Rakuten Today: Mickey's Voice

Golden State’s remarkable championship season gives us reason to celebrate. It also gives us reason to consider the question: Why do sports inspire us?

June 11, 2018 3 min read

Golden State Warriors are NBA champions! Why we celebrate

Dear Rakutenians, The Golden State Warriors’ remarkable championship season gives us reason to celebrate. It also gives us reason to consider the question: Why do sports inspire us? When we see a successful season played out like the one the Warriors just delivered, we are inspired by not only their success but also the way in which they represent the values we prize, like teamwork, innovati…

in order to take your thinking to the next level—to really understand what needs to happen to make your idea successful—you must take action.

June 1, 2018 2 min read

Action is the best research

Are you thinking about doing something innovative? If so, stop that. Stop thinking, and act. It is tempting to greet an idea with a call to “think things through”—to research, consider, and consult. And of course, some thinking at the start is important. But in order to take your thinking to the next level—to really understand what needs to happen to make your idea successful—you must act. A singl…

FCB has won the prestigious Primera División, better known as La Liga, for the 25th time. Here's what we can learn from their remarkable season.

May 1, 2018 2 min read

FC Barcelona’s La Liga triumph a testament to teamwork: CEO to employees

To the Rakuten Team, Success is no accident. It requires hard work, determination, adaptability, and most of all, a love for what you’re doing. This applies in both business and sport. This week, the professionalism and commitment to excellence demonstrated by our friends at FC Barcelona has yielded terrific results once again and I take great pleasure in sharing with you and celebrating the news…

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.”

March 19, 2018 2 min read

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…

From Hiroshi Mikitani's new book, Business-Do: The first step in any big building project is the foundation. Lay your foundation with these core principles and see what you can build.

March 7, 2018 3 min read

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…

Business-Do, is a detailed look at my guiding principles, offering specific instructions, stories, and techniques to help anyone realize dreams and achieve lasting success.

February 20, 2018 2 min read

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…

December 20, 2017 2 min read

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…

Shoppers have embraced the internet but they have not abandoned the process of visiting physical retail stores.

December 1, 2017 2 min read

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…

Hourly KPIs: In today’s fast-moving world, companies and individuals must have the information to assess their progress.

November 24, 2017 2 min read

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…

November 13, 2017 < 1 min read

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…