Rakuten's success in becoming a leading ecommerce company in Japan and expanding globally is attributed to their unique approach of supporting small to medium-sized merchants, creating a strong company culture, and focusing on innovation and operational excellence.

• 💰
  00:00

  Rakatan, a Japanese ecommerce company, started with $200k and now has 35-40% market share in 13 countries, becoming cashflow positive quickly by asking merchants to pay upfront and later raising money from friends and family before going public.

  • Rakatan is a successful ecommerce company in Japan that started with a capital of $200,000 and now has a market share of 35-40% in ecommerce, and has expanded to 13 countries.
  • There is a different venture capital ecosystem in Korea where VCs provide capital but not much involvement in management, so the speaker learned to run and grow their company without relying on VC funding.
  • The company asked merchants to pay six months upfront, became cashflow positive quickly, and later raised money from friends and family before going public.
• 🚀
  04:18

  Rocket's unique approach to supporting small to medium-sized merchants in Japan includes creating a strong company culture, facilitating communication, and being a liaison between merchants and consumers.

  • Softbank asked to join but we were patient and focused on creating a unique system to support small to medium-sized merchants in Japan.
  • Rocket's strategy was to create a strong company culture, iterate and evolve, facilitate communication between merchants and consumers, and be a liaison between them instead of competing against retailers.
  • The speaker's technology aims to assist small to medium-sized enterprises in conducting business with consumers, which is a unique approach compared to other commerce models.
  • Japanese companies focus on continuous improvement and Rocket 10's growth strategy includes creating a strong brand, a loyalty program, and a consumer database, as well as making acquisitions for geographic expansion.
• 🌍
  08:41

  Rakuten expands globally and adds to their ecosystem, while Google withdraws from China after failed partnership with Baidu.

  • Rakuten's expansion strategy involves geographic expansion and addition to their ecosystem, with a focus on integrating companies that align with their culture and values.
  • Google partnered with Baidu, the largest search engine company in China, but it didn't work out well, leading to the decision to shut down the business and withdraw from China.
• 💼
  11:15

  💡 To succeed in a company, innovation and strong operational culture are both necessary, with shared practices and frameworks being important for managing the company, even if entrepreneurs prefer not to rely solely on numbers and KPIs.

  • To achieve success in a company, both innovation and strong operational culture are necessary, with the latter requiring shared practices and frameworks for managing the company, even if entrepreneurs may not prefer relying solely on numbers and KPIs.
  • Pinterest is a unique and influential social network that appeals to people's interests and buying behavior, making it the best choice for an e-commerce company like ours.
• 🛍️
  13:32

  The future of e-commerce will shift towards digital sales, logistics will be crucial, mobile devices will play a major role, social shopping is a challenge, and Japanese consumers have a shop-centric marketplace.

  • The future of e-commerce will see a shift towards digital and online sales, with logistics becoming more important and mobile devices playing a major role, while social shopping remains a challenge and Japanese consumers have a shop-centric marketplace.
  • Wrapping was social and aimed to create fans around shops with professional staff as curators of products, posing the question of whether one would ask a friend or staff for advice when buying a product.
• 💻
  16:03

  Rakuten's mobile transactions in Japan are growing rapidly and expected to surpass 50%, while the speaker's company focuses on scaling small to medium-sized merchants and has a different philosophy from Amazon.

  • 25% of Rakuten's e-commerce transactions in Japan come from mobile devices, with smartphone transactions growing 300-400% year-on-year and expected to surpass 50% within a couple of years.
  • Learn from competitors but don't be afraid of them because it won't do any good for you.
  • The speaker's company facilitates transactions between small to medium-sized merchants and consumers, with a focus on scaling their business, and has a philosophical difference from Amazon.
• 👥
  19:12

  Hiring younger people and converting internal communication language from Japanese to English are key steps in educating and diversifying the workforce at Rockton.

  • Hiring younger people was important for impressing the original corporate culture and educating them, especially in a culture where joining a startup is not as cool as it was maybe now as it is in the valley.
  • Sarno converted internal communication language from Japanese to English and now 70% of new engineers joining are Japanese and 30% are non-Japanese.
  • Japanese companies commonly share information openly and transfer expertise horizontally, which is a strength that should be implemented globally.
  • Converted offshore business language of Rockton from Japanese to English, resulting in improved TOEIC scores and increased confidence in communicating with international partners.
• 👋
  23:50

  Miki talks about her first encounter with Paul Graham and his team when she was introduced to their company, but the deal fell through due to Paul's expired passport.