What is the primary business model of Tokyo Techies?

Tokyo Techies operates as a B2B SaaS and professional services hybrid. According to the catalogue facts, it is classified as a SaaS business. Slide 6 and Slide 7 confirm they provide personalized tech training for companies and individuals, generating $20k in MRR with a 95% retention rate, indicating a recurring subscription or contract-based revenue model.

How does Tokyo Techies differentiate itself from competitors?

The deck identifies three specific 'common challenges' in existing tech training: lack of personalization, outdated video content, and 'fake learning' via copy-pasting (Slide 8). Tokyo Techies differentiates by offering 'Personalized Tech Training' that helps users build 'software/robots from scratch' in both English and Japanese (Slide 6).

What is the scale of the market opportunity they are targeting?

The company targets a $5 billion training market in Japan (Slide 5). This is supported by a massive talent gap; they cite Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) data showing that the deficit of available engineers in Japan is expected to reach 50,000 by 2020 (Slide 4).

Is the product fully automated or a service-based model?

It appears to be a transition from service to platform. Slide 9 introduces a 'Learning Platform: BETA Version' which features automated metrics like 526k+ tests conducted and 85k+ total courses. However, Slide 10 highlights a 'Team of 12 professional engineers,' suggesting that human-led instruction remains a core part of their 'personalized' value proposition.

What information is missing from this pitch deck?

The most notable omissions are the 'Ask' and the 'Financial Projections.' The deck does not state how much money the company is raising, the valuation, or how the funds will be allocated. Additionally, there is no detailed competitive landscape or a multi-year roadmap beyond the 'Next Step: SCALABILITY' mentioned on Slide 9.

Tokyo Techie Pitch Deck (2018): 12-Slide Pre-Seed Deck

See all 12 slides of the Tokyo Techie pitch deck — a 2018 Pre Seed deck — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

The Tokyo Techies pitch deck is a masterclass in grounding a startup's mission in macroeconomic urgency. By citing a projected 50,000 engineer deficit in Japan by 2020 (Slide 4), the company transforms a training service into a critical infrastructure solution. The deck balances high-touch service metrics, such as a $20k MRR and 95% retention (Slide 7), with a vision for digital scalability through their beta learning platform (Slide 9). While the deck lacks a specific financial 'Ask' or a detailed roadmap, it compensates with significant social proof, listing 15 major corporate partners incl…

Key takeaways

The deck identifies a specific market crisis: Japan ranked as the last choice in Asia for top foreign tech talent as of 2017 (Slide 3).
The core problem is quantified using METI data, showing the engineer deficit growing from 15k in 2016 to a projected 50k in 2020 (Slide 4).
The company targets a $5B market for training systems in Japan, specifically calling out the failure of current systems to teach 'real projects' (Slide 5).
Traction is demonstrated through a $20,000 Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and a high 95% retention rate (Slide 7).
The product strategy shifts from service to scale, introducing a 'BETA Version' learning platform with 85k+ courses and 526k+ tests (Slide 9).
The team slide emphasizes technical depth, featuring four leaders with advanced degrees (MSc and Ph.D.) and backgrounds at SoftBank, Sony, and Rakuten (Slide 10).
Social proof is a primary driver, showcasing 15 clients including global brands like Manulife and Tokyo Gas Group (Slide 11).
The deck omits a formal 'Ask' slide, failing to specify the amount of capital being raised or the intended use of funds.

The Macro-Economic Hook

Tokyo Techies begins their 2018 pre-seed deck by ignoring their product and focusing entirely on a systemic failure in the Japanese economy. This is a sophisticated move for a pre-seed company. By the time the investor sees the solution, they have already been convinced that the status quo is unsustainable.

Slide 1: Title Slide

The cover slide is functional and bilingual. It features the company logo and the tagline 'Personalized Tech Training' in both English and Japanese. The background image shows a diverse group of people working on laptops, reinforcing the 'tech' and 'training' aspects of the brand immediately.

Slide 2: The Hook

Slide 2 poses a simple question: 'Have a new product idea?' followed by the obvious answer: 'Hire ENGINEERS to build it!!' This sets up a logical flow that the next slide immediately disrupts. It establishes the fundamental dependency of any modern business on technical talent.

Slide 3: The Reality Check

The deck pivots sharply to the difficulty of hiring. It quotes a Bloomberg article from November 2017 stating that 'Japan ranked last choice in Asia for top foreign tech talent.' This slide serves to narrow the focus from a general hiring problem to a specific, regional crisis in Japan, making the startup's mission feel geographically essential.

