How michibiku Effectively Used an Outsider’s Perspective for Successful Hiring
The startup michibiku offers its eponymous platform that digitally transforms board meetings. In only a year, michibiku successfully hired 10 full-time employees despite its lack of recruitment staff. What is their secret?
Written by the Universe Editorial Team
michibiku, Inc. (michibiku) offers a platform that enables its users to digitally transform board meetings. This startup only had one full-time employee right after its Series A fundraising round, then successfully expanded the organization by hiring 10 people in less than a year.
Startups have limited resources but michibiku was quick to hire. We sat down with CEO Tatsunori Nakamura of michibiku to learn the secret behind the achievement. We were joined by two supporters of this initiative: Issei Kokubu, a member of GBHR, the subsidiary of the independent venture capital firm Global Brain (GB) that specializes in recruitment support, and Kazumo Tachibana, a member of GB’s Value Up Team (VUT) responsible for assisting portfolio startups.
(The names of departments and roles may have changed after the interview.)
Starting off with only one full-time employee
──How was it like before you kicked off the recruitment initiative, and what were the challenges?
Nakamura: GBHR started helping us at around the end of February 2024. Back then, we only had one full-time employee besides the executives, and we were desperate to add more people to speed up the business. However, because we had no recruitment staff on the team, we were at a loss what to do.
Our challenge was recruiting sales and customer success members. Fast forward 10 months, we now have excellent members for both positions. Including the new joiners who will be on board soon, we have hired 10 full-time employees, and our office is crammed already (laughs).
Kokubu: Compared to other normal startups that are in the same business phase as you, it is astonishing that you hired 10 full-time employees in less than a year. This is not just the fruit of our support but of the proactive effort you put into recruitment activities.
──What kind of activities did you actually do?
Kokubu: We started by defining the requirements for ideal hires and formulating our strategies. Together with Nakamura-san and all the other CxOs, we had detailed discussions on “what kind of talent we should hire” and “what our recruitment strategy is.” We also assisted with other tasks such as setting KPIs, managing the regular HR meetings, compiling interview evaluation sheets, and preparing and sending out scouts.
The Value Up Team that Tachibana belongs to also worked alongside GBHR to help michibiku’s business. As part of our activities, we had biweekly meetings with michibiku to discuss business progress, which were kind of like management meetings. The information we gained there was used to build recruitment strategies.
Our goals were not mere numerical targets like “let’s hire this many people by when and when.” We laid out our recruitment activities with a stronger focus on managing the business by considering “which specific position we needed to prioritize based on our current business activities.”
Tachibana: I have a good grasp of michibiku’s business since I have been involved in its sales and marketing activities while also sitting in the shareholder meetings. This enabled me to exchange opinions with Nakamura-san and Kokubu in a very timely manner about which positions we should hire earlier based on the business status or which candidate we should offer a higher salary.
An “outsider’s perspective” pushed hiring
──You had many activities going on, but what were the key factors behind your successful hires?
Nakamura: We defined very clear and detailed requirements, and GB gave us fair and neutral opinions. Sometimes we were not sure whether we had picked the right candidate and at times we were frustrated. That was when Kokubu-san and Tachibana-san would chime in and share their opinions from their perspectives as outsiders. We were very grateful.
Tachibana-san joined the interviews with the candidates too. We consulted him about whether we were proposing the appropriate amount of salary or whether we should or should not move to next steps with a candidate we had some concerns about. Of course we were the ones who made the final decisions, but GB’s views were very reliable because they have experienced various cases of different startups.
──Tachibana-san, what did you talk about with the candidates during the interviews?
Tachibana: I talked about the attractiveness of michibiku from two perspectives.
First, from a shareholder’s perspective. I elaborated on “why we are attracted to michibiku’s market and its management team” as a shareholder. Considering we are a shareholder, our views may not be perfectly objective, but we still are someone from outside the company which gives more credibility when we talk about the potential and promising future that awaits michibuku.
Frankly speaking, most people who consider changing jobs to work for startups are concerned about whether the startup they are thinking of joining can become a “winner.” To give straightforward answers, I was mindful of explaining why we think michibiku can “win” from various angles including market attraction, michibiku’s strengths, its traction, and the background and experience of the founder.
Second, from the perspective of sharing michibiku’s challenges and its potential for growth. By being open about the challenges I identified as an outsider, I convinced the candidates explaining, “That is exactly where we want your help.” I was mindful of keeping a neutral and objective stance while also attracting the candidates.
──What are the advantages and significance of having someone from a venture capital firm involved in the recruitment process?
Nakamura: There is nothing but significance. When it is only someone from our company doing the interviews, regardless of how careful we are, we end up saying things that suit ourselves. However, when someone from a venture capital firm candidly talks about how they see michibiku and what our challenges are, I believe it makes it easier for the candidates to make their decisions.
