Mickey’s Voice
Insights from our CEO
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Why telling someone to “think outside of the box” never works
At a recent meeting, someone asked me: “Mickey, how do you come up with out-of-the-box ideas?” I answered: “I don’t have a box.” Outside-the-box thinking is a mantra of innovation. It’s often what leaders tell their employees to do in order to come up with great new ideas. But I would argue that the key to innovation is not about thinking outside-the-box. It’s about rejecting the idea of boxes. “B…
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Business-Do: Hiroshi Mikitani’s First Ten Principles for Success
Without a solid foundation, even the most beautiful of buildings can collapse. The same goes for your dreams. In my new book, Business-Do, I give readers a detailed explanation of my business philosophy and show them how they can create blueprints to effectively achieve their dreams. The first step in the process? I have found that it begins with a set of core principles. Below are the first 10, w…
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Business-Do: A Blueprint for Success
How can you realize your dreams? It takes more than passion. To realize your dreams, you need to pair passion with skills. This is the core theme of my new book, Business-Do, available now in eBook and from March 7 in hardcover. Business-Do is a detailed look at my guiding principles, offering specific instructions, stories and techniques to help anyone realise their dreams and achieve lasting suc…
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How a cold and rainy mountain climb made us a better team
We were half way up Mount Tanigawa (local nickname: Mountain of Death) in the Japanese Alps when one of the members of our group faltered. The terrain was rocky and steep. The weather was cold and rainy. We stopped right there, as a group, to wait as he rested and recovered. Other groups in our party passed us and continued to the summit, but we waited until we could all move forward together. Why…
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Why brick-and-mortar stores are here to stay
Physical retail has a bright future. This may sound counterintuitive – especially coming from a company like Rakuten, which was founded as an e-commerce marketplace. But as Rakuten has grown and expanded its services to include banking, credit cards, communications, media and other services around the world, we are able to see the way in which physical retail will thrive going forward. It will do…
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Why wait until tomorrow for today’s results?
How was your day? If you need to wait until tomorrow to have all the information to answer that question, you are far, far too late. In today’s fast-moving world, companies and individuals must have the information to assess their progress. And while in the past it may have been appropriate to get a daily report, now that time frame is much tighter. At Rakuten, we set a series of key performance i…
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Diverse talent to unlock Japan’s innovation potential: Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani
Why is McDonald’s Japan’s service so good, and yet there are no truly global Japanese service companies? Why is Tokyo considered one of the world’s most attractive cities, and yet it lags behind as a tech and business hub? In a powerful keynote speech delivered at the Rakuten Technology Conference on October 28, 2017, Rakuten Founder and CEO, Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani, addressed these…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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