Mickey’s Voice
Insights from our CEO
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Shikumika – The entrepreneur’s secret recipe for success
One thing new entrepreneurs often forget is the value of systems. Entrepreneurs work at a fast speed and make hundreds of decisions every day. They’re often learning on the job, finding efficiencies in all aspects of their business. Some entrepreneurs forget to systemize any new process. And in the excitement of a launch, the value of these systems is often overlooked. I overlooked the value of sy
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Are morning meetings necessary?
In the early days of a business, it may seem unnecessary to hold official “meetings.” After all, everyone in the company may well be jammed into one room, one basement, one garage. Who needs a “meeting” if we are all here? My advice: start your business with a tradition of holding a weekly morning meeting. It’s a habit that will serve you well as you grow. Even when my company was made up of just
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When a global mindset isn’t enough
I have always found the expression “the world is your oyster” to be an interesting metaphor for opening up a shop on a Rakuten marketplace. In fact, I certainly hope that it is easier to open a shop than to open an oyster, but when dealing with oysters one needs to pay attention and this is certainly true when it comes to taking your online shop to the world. Here are a few tips for how to succeed
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Memo from the boss: Smile
Why should a boss want to see employees smile? I’m not talking only about customer-facing employees. We’re all familiar with the “service with a smile” rule. I’m talking about all employees: operations, assistants, designers, analysts, any employee. Any boss should care about whether or not their employees smile. I travel a lot, visiting companies around the world. When I visited a company in Sili
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Think like a leader and change your perspective
To get ahead in any business setting, you must think like a leader – even if you are far from that rank today. In Japan we have the expression, “Salaryman perseverance.” The expression is used to describe people who only think of themselves as employees. They follow their instructions, do only what they’re told and never take initiative. That is not a mindset that will get you ahead at work. To ad
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To innovate globally, locate locally
To generate great innovation in a global marketplace, you must source innovation talent from around the world. Rakuten recently opened new research centers in Boston and Singapore. The Boston-based site will focus on machine learning, deep learning and artificial intelligence. The Singapore branch will focus on mobile and social innovations. They join our existing research posts in New York, Tokyo
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