Update 12/15/14: We added the recording and also more pictures from the event!
Last Monday (12/1/2014), the Japan Society hosted a corporate program led by Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote. Our own Ken Zimmerman, Principal, moderated the session. Phil covered topics around Evernote’s global strategies, his ideas on continuous evolution in this ever-changing world of technology, and his view on business opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs in Japan. A compelling Q&A session followed the discussion.
Phil wanted to build something that he and his colleagues would truly like to utilize on a daily basis, and thus Evernote was born. After its launch in 2008, Evernote has reached an incredible 100 million users!
Phil is intrigued by the fact that over 85% of international companies which have spent 100 years or more in business are of Japanese origin. Inspired by the continuous innovation of such companies, Evernote aims to become the world’s first 100-year startup by maintaining its Silicon Valley mentality and embedding entrepreneurship into its corporate DNA. In order to do this, Phil’s goal is to create products that continue to innovate yet respect their roots.
Phil’s vision for Evernote is in many ways simila
r to that of Chateaux. Our goal is to always stay in-tune with the market in order to provide relevant and innovative products and services, while upholding high standards of quality. Whether it be the US, Japanese, Chinese, or European market, variances in product and service needs will always exist but the underlying concept of the corporate mission will not. This corporate “soul” must be reflected within the product or service offering.
In today’s global setting, differences in cultural backgrounds are to be expected and the new standard. Such attributes should be enjoyed and considered an adventure, not a challenge. Alex Suzuki, Senior Account Executive at Chateaux, had the following to say: “Having attended St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo, my graduating class only consisted of 60 students but from over 35 nations. Throughout my professional career, I have been fortunate enough to work with establishments from all seven continents. At Chateaux, I engage global organizations across many vertical industries and ensure that the products and services we provide have a solid basis of quality, with the dexterity for complex customizations to accommodate specific requests by each clientele. It’s easy to simply implement ad hoc solutions but I believe that with a sturdy backbone comes true flexibility in solutions where the possibilities are limitless. Chateaux’s methodology truly reflects my motto of ‘Adopt, Adapt, and Improve’.”
The original introduction to the event can be found here.
