Selling SaaS in Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#31

Post by Scramblejams » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:37 AM UTC

canpan wrote: post #9

karim79 wrote: post #4

Brilliant article and thank you for sharing. Local payment methods seem to be a really huge thing. For instance, I'm told that in India most people want to use Google Pay, and even street vendors have QR codes at their stalls. If anyone can weigh in on that I'd love to hear about it.

Working in that area in Japan. I think I can provide some answers. Payment: CC are mostly used for BtoC but if you are a BtoB SaaS you want invoice and a local presence (ie no tax or currency shenanigans for your customer). Hand on sales: Don't expect customers to sign up for a free plan and convert. Your conversion rate will be close to 0. Mostly scammers. Instead: Contact form, Cold call, go out to events, lots of…

> Hand on sales: Don't expect customers to sign up for a free plan and convert. Your conversion rate will be close to 0. Mostly scammers.

Brutal! Is that true even for Japanese companies with a traditional sales force?

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#32

Post by karim79 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 8:41 AM UTC

karim79 wrote: post #4

Brilliant article and thank you for sharing. Local payment methods seem to be a really huge thing. For instance, I'm told that in India most people want to use Google Pay, and even street vendors have QR codes at their stalls. If anyone can weigh in on that I'd love to hear about it.

Someone actually downvoted this comment, and I would honestly like to know why. Did I say something offensive?

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#33

Post by nottorp » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 10:25 AM UTC

popalchemist wrote: post #15

throwjjj wrote: post #11

Word of advice: don’t do SaaS anymore. It’s over.

Stripe's billions of dollars per year would suggest otherwise. https://stripe.com/sessions/2025/scaling-vertical-saas

Stripe sells shovels though.

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#34

Post by rk06 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 11:41 AM UTC

karim79 wrote: post #4

Brilliant article and thank you for sharing. Local payment methods seem to be a really huge thing. For instance, I'm told that in India most people want to use Google Pay, and even street vendors have QR codes at their stalls. If anyone can weigh in on that I'd love to hear about it.

Indian here. UPI (QR code for payment) is huge. UPI adoption is extremely high.

In no-trust society like India, where fake note, torn notes, fake coins can strike anyone. UPI is blessing to most.

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#35

Post by TeamCommet1 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

The point about documentation is spot on, but there's another technical hurdle often overlooked: payment infrastructure. In Japan, B2B is still heavily dominated by bank transfers (Furikomi). If your SaaS billing stack only supports credit cards, you'll hit a wall with larger enterprise clients who expect to pay via monthly bank invoices. Localizing the billing logic is almost as important as localizing the UI.

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#36

Post by dudeinjapan » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 3:52 PM UTC

PacificSpecific wrote: post #23

dudeinjapan wrote: post #13

I run a successful SaaS biz in Japan. Its possible, but its waaay hard. The article is right in principle. Unless you are 110% all in on localizing and hiring lots of local staff, to the extent that you will give up priorities in other markets, its not worth trying. Otherwise its a waste of blood and treasure—a local player will eat your lunch. A consultant like Nihonium or whatever wont be able to help you really. L…

I'd love to hear more about this if you ever plan to write about it. Congrats on making it work!

I really need to make a blog hah...

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#37

Post by randysalami » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:44 PM UTC

itpcc wrote: post #8

One thing I agree with the Japanese on is that documentation is king! One major reason I decline various software demos or testing opportunities is the lack of proper documentation or screenshots. Maybe it's because I am from SEA; I tend to hesitate to confront people or ask questions, especially during a demo.

What do you mean? Like culturally it is not in the nature or because of bias from stakeholders that are not from SEA?

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#38

Post by mdni007 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 9:45 PM UTC

throwjjj wrote: post #11

Word of advice: don’t do SaaS anymore. It’s over.

People will move to selfhosted for a while, find out it's more expensive to maintain, switch to SaaS and then a couple years later will switch back to selfhosted. It's an endless cycle

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#39

Post by throwjjj » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 3:01 AM UTC

mdni007 wrote: post #38

throwjjj wrote: post #11

Word of advice: don’t do SaaS anymore. It’s over.

People will move to selfhosted for a while, find out it's more expensive to maintain, switch to SaaS and then a couple years later will switch back to selfhosted. It's an endless cycle

Nah you don’t get it.

Re: Selling SaaS in Japan

#40

Post by NoCodeArea » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 6:36 PM UTC

dudeinjapan wrote: post #13

I run a successful SaaS biz in Japan. Its possible, but its waaay hard. The article is right in principle. Unless you are 110% all in on localizing and hiring lots of local staff, to the extent that you will give up priorities in other markets, its not worth trying. Otherwise its a waste of blood and treasure—a local player will eat your lunch. A consultant like Nihonium or whatever wont be able to help you really. L…

Seems like you have a lot experience in that regard. I have some questions about software companies in japan, is possible to send you a DM or mail?