Mickey’s Voice

Insights from our CEO

  • 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.

    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 &…

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

    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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

    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…

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  • 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.​

    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…

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  • AI work

    Work in the age of AI

    I recently heard some interesting news about perfect pitch. People used to think that only small children were able to acquire perfect pitch through training. But new research has shown that with AI-based training, even adults can achieve it. In other words, computers are now encroaching on something once thought to be the exclusive domain of human “talent.” So, could computers make music? I’d say…

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  • Mickey Mikitani is excited about e-commerce in Japan.

    Why I’m excited about e-commerce in Japan

    Japan’s e-commerce scene is lively, dynamic and enjoying double-digit growth. While Rakuten continues to enjoy the largest market share among major players with over 25% of e-commerce transactions*, consumers are benefiting from healthy competition among platforms and retailers. Years ago many thought that nobody would bother with online shopping in such a dense and sophisticated brick-and-mortar…

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  • The FC Barcelona Rakuten partnership will officially begin in 2017.

    Why we’re partnering with FC Barcelona

    Rakuten has finalized an agreement to become the Main Global Partner of the world-famous Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona (a.k.a. Barca). The partnership kicks off with the 2017-2018 season and continues for four years. The agreement is unique. Rakuten will not just be a sponsor of the club, but its Main Global Partner and its first Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner. It’s a true partners…

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  • Rakuten response to U.S. Executive Order on immigration

    As investors and employers in the United States and admirers of American values and its history of openness and innovation, the executive team at Rakuten and our group companies find the United States Executive Order issued last week to exclude people based on their nationality or religion extremely disappointing. As Rakuten has matured over its first twenty years, we have become aware of the resp…

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