Slide 4: Quantifying the Deficit

This is the 'anchor' slide of the deck. Using data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Tokyo Techies shows a bar chart of 'Available engineers' versus a 'Deficit of engineers.' The deficit is shown growing from 15,000 in 2016 to 32,000 in 2018, and finally a projected 50,000 by 2020. By providing a specific number (50K), the founders give investors a metric to measure the 'size' of the problem they are solving.

Slide 5: Market Size and Qualitative Problem

The deck identifies a '$5B Market' for training systems in Japan. However, it notes that these systems 'don’t teach people to do real projects.' This slide bridges the gap between the macro labor shortage and the specific product opportunity: the failure of existing education to produce 'job-ready' talent.

Slide 6: The Solution Defined

Slide 6 answers the question 'What is Tokyo Techies?' It defines the offering as 'PERSONALIZED TECH TRAINING' for both companies and individuals. Crucially, it mentions building 'software/robots from scratch' and offers the service in 'ENGLISH / 日本語.' The mention of robotics and bilingual support suggests a higher-end, more technical offering than standard coding bootcamps.

Slide 7: Current Traction

At the pre-seed stage, revenue is the best de-risking tool. Tokyo Techies reports an MRR of '$20K' and a 'RETENTION' rate of '95%.' These two numbers, presented simply in large orange circles, suggest a strong product-market fit and a 'leaky bucket' problem that has already been solved.

Slide 8: The Competitive Gap

The deck lists three 'common challenges' they solve: 1. Not personalized, 2. Outdated videos, and 3. Fake Learning (Copy & Paste). This slide is effectively their 'Why Us' slide, positioning their method as a more rigorous and modern alternative to incumbent training providers.

Slide 9: The Scalability Vision

To move from a service-based business to a venture-scale SaaS, the company introduces its 'Learning Platform: BETA Version.' The slide shows a dashboard with impressive cumulative metrics: 85K+ total courses, 526K+ total tests & exams, and 756+ average daily traffic. It also shows flags for Japan, Vietnam, the USA, and the UK, signaling international ambitions.

Slide 10: The Team

The team slide is a significant strength. It features four leaders: Duc Doba (CEO), Konrad Lykowski (MSc), Phong Nguyen (Ph.D.), and Abbi Hamed (Ph.D.). Beneath their photos are logos for SoftBank, LINE, Rakuten, Hitachi, and Sony. This communicates that the '12 professional engineers' mentioned in the header have 'blue-chip' experience in the exact market they are targeting. The bottom bar highlights their expertise in AI, Robotics, Cybersecurity, and Software Dev.

Slide 11: Social Proof

The '15 CLIENTS & PARTNERS' slide is a 'who's who' of Japanese and global industry. It includes Tokyo Gas Group, Toshiba, Manulife, NTT Data, and Tokyo American Club. For a pre-seed company, having this level of B2B penetration is a powerful signal that their 'Personalized Tech Training' is already being bought by enterprise procurement departments.

Slide 12: The Call to Action

The final slide is a simple invitation in Japanese to visit their booth, suggesting this version of the deck may have been used for a specific conference or demo day. It reiterates the brand as 'THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY TRAINING.'

What Works in This Deck

Macro-to-Micro Narrative: The deck starts with a national crisis (labor shortage) and ends with a specific solution (personalized training). This makes the company feel like a 'must-have' rather than a 'nice-to-have.' Hard Metrics: Including MRR ($20k) and retention (95%) on Slide 7 provides immediate credibility. Many pre-seed decks rely on 'projected' numbers; Tokyo Techies relies on realized ones. Technical Pedigree: The team slide (Slide 10) is excellent. Having two Ph.D.s and an MSc on the founding team for a technical training company is a strong signal of 'subject matter expertise.' Enterprise Validation: The logo wall on Slide 11 is exceptional for a 2018 pre-seed round. It proves that the founders can sell into notoriously difficult Japanese enterprises.

What is Missing

The Ask: There is no mention of how much money is being raised or what the terms are. This is a critical omission for a fundraising deck. Use of Funds: Even if the amount wasn't disclosed, a slide detailing 'What we will do next' (e.g., hire 5 more engineers, expand to Singapore) would help investors understand the growth trajectory. Unit Economics: While they show MRR, they don't show the Cost of Acquisition (CAC) or the Lifetime Value (LTV). Given the 'personalized' nature of the training, an investor would want to know if this model can scale without a linear increase in headcount. Competitive Landscape: The deck mentions 'common challenges' but doesn't name specific competitors. A 'Magic Quadrant' or a feature-comparison table would help define their market position more clearly.

