Meet Taro of Any Perk

Meet Taro Fukuyama. He is the CEO and founder of AnyPerk, which provides employee perks and VIP treatment in fitness, telecom, and entertainment, just to name a few. Read on to learn more about his company and his background.

SLM: Tell us a bit more about your company, what do you do, and who is your target market?

Taro Fukuyama: AnyPerk partners with companies to provide hundreds of great perks and discounts for their employees, helping them create a rewarding work environment. We strive to help both small and big businesses attract and retain top talent and believe that every employee, whether working for a company of 10 or a company of 100,000, should have access to high-quality employee perks.

The AnyPerk platform is accessible, easy-to-use, and is a gateway to discounts of up to 50% in wellness programs, entertainment, shopping, and travel.

TF: My desire to launch a startup began when I was first came to the US in high school from Japan. What started as an idea and a dream became reality when my team and I got a place in Y-Combinator as a first / only Japanese founder. Ever since, we’ve been charging ahead and not looking back.

TF: It was simple; we wanted anyone to have access to any high-quality perk available.

TF: We were extremely fortunate to meet Paul Graham at Tech Crunch Disrupt 2011 and we subsequently entered Y-Combinator in Winter 2012. Our time at Y-Combinator was foundational and formative and we entered with a different idea and graduated as AnyPerk. I saw a huge gap in the tech employee perks space that wasn’t filled, and inspired by the success of the employee perks platform in the Japanese tech scene, I decided to pivot the problem we were addressing. AnyPerk also would not have been possible without our investors and supporters in Japan.

TF: The first step towards great marketing is having an awesome product that people talk about and use regularly. We are constantly adding new perks to our platform, finding exclusive perks, and expanding the scope of the product so that there is never a dull moment for our clients.

TF: It motivated my team and I to stay hungry and aim high and not to settle for “just okay.”

TF: Our approach to perks is simple – we start with the premise of providing high-quality and exclusive perks for our clients that are not available anywhere else. We are motivated by helping companies reward their employees and therefore provide the best perks possible – usually upwards of 15% – across more than 10 categories.

TF: 1. Always Sell Before You Build

Companies often invest in building something “cool” or the-next-big-thing without actually trying to sell the idea first. Engage potential clients and see if they like your idea (now is not the time to take criticism personally). Build a product that is customer-centric and that addresses a fundamental problem.

2. Scale Faster Than You Think is Enough

Don’t stop after developing a great product. Consider new ways to improve the platform so that your clients are always having the best experience possible with it. In our case, we are in the business of keeping employers and their employees happy and we do this by scaling our platform and our client success team to meet present and upcoming needs.

3. Great Client Success from Day One

Everyone from myself right down to the newest and greenest employee has a role to play in the client success experience from day one. We want our clients to not just feel satisfied but rather elated with using our service. Good client experience is the best mouthpiece of your product – more so than any marketing campaign you could possible launch.

TF: Negotiate a discount for more of them.

It was a pleasure and an honor to interview Taro. You can also follow AnyPerk on !

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