUBLIC AND EXPAND OVERSEAS IN TWO YEARS. WE INTERVIEWED CORPORATE INNOVATION MANAGER KAZUNORI KURONO, WHO JUST JOINED UPWARD IN OCTOBER 2020 TO PREPARE FOR THE IPO. CORPORATE INNOVATION MANAGER KAZUNORI KURONOBRIEF HISTORY2008: ENGAGED IN AUDITING LISTED COMPANIES AND COMPANIES PREPARING FOR IPO AT DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU2012: SECONDED TO UNDERWRITING EXAMINATION DEPARTMENT OF NOMURA SECURITIES (2 YEARS)2014: AFTER RETURNING TO DELOITTE TOUCHEMATSU, ENGAGED IN IPO SUPPORT OFFICE OPERATIONS2016: DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT OF A FOOD MANUFACTURER2017: WORKED AT A DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT OUTSOURCING COMPANY ASSISTED IN THE PREPARATION OF SECURITIES REGISTRATION STATEMENTS, PART I, AND OTHER IPO SUPPORT AT A DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT OUTSOURCING COMPANY 2020 JOINED UPWARD
We want to contribute to the world through the IPO of a company that is needed by society.
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We want to be in a position to support the backbone of a company heading for an IPO
After joining a major bank as a new graduate, I qualified as an accountant and joined a major auditing firm, where I audited a variety of companies in a department that helped them prepare for IPOs and grow their businesses.
I also assisted with IPO examinations, preparation of securities reports, and documentation related to IPO preparations, so I was able to be strict and fair alongside my clients in a good sense of the word.
I have been involved in the IPO phases of various companies, both large and small, and I find it very rewarding to work with them from the stage of developing the management structure, especially in smaller companies where I can be deeply involved with the board members.
In a company heading for an IPO, I will support the backbone of the company while communicating closely with the management. I believe that I am suited to provide comprehensive assistance in such a position.
Services demanded by society as seen through experience
At the bank I joined as a new graduate, I was in charge of about 80 corporations that had loans. When I was invited to
UPWARD, I thought, "At that time, I would have been very happy if there had been a recommendation system for the companies I visited. I wished there had been a system that could do activities logtied to location information like this, or a recommendation function for places to visit..." I felt like, "I wish there had been a system like this...
I have experienced auditing and IPO support for various corporations, but IPOs are inevitably time-consuming and glamorous in terms of corporate events, so I had the impression that companies were too focused on IPO goals and not enough on "how to link this to corporate growth" through IPOs.
In this context, I was attracted to "a company that is truly needed by society" three or five years from now, and I strongly wanted to contribute to society through UPWARD's IPO preparations.
UPWARD's IPO Path
The Tokyo Stock Exchange currently has market segments such as "1st Section" and "2nd Section," but from April 2022, these will be changed to "Prime (Premium)," "Standard," and "Growth (Entry)" markets. In order to expand the scale of our business, we are aiming to list on the "Growth" market and expand overseas.
An IPO is a great way to raise funds and recruit new employees. It will also help raise funds for language updates and cultural fit, which are essential for overseas expansion.
SaaS companies like UPWARD are basically a "subscription model," which is a business model of continuous billing. Since revenues are relatively easy to predict, the business can be managed from a long-term perspective. If we can extend LTV (Life Time Value: customer lifetime value) by providing highly satisfactory services and keeping customers satisfied, we can also increase our earnings. It is also attractive for us to be able to walk alongside such customers.
However, even when we talk about preparing for an IPO, the high standards required by exchanges for business plans and accounting examinations can make it difficult for development and sales staff to move smoothly due to the submission of documents and the establishment of detailed rules.
We would like to respond to this issue by listening to the opinions of the field and maintaining a good balance with operations.
Future Sales Activities and UPWARD
In the age of With Corona, online conferencing and other methods have become widespread, but we believe that the essential aspects of people meeting people, communicating and providing the value of their services, will never change.
I believe that making sales activities smarter in the future will play a major role in society as a whole.
I believe that my mission is to deliver our products more widely through the IPO to field salespeople who have the same feeling I had when I was a new graduate: "I don't know what to do even if I am told to visit them.
Message to Customers
We believe that by pursuing an IPO, UPWARD will be better positioned to respond to customer requests in a timely and appropriate manner.
The IPO will also enable us to invest more aggressively in the development of services that will be even more useful to our clients.
We look forward to the continued evolution of our services in the future.
A full overview of the benefits and best practices of the introduction of the system
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