Vol.4 - Hire for Trust, Then ScaleMarc Einstein on Making Your First Japan Hire Count

Marc Einstein, a seasoned technology analyst who has spent over a decade working with global firms in Japan, has one consistent warning for companies entering the market: your first hire matters more than you think. In this interview, Marc explains why Japan’s hiring dynamics are structurally different—and how to avoid the early missteps that quietly derail market entry.

The First Hire Is a Structural Decision

Q: Why does the very first hire matter more in Japan compared to other markets?

A: I think hiring in Japan is unusually high-leverage—often more than people expect—because the labor environment is different. The labor laws are more pro-worker than what many overseas leaders are used to, and I’ve seen foreign companies make early mistakes by assuming they can treat hiring here the same way they do back home. When you’re building a Japan office from scratch, that first person isn’t just filling a job description. They’re setting the tone for how the office operates, how the company is represented locally, and how communication flows back to HQ.

The Most Common First-Hire Failure Pattern

Q: What’s the most common “wrong first hire” pattern you’ve seen?

A: The biggest pattern I see is a mismatch in expectations—especially around timing. HQ often expects early results on a month-one, month-two, month-three basis. But the sales cycle in Japan can be long, and it takes time to build trust and prove credibility. So I always push companies to think year one, year two, year three. If you don’t align on that timeline up front, the Japan lead gets squeezed, HQ gets anxious, and you end up with frustration on both sides—sometimes before the strategy has even had a fair chance.

“Hire for Trust” Doesn’t Mean “Nice Personality”

Q: You talk about "hiring for trust, then scaling," but how would you define "trust" specifically in the Japanese hiring market?

A: We talk about "trust" all the time, but trust in hiring isn't the same thing as trust from a client. When I say trust in this field, I don't mean someone who just has a "nice vibe" or knows how to "ace an interview." I’m talking about internal trust—whether HQ can trust the person to run the Japan operation with good judgment and without constant micromanagement, and whether the Japan lead can trust HQ to provide clarity and support.

Hierarchy still matters in Japan in practical ways. People sometimes ask your age early because it helps them place you in a social and professional structure. In the U.S., that can feel rude, but here it’s part of how people quickly understand seniority and expectations. So trust, to me, is the ability to navigate those dynamics calmly and effectively—internally and externally—while keeping the business moving.

What Trust Looks Like in an Interview

Q: If you’re interviewing someone in Japan, what “trust signals” do you look for?

A: I look for people who ask a lot of real questions—because that’s a signal they’re thinking like an owner, not just trying to “get hired.” Strong candidates are very interested in the business, the product, and what the company is actually trying to achieve in Japan. They ask the kinds of questions you’d ask if you were already an employee: how the team works, what success looks like, what the constraints are, how decisions get made, what support they’ll have. That curiosity and forward-looking mindset is a big trust signal for me.

Why Japan Hiring Feels Hard: The Job-Mobility Reality

Q: People often say Japan is particularly difficult for hiring. What legal and cultural factors drive that?

A: One factor I see is that people in Japan still tend to stay in their jobs longer. It’s changing, but compared to places like Silicon Valley, mobility is lower. That means convincing strong candidates to move can take more time, and you need a compelling story.

The other factor is bilingual talent. People who can operate comfortably in English and also succeed commercially in Japan are in very high demand. It’s a competitive market.

And there’s a practical screening point, too: if I see someone in Japan who changes jobs every few months, that’s usually a bad sign. In some U.S. contexts that might be normal, but here it’s still unusual—and it can indicate fit or performance issues.

If It Doesn’t Work Out, You Can’t Just “Let Them Go”

Q: What do overseas leaders misunderstand about termination risk in Japan?

A: I’ve been in meetings where someone from overseas says, “Oh, we’ll just let them go,” and the Japan side basically says, “What are you talking about?” In Japan, it’s not that simple. In practice, what often happens is the company has a conversation and says, “It’s not working out—how about we give you some money and you go away?” And sometimes that works.

The rule of thumb I’ve seen is around one month of salary for every year served, and there’s often a minimum—commonly around three months—because if it doesn’t get resolved that way, you may end up going to court. Even if you think you’ll win, the process eats time and attention, and early-stage companies can’t afford that distraction.

How to Reduce Risk Before You Hire

Q: What should founders do at the hiring stage to avoid problems later?

A: First, get familiar with the local reality. Many foreign companies—especially smaller ones—have HR based in Singapore, Korea, or the U.S., and they simply don’t know what to do in Japan. Even if you’re not big enough to hire full-time HR in Japan, it’s still very affordable to do a one-hour call with a local labor lawyer. Have someone walk you through the basics and help you set up your work rules properly.

Next, make sure to set mutual expectations clearly, especially for sales roles. Define KPIs and activity expectations—what outreach looks like, what reporting looks like, what “good” means—and put it all in writing. If performance becomes an issue later, having clear documentation really matters.

Finally, actually use the probation period. Don’t treat it as just a formality. Use it as a structured window to validate fit—execution, communication, follow-through—not just “they seem smart.”

Why Early Japan Sales Is Relationship-Heavy

Q: You argue early-stage Japan sales isn’t always about a “hunter.” What should companies look for instead?

A: Relationships matter a lot in Japan—especially early. If someone has known key people for 20 years, getting meetings can become dramatically easier. But you have to validate it. Don’t accept “I know Fujitsu and Toyota and Hitachi.” Anyone can say that.
What I recommend is making it specific. Ask them to list exactly who they know, in what context, and how current those relationships are. Then, during probation, check whether they’re actually getting meetings and how those meetings are going.
And if they don’t have relationships with major accounts yet, that’s not automatically a deal-breaker—but you should ask a very direct question: “How are you going to get to know them?” The quality of that answer tells you a lot.

Founders Still Need to Show Up

Q:  Why is it especially important for founders or senior executives to be involved in early Japan hiring?

A:  Japan is still one of the top economies in the world. If a founder or senior executive visits, it matters. Face-to-face is still very important here—more than in many other countries. It signals seriousness to customers and partners, and it signals commitment to the Japan team.
It also helps internally. Founders can reinforce product philosophy, accelerate training, and reduce misunderstanding early. At the same time, founders need to be open-minded: the way you ran a startup in Silicon Valley may not translate cleanly to Japan. Local feedback—especially on how customers buy and what they expect—matters.

When “So-So” Means “Red Alert”

Q:  What communication gaps tend to appear between HQ and Japan teams once hiring begins?

A:  People in Japan are often not as direct when delivering negative feedback. I’ve seen cases where a new hire is performing really badly, and the Japan team tells the founder in the U.S., “He’s so-so.” The founder hears “so-so” and assumes the person is basically okay—when actually, they’re not.

That’s why I think HQ needs to learn how to read the signal. Politeness can hide severity. If you don’t understand that nuance, problems surface late—exactly when they’re hardest to fix.

Don’t Make One Person the Translation Department

Q: How can companies avoid over-depending on one bilingual person early on?

A: I’d use technology tools as a baseline. Today, PowerPoint can do live simultaneous translation between Japanese and English. It’s free. It’s not perfect like a professional interpreter, but it’s surprisingly usable—and I use it all the time, even when I can speak Japanese in the meeting, just to make sure everyone understands.

Ten years ago, we ran a conference with live translators and it cost around 3 million yen for the day. Now we use free software. The world has changed. Communication barriers won’t disappear completely, but they drop significantly if teams use the tools that already exist.

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