How Tailor built trust and gained credibility with SOC 2 compliance

The company

Headless ERP solution built for the enterprise

Tailor is a Tokyo-based startup offering a highly customizable headless Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool that helps companies take care of everything from “order to cash.” Cofounders Yo Shibata and Misato Takahashi started Tailor in early 2022 after selling their previous startup to Rakuten, and were in Y Combinator’s Spring 2022 batch.

Aiming to penetrate the US market and secure deals with enterprise clients, Tailor knew early on the importance of meeting security and compliance standards, which are critical for enterprise buyers. Additionally, as an early-stage startup, Tailor recognized the importance of establishing credibility and legitimacy from their early journey.

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The challenge

Seeking credibility as a startup

As a recently founded startup, Tailor did not have as much credibility as some of the legacy players in the headless ERP space. “ERP is a critical system that is very complex, so prospects want to ensure that we’re credible enough to be part of their stack,” said Yo.

When the team had conversations with prospective customers, they were asked about compliance. They shared that they were in the process of getting their SOC 2, but there needed to be a better answer to alleviate several security concerns.

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Recognizing the need for enhanced credibility and security, Yo made a strategic decision to attain a SOC 2 report.  “We decided to pursue SOC 2 because it is associated with a level of maturity in both product and organization,” said Yo. 

To get their SOC 2, they first considered going to a Big Four accounting firm that could manage the process. However, going to one of these companies was expensive and would take a lot of paperwork and time. They then considered doing it themselves but quickly discarded the idea as it seemed like a large effort for a small team.

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The solution

A Trust Management Platform that automates SOC 2 compliance

As Yo and his team looked for solutions, a peer from Y Combinator recommended Vanta. “My friend had used Vanta for the same purpose and mentioned how little effort it required,” said Yo. “We were excited and open to trying it.”

The team knew compliance was important, but they didn’t have many expectations when starting. “We understand there were standards we would have to meet but we didn’t know the questions an auditor was likely to ask or how much we’d need to adjust to become compliant,” said Yo. Thankfully, Vanta helped get them up to speed.

It quickly became clear that Vanta was a natural fit for the team. “We like Vanta because it automates so many things for us and it also fits very well with our tech stack, as most of our deployment is automated,” said Yo. Vanta integrates with a lot of SaaS solutions that Tailor already uses.

They were also impressed with the support offered by their Customer Success Manager, who was very supportive and answered all their questions.

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Thanks to Vanta, Tailor was able to gain SOC 2 compliance within 2.5 months, positioning them to win more enterprise deals.

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The impact

A startup that can win enterprise deals

In a short time frame and with relatively low stress, Tailor gained its SOC 2 report thanks to the partnership with Vanta. The Tailor team found that Vanta was affordable, easy to use, and delivered on its promise of helping them get compliant.

With their SOC 2 in hand, Tailor can confidently approach enterprise customers that want a modern and robust ERP solution. “We needed to show that our company is credible enough to even be an option,” said Shibata. “With SOC 2, it's clear that we are.”