Kota Ura 浦 浩太

I am Kota Ura. I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension with a Technology & Engineering — Database & Data Analytics certificate in 2015, and from Kanagawa University with an Economics — Modern Business degree in 2010. Two degrees, zero regrets (though the economics one did teach me that money is complicated).

I hold a Licensed Scrum Master certification, a Database & Data Analytics certificate from UCSC, and a Google Analytics qualifier.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. I moved to the United States in 2014 and lived in San Francisco, California for a while — I wish I could go back. I love traveling, hiking, power-lifting, snacks, and candies. My goal in life is to live and work on all six continents. Three down, three to go. Ping me if you can take me to Antarctica, but fair warning: I usually don't reply to random messages, especially from recruiters.

I speak Japanese as a native speaker and have professional proficiency in English. Occasionally I speak neither when properly exhausted.

I am currently working at EIS Group as a Product Manager. Previously I worked at S&P Global, Wise (formerly known as TransferWise), Dentsu Soken, Inc., and several other fintech and financial data companies.

In 2018 I spoke at the Japan-America Society of St. Louis about Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation in Japan and the United States (backup PDF). I love the States, even though they have a very short history compared with other countries. Something about seeing the salsa bar at El Pollo Loco just fills me with a sense of freedom. I support equality for all humans and stand firmly against racism.

A few things I have shipped: Day One app — Japanese localization in 2018; OpenEmu translation on GitHub from 2016 to 2018. A Bitcoin statistical analytics chart app called BTC Stats, and FlyPal for the Emirates Travel Hackathon — the last two from 2015, back when crypto was still cute and hackathons were mostly about the free pizza.

My happiness comes from being honest with myself and pursuing what I genuinely want. At the same time, I always put the customer first. My voice is never louder than the customer's. Satisfaction is nowhere near enough — which is either a great work ethic or a mild personality flaw. Possibly both.

My favorite saying is "Giving up is not in the blood, sir. Not in the blood." I find it deeply encouraging. Probably nothing is impossible, as long as you keep chasing your dream — or at least keep showing up.

Information on this page may be limited to protect my privacy. Last updated June 2026.