Q & A

Answer 1 Part 1: Yes, we’re expensive, as are all professional services necessary for running a business.

But compared to the cost of making the wrong choice, our fees are almost negligible. 

By the time our clients have found us, they've usually experienced a very expensive and unfortunate loss trying to handle expert-level work on their own.

The financial losses businesses face when partnering with the wrong digital service provider can be catastrophic—not just in the initial outlay but in lost opportunities and wasted resources. In some cases, it can even threaten the survival of the business itself. We’ve seen it happen time and time again.

For first-time hires, the cost of bringing in a consultant to help navigate these decisions might seem like an unnecessary luxury. You might not even realize it’s possible to outsource the most critical part of choosing a service provider: determining which proposal is truly worth the risk. Unfortunately, many people take that gamble every day, often with devastating results.

New business owners frequently believe they can manage complex digital or IT projects themselves after a few Google searches or persuasive pitches from salespeople armed with flashy portfolios and technical jargon. But these attempts often end in incomplete projects, wasted resources, and frustration.

Think of it like building a house. Sure, some people might construct one by hand, but most rely on an architect and a construction company—and even then, you still need an inspector who knows the regulations to avoid costly mistakes. The digital world works the same way. 

We’re here to protect you from people selling “dream homes” that are little more than houses of cards built on unstable foundations.

Answer 1 Part 2: That’s why we’re flexible.

We offer per-job consulting rates so you can access the kind of expertise usually reserved for large corporations without committing to a full-time hire.

This approach allows you to focus your budget on building the business of your dreams while avoiding the traps set by unqualified sales teams. Many of these teams are more interested in taking your money to grow their own businesses than in using their expertise to help grow yours. 

It’s a predatory cycle we’ve despised since we entered this industry—back when Google’s motto was still “Don’t Be Evil.” Unlike today.

Answer 1 Part 3: Rare exceptions.

In exceptional circumstances, we may take on projects at reduced rates or pro bono if time allows—particularly when we see a business or entity we admire being exploited by unscrupulous players in our industry. It’s not something we can often commit to, but we hate to stand by and watch good people, places, or businesses fall victim to fraud. 

But as a general rule, we don’t give exceptions to new businesses or small businesses just because you’re new or small in the same way lawyers or accountants don’t.

Why? Because to run a really successful business, you really need to know a LOT about marketing and advertising yourself. (Same actually goes for legal matters and accounting.)

You may be the world’s best baker, but if nobody knows you exist, your business will fail immediately. 

Word-of-mouth? 

Can you keep paying your running costs long enough for the word-of-mouth to take off organically? 

Generally speaking, no. So you’ll need advertising, marketing, and if it’s a product that can be copied by a bigger or foreign company, you’ll also need branding or someone will steal your idea and it’s gone.

Being the world’s best baker and running a successful bakery are two separate skill-sets and require different types of funding and environments. 

If you can’t budget in experts and marketing, you’ll need to learn it on your own, or be a baker and not a bakery owner. (link to article #1 why new businesses really fail)

Answer 2 Part 1: 

No Thank you😊.

As a note, if you really really want us in your office in L.A. or Tokyo BEFORE you've hired us, we charge U.S. $500 per hour for all hours of travel, minimum 24 hours. Plus all transportation and hotel costs, first class, we especially like ryokan with in-room onsen or boutique hotels. 

We both like Joël Robuchon’s Gastronomy if it’s Tokyo, maybe kodō for some omakase in Los Angeles; you make the reservations, you pick up the tab.

(This is our way of saying we meet via video apps at a time that’s mutually agreeable, or you make it very very worth our while to do otherwise. )

Answer 2 Part 2: 

Allow me to share why we do what we do and how we choose the people we work with:

We love certain Japanese companies, certain non-Japanese businesses, and a lot of Artisanal and family run businesses. Whether a venture is massive multinationals or small, local businesses—it doesn’t matter to us. What matters is the key person: the stakeholder we’ll be collaborating with directly.

We work with people who are passionate about what they do. Artisans perfecting their craft, professionals who truly love their industry, CEOs building a company to support their employees, cities striving to create a future for the next generation, or cafe owners who remember the little details, like a customer’s preference to skip the onions. 

