{"id":25,"date":"2020-12-22T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T01:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/?post_type=webzine&p=25"},"modified":"2023-08-31T15:39:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T06:39:17","slug":"global-startups-92c60bf7414a","status":"publish","type":"webzine","link":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/webzine\/global-startups-92c60bf7414a\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover Nulab, Global Startup from Fukuoka Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The original article \u201cNulab\u201d is a part of the <\/em>WORK MILL <\/em><\/a>with<\/em> Forbes JAPAN<\/em><\/a> Issue 4 -loved company\u00a9<\/em>WORK MILL<\/em><\/a>, published on April 11, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cneighborly\u201d global firm from Fukuoka<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Fukuoka City was designated as a National Strategic Special Zone for Global Startups. The city has many support systems for startups, and even women in their sixties come for advice on starting a company. It\u2019s at such a city that Nulab was created ten years ago, by the hands of Masanori Hashimoto and two others. Now, Nulab <\/a>is Fukuoka\u2019s top global ICT firm. They offer three services including their project management tool Backlog, which has over 1 million users. All of their services help teams work efficiently and achieve results. Beginning with their Singapore expansion in 2011, they\u2019ve opened global offices in New York in 2014, and in Amsterdam in 2017. Nulab currently has six branches in and outside of Japan, with headquarters in Fukuoka and offices in Tokyo and Kyoto. Soichiro Takashima, the mayor of Fukuoka City, has focused much on cultivating a foundation for startups ever since he took office in 2011. Hashimoto empathized with his policy and has helped the city with several projects through Nulab. We ask him about the projects Nulab worked on with the city, but his answer isn\u2019t what we expected. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with the city personally, but not as Nulab<\/a>,\u201d says Hashimoto, much to our surprise. We knew this couldn\u2019t be true, and point out projects such as Fukuoka Directive Council\u2019<\/a>s \u201cSmart Work Project Plan,\u201d the \u201cSan Francisco\/ Silicon Valley Global Entrepreneur Training Program\u201d for Fukuoka\u2019s entrepreneurs and hopefuls, and his cooperation as a lecturer at \u201cFGN Jumpstart Program<\/a>\u201d aimed for supporting the growth of startups and entrepreneurs. Hashimoto hides a smile and says, \u201cOh yeah, we did do that, didn\u2019t we? Yes, we did that as Nulab. I forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Global firm Nulab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\"Nulab<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Founded in 2004. Their services are Backlog, a project management tool, Cacoo, a visual collaboration tool, and Typetalk, an enterprise chat tool. They currently have branches in Fukuoka, Tokyo, and Kyoto along with three global offices including New York. Besides their main business, they\u2019re active in bonding with the local community and committed to bettering the work style of their employees. The company implements fixed overtime pay, full-flextime with no core periods, paid vacations, and childcare leave. Nulab ranked in at eighth place in Great Place to Work(R) Institute Japan\u2019s 2018 list of \u201cBest Workplaces in Japan,\u201d which is based on global standards.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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He must\u2019ve forgotten about past projects due to his hectic schedule, but more than that, it also meant Nulab had once worked on creating a good environment for startups together with Fukuoka City, but that it had already moved on to a different phase. \u201cI believe Fukuoka has made the foundation for startups to get going. But we can\u2019t let this end as just a passing fad. We need real success stories, and I hope Nulab can become one of them. So now, I\u2019m more focused on the development of my own company.\u201d But of course, it doesn\u2019t mean that Nulab\u2019s relation with the city has abruptly and completely ended. Nulab continues to support the city\u2019s projects, such as the \u201cEngineer Friendly City Fukuoka\u201d project<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship may have shifted, but their mutual respect will never waver. It isn\u2019t just in Fukuoka that the company has created firm ties with the locality. In Kyoto, they built their office together with the locals. By communicating with the people through such activities, they will remember Nulab as \u201cthe place where I helped to lay the floorboards,\u201d even if they don\u2019t understand what Nulab does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t do it because I want to be loved by the people around me. I might even be more of a nuisance for them,\u201d says Hashimoto of such activities. But building a friendship, even if we are nuisances sometimes, is what being a good neighbor is about. Nulab works to become a good neighbor everywhere they go, to make a great working environment for their staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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