Rakuten Today: Mickey's Voice

November 9, 2017 3 min read

The heart of a brand: Starting with your team

What is at the heart of your brand? From a business perspective, a brand is a way we communicate with customers – a way to convey to them what we offer and why that is valuable. But brands are also something we all live and work with every day, so they can feel much more personal and encapsulate so much more than just a logo or a name. In fact, the brand is a way we build a relationship of trust w…

Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed a revolutionary new cancer treatment called near-infrared photoimmunotherapy

October 25, 2017 5 min read

Tackling cancer with innovation: Mickey speaks with Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi

Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani in conversation with Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) senior investigator who is working on the development of a new cancer treatment called near-infrared photoimmunotherapy. Mickey introduces Dr. Kobayashi and their conversation here. Mr. Mikitani, what prompted you to get involved in supporting cancer research? MIKITANI: Four years ago, my…

October 25, 2017 < 1 min read

Driving innovation in the medical world: Tackling Cancer

For many people, Rakuten is first and foremost an internet services company. In reality, however, Rakuten is much more than that – we also invest in and support the growth and expansion of startups that provide innovative new services and technologies. I myself have invested in numerous technologies and services that I believe have the capability to change the world. One of those investments is As…

Rakuten CEO Hiroshi "Mickey" Mikitani announces partnership to become the first-ever jersey-badge partner of the Golden State Warriors.

October 16, 2017 3 min read

Why we are partnering with the Golden State Warriors

In just a couple of days, I’ll be court-side as the 2017-18 NBA season tips off with a must-see clash between the reigning champions the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. It will be a very special moment for Rakuten – the first regular season match played by the Warriors since we became their jersey-badge partner, and one of the first games Rakuten.TV will show live in Japan as…

Fans walk with soccer legend Thierry Henry after forming the world's largest FC Barcelona Jersey on July 22, 2017 in New York City to celebrate the kick-off of the team's US Tour.

September 8, 2017 2 min read

New possibilities at Sun Valley and beyond

I was in New York City in July and was delighted to see people from all walks of life wearing FC Barcelona shirts bearing the Rakuten brand. With the launch of our partnership with the legendary European football club, awareness of our brand is growing in all corners of the planet – and not just among consumers. Business leaders are noticing too. That same month, I attended the annual Allen &…

described three personality types critical to the success of an organization: hunters, or warriors, farmers and bureaucrats.

August 29, 2017 2 min read

Hunters, farmers and bureaucrats: Balancing personality types for team success

I was fortunate enough to have dinner recently with Nobel Prize winning economist Myron Scholes and we talked about the kind of people an organization needs to succeed. We discussed the mistake leaders often make of focusing too narrowly on skills when it comes to hiring. While skills are important, it’s also critical to recruit with personality types in mind. Scholes described three personality t…

August 9, 2017 2 min read

Brand unification: An optimistic perspective

In July, we launched a groundbreaking project to unify our brands across the globe. As Rakuten has grown from a Japanese e-commerce company into a global innovation company, with unique Japanese roots, we have added many unique and inspiring businesses to our ecosystem. Now we are entering a new stage of connecting those dots to provide a user experience that is unified by the Rakuten brand. Rakut…

August 7, 2017 < 1 min read

Mickey Mikitani on Rakuten and FC Barcelona’s shared values

Rakuten is FC Barcelona’s new Main Global Partner and first-ever Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner. Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani discusses the shared values and philosophy that connect these two global organizations and his optimism about the future of the partnership.

We launched the Rakuten marketplace 20 years ago and since then I’ve seen many competitors woo consumers with an approach that bears more similarity to an online vending machine – an experience based solely on price, speed and convenience.

June 22, 2017 2 min read

E-commerce as a catalyst: New and old retail principles

An e-commerce site is not just a neatly organized catalog of products; it can be a catalyst for engaging and enriching shopping experiences. We launched the Rakuten marketplace 20 years ago and since then I’ve seen some competitors woo consumers with an approach that bears more similarity to an online vending machine – an experience based solely on price, speed and convenience. Certainly, those ar…

Make your conversations more meaningful by choosing what stays and what goes. Secret messages give you the ability to decide when the photos and videos you send will disappear from your conversation and, in doing so, let you decide what should and shouldn’t be a permanent part of your Viber conversation history.

May 24, 2017 3 min read

0.1% improvements: Don’t be afraid to innovate

Our free voice and messaging service Viber is much-loved by more than 800 million users around the world and, since acquisition in 2014, we have been more focused on growth than on profitability, but in recent months we have made some changes. We decided to set in motion a series of big and small improvements, including hiring a new CEO and finding ways to increase revenue, not just on the telecom…