Moreover, having GB members take part in the recruitment process prevents mismatches. Tachibana-san is communicating with almost the entire michibiku team and has a very deep insight into the business so he was a big help for us when we were evaluating the candidates. An outsider’s perspective helped us to make more appropriate hiring decisions.
When we are working only with our internal members, we tend to focus on the challenges. On the other hand, speaking with someone from outside helps remind ourselves of our achievements like how we added 10 full-time employees. It is very reassuring. This is another advantage of working with someone outside the organization.
michibiku’s attractive recruitment stance
──Kokubu-san, you have seen the recruitment activities of various different startups. What is unique about michibiku’s activities and its stance toward candidates?
Kokubu: I believe there are two aspects.
One is the degree of the management members’ involvement. The CEO Nakamura-san was at the forefront of hiring activities, communicating directly with us and the Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) members. This is not something you normally see with startups in stages later than Series A.
Before michibiku started working with an RPO company, Nakamura-san himself was sending scouting messages and joining casual interviews with potential candidates. I feel michibiku stands out from others in how the management members who are overloaded with other work are actively involved in the recruitment activities.
Another is their stance on compensation. Startups with less than 10 employees are mindful of cost which is why it is not uncommon for them to offer jobs with a relatively low salary. Of course, I assume michibiku is mindful of cost too, but they have a consistent stance to pay good money for good talent.
—Are these things you value at michibiku, too?
Nakamura: Yes. I was engaged in corporate work in my previous job where I experienced the difficulty of recruitment firsthand. Given the phase of our business, I want to build a good organization by being deeply involved in the process.
In terms of salary, we do not really try to “cut costs” by offering low amounts. The salary we offer is quite close to what the candidates ask for, and it reflects our expectations. We only have 10 full-time members right now, so we hope the new joiners will become the core members of the company. In return for the good salary we pay them, we want them to show a performance that meets the amount of compensation. And we want to grow together. This is our basic stance in recruitment.
Our office is frugal, and many members have hybrid working styles, which helps us reduce fixed costs. We believe we should invest in people. This is a consistent policy we have ever since we started the company.
“Enhancing national strength” with our future colleagues
──What are your recruitment visions? What kind of motivation are you looking for in your candidates, and how do you plan to hire them?
Nakamura: We are still an undeveloped startup, so we want proactive people who can aggressively go out there and look for what they can do. Someone who has the backbone and eagerness to play a core role in building the business and the organization will find our company very exciting to work at.
We are still actively hiring for various positions such as engineers, and sales positions including field sales, inside sales, and customer success to cover the enterprise market. The challenge now is how to attract talent to michibiku, given the small pool of talent in the market and the increase in companies targeting the enterprise market.
Our enterprise sales position is unique because we can target a whole group company. When talking with a client company that wants to control corporate governance of its subsidiaries as the parent company, we sometimes aim for blanket contracts that include 30, 50, or even 100 group companies. It can be a very demanding job because there are many stakeholders involved, but that is what makes it all the more worth doing. We would love to have someone join who can enjoy this type of work.
──Thank you. What is michibiku’s goal?
Nakamura: Our ambition is to raise Japan’s stock prices by 10 times. We not only want to streamline board meetings through “michibiku,” but we want to take them to “higher levels.” Advanced board meetings and higher-quality decision-making should positively impact companies on the working-level. By transforming the decision-making process of companies and helping them improve their performance, we want to push up the stock prices of every company.
A service like “michibiku” is called “board portal” overseas, and it is an already established segment. However, in Japan, it is only beginning to spread. We are excited to meet more fellow workers who are willing to enter this undeveloped market with us, and we will keep putting effort into our recruitment activities.
──How about you two? What are your visions as michibiku’s hands-on supporters?
Kokubu: The spread of “michibiku" and its contribution to improving decision-making at publicly listed companies will lead to enhancing the national strength of Japan, no exaggeration. michibiku has an ambitious business to not only improve the efficiency of board meetings but to revitalize Japan once more. I am excited to walk with them from the recruitment aspect.
Tachibana: I would like to offer support to them with a focus on the timeframe. It may sound contradictory to say this as a shareholder, but considering michibiku’s market, they do not have to follow the T2D3 pathway and aim for rapid growth. It might be good for them to take time to climb up the mountain. Together with michibiku, I want to think about what is the most appropriate timeframe for them to climb the mountain and take part in their journey.
Since we know how our other portfolio startups are doing, we can discuss from an outsider’s perspective by comparing michibiku to those other cases, thinking, “Is the labor-to-revenue ratio right?” or “Should we fill this position now?” This is our strength. Also, since we are shareholders, we can put ourselves in the executive members’ shoes, observe the business from their standpoints, and consider what measures to take. By leveraging this strength, instead of just hiring lots of people quick, I want to carry out well-governed recruitment activities where we hire the right person at the right time.