What a Founder Should Copy

The 'Problem' Slide: Copy the way Slide 4 uses official government data (METI) to prove the market need. Using a third-party, authoritative source for your 'Problem' slide makes your pitch feel objective rather than speculative. The 'Beta' Reveal: If you are a service-heavy business trying to raise venture capital, copy Slide 9. It shows that while you are doing 'personalized' work, you are building the 'Learning Platform' in the background to handle the scale. Simple Visuals: The deck uses very little text. Most slides have one clear headline and one or two key graphics. This is ideal for a presentation where the speaker needs the audience's attention on them, not on reading the slides.

Frequently asked questions

What is the primary business model of Tokyo Techies?: Tokyo Techies operates as a B2B SaaS and professional services hybrid. According to the catalogue facts, it is classified as a SaaS business. Slide 6 and Slide 7 confirm they provide personalized tech training for companies and individuals, generating $20k in MRR with a 95% retention rate, indicating a recurring subscription or contract-based revenue model.
How does Tokyo Techies differentiate itself from competitors?: The deck identifies three specific 'common challenges' in existing tech training: lack of personalization, outdated video content, and 'fake learning' via copy-pasting (Slide 8). Tokyo Techies differentiates by offering 'Personalized Tech Training' that helps users build 'software/robots from scratch' in both English and Japanese (Slide 6).
What is the scale of the market opportunity they are targeting?: The company targets a $5 billion training market in Japan (Slide 5). This is supported by a massive talent gap; they cite Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) data showing that the deficit of available engineers in Japan is expected to reach 50,000 by 2020 (Slide 4).
Is the product fully automated or a service-based model?: It appears to be a transition from service to platform. Slide 9 introduces a 'Learning Platform: BETA Version' which features automated metrics like 526k+ tests conducted and 85k+ total courses. However, Slide 10 highlights a 'Team of 12 professional engineers,' suggesting that human-led instruction remains a core part of their 'personalized' value proposition.
What information is missing from this pitch deck?: The most notable omissions are the 'Ask' and the 'Financial Projections.' The deck does not state how much money the company is raising, the valuation, or how the funds will be allocated. Additionally, there is no detailed competitive landscape or a multi-year roadmap beyond the 'Next Step: SCALABILITY' mentioned on Slide 9.

Cover slide of the Tokyo Techie pitch deck — Pre-Seed 2018 — Tokyo Techie pitch deck, slide 1 (2018)

Tokyo Techie pitch deck: the facts

Company: Tokyo Techie
Year: 2018
Stage: Pre-Seed
Slides: 12
Sector: IT

Tokyo Techie pitch deck PDF

The full Tokyo Techie deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Tokyo Techies (Tokyo Techie) pitch deck was used for

This 12‑slide pre‑seed pitch deck from 2018 was used by Tokyo Techies (also referenced by Failory as Tokyo Techie) to raise an undisclosed pre‑seed round in the IT sector. The deck presents Tokyo Techies as a provider of personalized tech training for companies and individuals, helping them build software and robots from scratch, delivered in English and Japanese per the OCR text from Slide 6. At the time, according to Tokyo Techies’ own retrospective, the business was focused on providing professional IT courses to close Japan’s structural gap in tech talent before later pivoting to one‑stop IT consulting. The raise was framed around turning a Japanese tech‑talent shortage into a scalable SaaS‑supported B2B training and services opportunity, with amount and investors undisclosed.

Business model: B2B IT consulting and previously professional IT training services for individuals and organizations.

Round: Pre-Seed
Year: 2018
Founded: 2017
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan (HQ at 1-13-8 Higashi Ueno, Toa Building 4F, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0015).
Industry: IT consulting, software development, cybersecurity, AI and cloud infrastructure services.

Raised: Undisclosed (Failory states that the amount raised was undisclosed for this pre‑seed round).

What happened after the Tokyo Techies (Tokyo Techie) deck

Tokyo Techies used its 2018 pre‑seed pitch deck to fund a training‑plus‑platform business aimed at Japan’s tech‑talent shortage, then over the following years expanded its expert team and educational offerings before fully pivoting away from training to become an active one‑stop IT consulting firm focused on software development, cybersecurity and AI integration.

