Mickey’s Voice
Insights from our CEO
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Top book picks for when you’re looking for inspiration
I admit I was thrilled to hear Bill Gates of Microsoft had included my book, “The Power To Compete,” on his recommended summer reading list. The book is one I co-wrote with my late father, the economist Ryoichi Mikitani, and it is great to hear of more people around the world reading the book and thinking about how an economy can become more competitive. Bill’s reading list started me thinking abo…
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Advice that sticks: The wisdom of my father
My father, Ryoichi, passed away in 2013 but his words remain with me today. This summer, the book we co-wrote, “The Power to Compete,” was listed by Bill Gates as recommended summer reading. It even appeared on some best-seller lists. This got me thinking again about the broad-ranging conversations we had in his final years about future directions for Japan and our place in the world economy, as w…
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Taking down the walls at work: Rakuten Crimson House
What has no internal walls, height-adjustable desks, floor-to-ceiling whiteboards, the latest in video communications technology – and a great view of Mount Fuji on a clear day? Our new workplace! When Rakuten headquarters relocated last year to a new building in Setagaya, Tokyo, we did more than change our address. We changed everything about our office and the way we work in it every day. For ex…
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Common sense or just fear of failure?
New ideas die every day because someone alleges they go against “common sense.” But what is “common sense,” anyway, and who defines it? I think using this argument often indicates nothing more than a fear of failure. It’s the cover many people will take to avoid doing something risky. More than once in my career, I’ve been told that my idea won’t work and that I should wake up and acce…
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The diversity dividend
At Rakuten, we consider ourselves marathon runners. We are in our business and our communities for the long haul. That’s one of the reasons we think very seriously about diversity. Diversity at Rakuten is not just important because it is the right thing to do, right now. It is a strategy for our long-term success. Why is diversity so important to our long game? Talent We know that to be succ…
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My plan for a tech revolution in Tokyo
If I could make a big change right now, I’d start right here in Tokyo. It’s a dream of mine to transform this city into the next tech hub. Working with JANE (Japan Association of New Economy), we’re pursuing a revolution through innovation – a plan to create a hub for tech entrepreneurs in Asia. It would require many changes. Among them: Encourage entrepreneurs and engineers to come and work in To…
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My economist father turned me into an entrepreneur
After writing a proposal for Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s Industrial Competitiveness Council on growth strategy entitled “Japan Again,” I understood that as a businessperson I knew only so much. So when I decided to write a book on the same subject I knew early on whom I would ask to be my coauthor: my mentor, my father. My dad, an economist and a professor emeritus at Kobe University, had…
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The drone economy
Look! Up in the sky! It’s our future. And it’s spectacular. Drones are a new technology that have a lot of people talking. Android co-founder Andy Rubin was talking about them here in Japan at NEST 2016. Of course, we are still in the very early stages of applying this technology in the real world, and there is a lot to learn about how drones can be deployed in commercial delivery. But there is no…
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Why do we climb mountains?
We have talked a lot at Rakuten recently about mountain climbing, especially since I replaced golf with a climb up Mt. Tanigawa in the Japanese Alps for our annual executive management camp. So, I want to take a moment to talk about mountains because I think they can play an important role in our lives. Typically, people think of the mountain summit as the goal and the act of climbing as the proce…
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A funny thing about Rakuten: Behind-the-scenes at work
Every spring when we welcome new graduates, or after we’ve acquired a company, I hear comments about this funny thing I do every Tuesday. I hear even more about it when new employees, who I like to call Rakutenians, learn that they too must do this funny thing. What is this funny thing? I clean my desk! I’ve written about this before. I always receive questions in the comments about this task. Som…
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