Metaps’ Sato Katsuaki makes ‘bad’ timing look really, really good

Sato Katsuaki (left) and Imano Minoru

Sato Katsuaki isn’t a popular Japanese founder because of how often he surprises people who aren’t paying attention. He’s popular because of how often he surprises those of us who are paying attention. Sato is the founder and CEO of Metaps, a Japanese app monetization startup that has also moved into payments. He shocked Japan’s startup ecosystem most recently with his announcement that he would take his company public in August. That was earlier than most of us expected, but unconventional timing is what Sato is all about.

Metaps commenced trading on the Mothers Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on August 28 and logged a market capitalization of JPY 32 billion (US$263 million) on its first day. However, the IPO came at a tumultuous time for global markets – in Asia most of all. For anyone else, that might be a killer, but Sato founded his company just in time for the Lehman Shock in 2008 and weathered that storm to become the most funded startup in Japan. Sato sat down with Globis Capital Partners COO Imano Minoru to discuss how he did it, and what’s still to come. Here are the five key lessons he gave us.

Sato drops wisdom

IPO when it feels right –  when you need the cash

“People are still asking me why I went public so soon, and the answer is simple. We hit JPY 5.75 billion (US$52.2 million) with our Series C and we needed at least JPY 10 billion (US$82.85 million) for the expansion that I knew we had to pursue. Going public was like graduating elementary school and going to junior high; my entire mindset has changed, and a slew of new possibilities are open to me.”

Venture capitalists don’t know everything, and you can’t wait for them

“Playing the game with VC takes time – time that we don’t have anymore. When you’re not listed and trying to get funding, every move you make ultimately boils down to VC literacy. That’s too risky to depend on for too long, especially now that technology trends have sped up.”

Your nationality and your company’s nationality mean nothing

“The trends we’re seeing point toward a borderless economy in the future. If I talk about what I’m trying to do as a Japanese, that means nothing to the vast majority of the people I’m working with. My model has been to trust local managers and to allow Metaps to grow into an international company. The more you go global, the more you need to forget which country you’re from. Unless you can incorporate a universal point of view into your management strategy, you won’t go anywhere.”

If you’re not Chinese or American, you’d better be a hustler

“America and China have huge domestic user bases, which means they can grab profits without going anywhere. Everyone else needs to be just that much faster – just that much cleverer. It’s true that to compete with Chinese and American companies on their home turf, we need to localize our teams and think like they do. But if I’m coming out of Japan, for example, my initial push needs to be that much more aggressive.”

Timing doesn’t matter… if you’re a badass

“You can’t wait for everything to be in alignment, because it just won’t be. If the fundamentals are there, you’ve got a fighting chance no matter what the circumstances. I founded Metaps in 2007 – right before Lehman – but we had the right product. Now there’s market trouble from China the week after our IPO. It’s inconsequential… we’re on track.”

This is part of the ongoing coverage of Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015, our annual conference taking place on September 8 and 9.