Mickey’s Voice
Insights from our CEO
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Watching Science Fiction Become Science Fact
Discovering more about what the future might hold was what got together global leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators earlier this month at the New Economy Summit Tokyo. I was excited to join the event, also known as NEST, along with 3000 people also keen on doing just that. Hosted by the Japan Association of New Economy that I helped found in 2010, this year’s annual global meeting sparked lively…
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Questioning the status quo: Japan innovation
In 2010, a group of e-business executives looking to drive meaningful change in Japan formed a professional association. Our original goal was to advocate for issues relevant to our emerging tech-related industry. But by 2012 we realized there was far more at stake than just e-commerce. We changed our name and broadened our goal: we became JANE, the Japan Association of New Economy. What are JANE’…
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Hiroshi Mikitani on Global Expansion
Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani on global expansion and how Viber and Ebates fit into the future of the Rakuten ecosystem. From his appearance onstage in New York at Business Insider IGNITION 2015.
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The Priceless Value of Quality
In 2016, Rakuten will enter our 20th year. We’ve come a long way since we started with a team of six and 13 merchants and that makes it even more important to focus on what makes our marketplace unique. We have developed into Japan’s leading online shopping mall and we are a highly trusted platform with high quality service because of our ability to collaborate closely with the merchants on…
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Vision 2020: Rakuten
As Rakuten recently announced financial results for 2015, we also launched Vision 2020, a new mid-term strategy map for the future. Let me set out the key points here. Going forward, Rakuten is going to focus on 3 types of businesses: Strong, Smart, and Speed. Here is an outline of each: 1) Strong Businesses These are the businesses where we are strong enough to defend our turf and keep growing 10…
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Hiroshi Mikitani on Englishnization and Diversity at Rakuten
Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani recently spoke to an audience of business leaders at Business Insider IGNITION 2015 in New York. Mickey discussed the importance of diversity and culture when building a global business. He highlighted unique programs at Rakuten, including Englishnization and climbing Mount Tanagawa for team building.
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Super Bowl 50 Disruptors
Disruptors get a lot of attention. Disruptors can be individuals, companies, or even economies. I’m passionate about driving innovation at our company to disrupt the status quo, whether it’s in our existing markets or industries that are completely new to us. But by its very nature, disruption is not a force within our control. Just as we look for ways to disrupt and innovate, we must…
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Go Global But Stay True To Your Roots
Eighty percent of new engineers joining Rakuten are now non-Japanese. This is a number I am very proud of. Wherever I go in the world, people ask me why this is. They ask me if this is about ‘diversity’, or whether a Japanese company should be looking inside its own country to build a workforce. All fair questions, but it’s not that simple. The real question is: in the age of global business, can…
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Learn Something Every Day
Take a minute to think about it. You’re probably doing something that’s a learning experience right now. Even though what you study will vary from what others study, we can all continue to do it. Without constantly taking in new things and improving yourself, your development as a person will come to a halt. Those who put their all into studying have an understanding of the kind of power that can…
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Hiroshi Mikitani at Business Insider IGNITION
UPDATE: Mickey discusses his future plans for Rakuten in a video from Business Insider on the IGNITION 2015 conference. (Please note that clicking on the link will take you to an external site outside of Rakuten.Today.) On December 8, 2015, Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani took to the stage at Business Insider IGNITION 2015 in New York. Check out highlights from Mickey’s comments and ot…
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