2017: Tokyo Techies founded to provide professional IT courses to individuals and organizations, aiming to close Japan’s
2018: Used a 12‑slide pre‑seed pitch deck in the IT sector to raise an undisclosed pre‑seed round for its personalized t
Within the first four years: Grew to a team of more than 35 experts with real work experience in major tech companies in
From May of the year described in their four‑year‑journey blog: Terminated all IT training services and pivoted fully to

What the Tokyo Techies (Tokyo Techie) deck got right

Problem framing grounded in a well‑documented labor shortage. The deck directly addresses a **massive structural gap** in Japan’s labor market, citing forecasts of an 800,000‑developer shortage by 2030 as the core problem, which provides a compelling macro thesis for investors.
Clear, bilingual value proposition for companies and individuals. Slide 6 clearly defines Tokyo Techies as providing **PERSONALIZED TECH TRAINING** that helps companies and individuals build software and robots from scratch, offered in English and Japanese, giving a concise value proposition that explains both audience and outcome.
Hybrid SaaS plus services model with recurring revenue signals. Analysis of the deck notes that Tokyo Techies operates as a **B2B SaaS and professional services hybrid**, with personalized training supported by a scalable beta platform and backed by $20k MRR and 95% retention, which strongly signals recurring revenue potential.
Deep expert team supporting advanced training and consulting. Tokyo Techies later reports having a team of more than **35 experts with real experience in major tech companies** in Japan and abroad, which retroactively validates the deck’s implication that they can deliver high‑quality, advanced training and consulting.
Demonstrated adaptability from training startup to IT consulting firm. The company’s own narrative of pivoting from training into **one‑stop IT consulting** shows that the capabilities highlighted in the deck (technical expertise, curriculum, platform) could evolve into a broader, more scalable service offering, reassuring investors about adaptability.
Demonstrated fundraising effectiveness at pre-seed. Failory confirms that the pitch deck successfully supported a **pre‑seed raise in 2018**, indicating that the storytelling, metrics and opportunity framing were strong enough to convince investors despite the amount and investor identities remaining undisclosed.

What could have been stronger

Limited externally visible proof of training effectiveness and customer validation. The deck frames a large structural gap in Japanese tech talent and highlights personalized training, but available descriptions (Failory and the teardown) do not mention concrete evidence of product‑market fit such as named enterprise customers, completion rates, or quantified learning outcomes, which limits validation of the training efficacy and scalability.
Unclear separation between SaaS platform economics and services revenue. While secondary analysis notes that Tokyo Techies operated as a B2B SaaS and professional services hybrid, the accessible description of the deck does not clearly separate or quantify revenue from SaaS subscriptions versus training services, making the scalability of the SaaS component harder for investors to evaluate from the deck alone.
Sparse competitive landscape and differentiation analysis. The deck targets Japan’s tech‑talent shortage with a training‑led solution, but publicly available summaries do not show detailed competitive positioning versus existing coding bootcamps, corporate training firms, or university programs in Japan, potentially leaving investor questions about differentiation and defensibility.
Original thesis did not become the long‑term core business. Later company communications describe a complete pivot away from IT training to IT consulting, which suggests that the original training‑centric thesis in the deck did not remain the long‑term core business; investors reviewing the deck today would need to reconcile that change with the initial strategy and metrics.
Undisclosed round size and investor details. Failory explicitly lists both the amount raised and investors as "undisclosed" for this pre‑seed round, which means the deck and surrounding materials do not provide transparency on valuation, investor quality, or capital efficiency for this raise.

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

Evidence that the Japanese tech‑talent gap is both severe and growing, including external estimates of hundreds of thousands of developers missing by 2030, which strengthens the deck’s market‑gap narrative.
The combination of personalized B2B training and a scalable beta platform, suggesting a hybrid of recurring services and SaaS revenue, supported by deck‑level claims of $20k MRR and 95% retention.
Tokyo Techies’ early positioning as a team of more than 35 experts with real experience in major tech companies, which bolsters execution capacity for both training and consulting.
The later demonstrated ability to pivot from training into one‑stop IT consulting, showing adaptability and a path from human‑capital development to higher‑margin software and advisory work.