We’re drawn to V.P.s living abroad who understand their market so well they know the perfect keywords for their products in the local language.

We don’t chase clout. We don’t care about your name. We care about your heart, and attitudes.

We don’t care if the whole world knows your company name or if you’re running a billion-dollar venture. We don’t see earning as the only metric of success. 

What we care about is whether you, the person we’re working with, are invested in making your business, your product, and your corner of the world better, safer, and brighter. 

We like to laugh, and we like people who try to do the right thing. 

We don’t like greed. Or liars. Or late stage American capitalism that crushes local businesses for the sake of shareholders abroad, regardless of the nationality of the person involved.

We’re here for kind people, creative people, and people worth protecting from the sharks, the bottom feeders, and the willfully incompetent.

And yes, we actively turn down a lot of clients—especially those who are just chasing money by any means necessary regardless of how it affects others. That’s not the world we’re trying to build or the kind of work we’re willing to support.

If you believe in social Darwinism, you get to die by the sword you live by, we don’t want to be involved.

For actual potential clients, depending on the service, we sometimes offer a complimentary 10-minute consultation. It’s a no-obligation conversation where you can get a sense of who we are, and we can get a feel for whether we’re the right fit for each other.

We’ve reached a point in our careers where we get to choose who we work with, and frankly, that’s the whole point of building a career—to have that choice.

Put simply, we’re not here just for the money. We earn enough to know that working with the wrong people isn’t worth the cost of selling our souls.

Sometimes, yes—but often, no. 

When you're dealing with big companies, slick agencies, and faceless corporations geared to sell subscriptions, ads, Saas, their entire business model often hinges on locking customers into long-term, lucrative (for them) annual contracts that can quickly become a nightmare for you. 

These agreements are deliberately designed to be sticky, with hidden clauses, auto-renewals, and steep cancellation penalties. Even if the software or service doesn’t live up to its promises, you’re stuck footing the bill.

If you’re already trapped, we’ll review your contract and assess whether there’s a loophole or leverage point we can exploit. 

But the truth is, getting out of these contracts after the ink is dry can feel like trying to wrestle a shark—it’s possible, but painful and risky and sometimes costs more than it's worth.

That’s why it’s far better to avoid getting into these situations in the first place. 

Before you sign a contract or agree to a multi-year commitment, bring us in for a few hours of consultation. 

We can review the contract or proposal, evaluate whether the software or service is even worth it, and flag potential red flags. 

Think of it as insurance against future regret. Spending a little time upfront can save you from years of wasted money and headaches. 

Don’t let their shiny pitch reel you in—hire us to make sure you're not signing away your rights for something you’ll barely use, or live with the choices you make are unfortunately often the only options.

IMPORTANT: If the real issue is actually you and how you’re running your business, we’ll tell you that as well so if your pride is more important to you than managing a successful venture, we’re letting you know in advance that we’re not a firm you’ll want to hire. 

Here's a little more about that: Read Article About Leadership Issues

It’s understandable to feel compelled to salvage an investment after committing significant resources. However, this can sometimes lead to the sunk-cost fallacy—the tendency to keep investing in a project simply because of how much has already been spent, even if it no longer serves your goals or is unlikely to succeed.

Hiring a consultant provides a fresh, unbiased perspective, helping you objectively evaluate whether the project is truly worth additional investment or if it’s time to pivot. 

We identify opportunities to optimize what you’ve already built, minimize future risks, and ensure that every decision going forward is based on data, expertise, and your long-term success—not past costs.

The answer lies in trust and fit. While our expertise in evaluating marketing, IT, and design work is a given, none of that matters if you, the client, don’t feel you can trust us or value our perspective. 

Consulting is a partnership: We work to deeply understand your business, your goals, and your challenges, analyzing what’s working, what’s not, and why.

But the real question is, will you listen to what we tell you? Do you believe we’ll provide insights tailored to your needs, and will you be open to acting on that feedback? 

A consultant, like a lawyer or accountant, can only be as effective as the trust and openness in the relationship.

So, explore this hastily put-together website, read the articles, and get a sense of my tone and approach. 

If you feel we could have a productive partnership, we'd be honored to help you make confident, informed decisions about your business as your outsourced CMO / CTO.

Otherwise, it's actually NOT us specifically.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