This light is shining on you. Do you know that it's pushing you?…Most people don't. But it is, because it's got energy. The only thing is, it's so small you don't feel it.

But a running theme has been how many men have said something along the lines of, “Wow, I was so surprised I loved your book, because I’m a man.” These men mean no harm—I don’t take those comments personally—and yet the fact that they were surprised that they loved a book by and about a woman is an indication of the sexism women writers are up against every time they write.

I'd argue that while no doubt mistakes have been made, including by us and KKR, many have misunderstood (or greatly simplified) the model. They have overlooked how value is created -- and for whom.

I just don't really see the dialectic between inside and outside, and corporate and revolutionary, as being as cut and dry as I used to.

I REALIZED IN THOSE DAYS HOW TENUOUS OUR EXISTENCE IS,” HE WROTE IN HBR. “WE HAVE ONLY ONE LIFE, AND IT MUST BE LIVED TO THE FULLEST—NOT SOMEDAY, BUT NOW.

In Rakuten's case, adjustment certainly took time. At first, meetings often felt awkward. The first board meeting after the Englishization decision took four hours to complete – double the normal duration. But whenever executives asked if they could say certain things in Japanese, I told them no. I knew that the challenge would pay off – and it has.

My answer may have surprised some in attendance at the meeting: I don’t have a role model or sensei. Or to be more precise, I don’t have a single teacher. Instead, I take it upon myself to learn from everyone around me. If we open our eyes, we may find that everyone can be our teacher.

As an entrepreneur, I am the sort of person who prefers to understand things in an intuitive way and make top-down decisions. I have previously referred to the process by which I make decisions as a game of catch between my left and right brain.

My job hunting days were at the height of the bubble economy. At the time, I was focused on joining big corporations and had no intention of myself becoming an entrepreneur. I started working at a major bank with a vague idea that I wanted "a job that would take me around the world."

Well, unlike our competitors, Google, EBay, Amazon, and most of the Chinese internet startups, we never got any fun or money from any VC (ph). We started with our own capital, by our self, with our own business model.