Risks that stand out

The company’s own narrative confirms that it fully terminated IT training services and pivoted to IT consulting, indicating that the original training‑centric model in the pitch deck did not sustain as the core business, which can create thesis drift for early investors.
Japan’s structural tech‑talent gap is large, but the training market is competitive; without strong evidence in the deck of differentiated outcomes or scalable technology, the initial model could face commoditization risk.
Reliance on personalized training and expert‑led instruction is inherently people‑intensive; scaling this without eroding quality or margins requires careful productization, and later pivoting suggests those scaling challenges may have been material.
The lack of disclosed round size and investor list makes it difficult to benchmark capital efficiency and external validation of the business at the pre‑seed stage.

Questions this deck invites

What were the precise terms of the 2018 pre‑seed round (amount, valuation, instrument) and who participated, given that Failory reports these details as undisclosed?
How much of the claimed $20k MRR and 95% retention in the deck came from SaaS platform subscriptions versus training and consulting contracts, and how did those metrics evolve through and after the pivot?
What concrete learning and business outcomes did corporate and individual training customers achieve (e.g., deployed software/robots, internal capability uplift), and are there case studies or references that validate the efficacy of the pr
How did Tokyo Techies navigate competition from other programming schools, corporate training providers and IT consulting firms in Japan, and what structural advantages (curriculum, bilingual delivery, expert team) proved most defensible ov
What were the main drivers behind terminating all IT training services and pivoting fully to IT consulting, and how did that affect existing investors whose initial thesis was tied to the training‑plus‑platform model?

What founders can take from the Tokyo Techies (Tokyo Techie) deck

Framing a **local structural labor shortage** (Japan’s projected developer deficit by 2030) as the anchor of the problem slide creates a strong, externally grounded rationale for both training and SaaS solutions, helping investors quickly see the size and urgency of the opportunity.
Positioning a startup as a **hybrid of personalized services and a scalable platform** (B2B tech training plus beta SaaS) can make early revenue more attainable while still promising software‑like margins, but follow‑on communication must later clarify how much value comes from each side.
Including **MRR and retention metrics** (such as the deck’s reported $20k MRR and 95% retention) in a training‑plus‑platform pitch is powerful because it reframes what might be seen as a consulting or education business into one with subscription‑like predictability.
Delivering training and services **bilingually (English/Japanese)** to both corporate and individual clients in Japan leverages a cultural and linguistic edge, showing how localized expertise can be a competitive advantage in global SaaS and services markets.
A later **full pivot from training to IT consulting** illustrates that even a well‑argued deck thesis can change; capturing this story in subsequent materials (blogs, updated positioning) helps maintain investor trust by explaining how initial capabilities were repurposed into a more scalable busine
Documenting a multi‑year journey from education‑focused startup to one‑stop IT consulting firm shows that decks for very early rounds should emphasize adaptable capabilities (team, technology, domain expertise) as much as the initial product concept.

Tokyo Techies (Tokyo Techie) pitch deck: common questions

What is Tokyo Techies / Tokyo Techie?

Tokyo Techies (also referred to as Tokyo Techie in the Failory catalogue) is a Tokyo‑based IT company that initially offered professional IT training courses to individuals and organizations to address Japan’s shortage of tech talent, and later evolved into a one‑stop IT consulting firm focused on software development, AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation.

Did Tokyo Techies raise funding with this pitch deck, and when?

Yes. Failory reports that Tokyo Techie used this 12‑slide IT pitch deck to raise a **pre‑seed** round in **2018**, with the amount and investors undisclosed. The deck describes a personalized tech training business model and recurring revenue metrics, indicating they had early traction at the time.

What product or service is Tokyo Techies pitching in this deck?

The deck positions Tokyo Techies as providing **personalized tech training** to help companies and individuals build software and robots from scratch, offered in English and Japanese. This aligns with the company’s own account that it was founded in 2017 as a provider of professional IT courses to solve the high demand–low supply gap for tech talent in Japan.

What is Tokyo Techies’ business model in this pitch deck?

According to a later teardown summary and the Failory catalogue, Tokyo Techies operates as a hybrid of B2B SaaS and professional services: personalized tech training supported by a scalable beta platform, and recurring subscription or contract‑based revenue (with $20k MRR and 95% retention claimed in the deck). In its current form, the company is a one‑stop IT consulting partner combining software development, cybersecurity and AI integration.

How has Tokyo Techies evolved since the time of the pitch deck?

Tokyo Techies reports that it was founded in **2017** as an IT training company and later pivoted to focus fully on IT consulting, terminating all IT training services from May of the year described in their four‑year‑journey blog post. Today they present themselves as a one‑stop IT consulting firm offering agile SaaS, mobile and web development, cybersecurity, and AI solutions from their Tokyo headquarters.