Human Intellegence

We all possess intelligence and we all have to know how to use it...

It doesn't stop with an 'F'

How a high school dropout became a multi-millionaire entrepreneur

Born in 1980, Haruhisa Okamura (pictured above) is the founder and CEO of Adways, one of the largest tech companies in Japan that focuses on online advertising. Adways also has its own ad network, internet services, and mobile games.

What’s most impressive, however, is that Okamura is one of the youngest founders to bring a company from zero to IPO in Japan.

His success is only possible because Okamura started his career early. At age 16, young Okamura decided he was too cool for school. He opted to drop out of high school to join a company as a salesperson.

“I couldn’t make friends in school so I chose to work early,” he says.

Okamura’s sales performance saw him rise through the ranks. He was so good at selling door-to-door that he became the company’s top salesperson on many occasions. At 16, Okamura was already displaying signs of a good entrepreneur.

In 2000, Japan was hit by the internet craze, which saw many internet companies go public. Okamura was fascinated by the industry and wanted to be a part of it.

“I saw the CEO of CyberAgent [Mr. Susumu Fujita] on TV and I was very inspired,” he says.

Okamura tried to apply for a job at CyberAgent but was rejected. With few other options left, Okamura was determined to start his very own online marketing company.

In February 2001, Adways was born. With just one million yen (US$10,000), Okamura spent his first JPY 300,000 (US$3,000) on a computer. The rest of the money was to be invested to build an email marketing software.

Okamura didn’t give up despite hitting the bump.Rather, he went to a top engineering university and continued pitching to students. He was almost broke. So instead of offering straight cash, he offered 30 percent of Adways’ sales margin if the engineer could deliver the software he wanted.

With some luck, Okamura met Sanki Nishiguchi, a talented engineer who agreed to help Adways.Nishiguchi later became Adways first CTO. “I was so determined to find good talent to work with that I even go to [the] bookstore searching [for] and stalking good engineers,” he says.

Under the leadership of Okamura together with Nishiguchi’s technical talent, Adways grew quickly and went public in 2006. The IPO made Okamura one of the youngest entrepreneurs to list a company in Japan at that time. When asked what made the company grow so quickly, Okamura toldTech in Asia three key points:

1. Adways started with an affiliate model, which means clients only pay for actual results. Many clients felt more comfortable with this model and were therefore willing to pay.

1. Despite starting out targeting the PC market, Adways switched to mobile marketing after four months to catch up with the trend. It turned out to be a good choice.

1. Adways always insists on hiring the best engineers in the company, which helped to build the backbone of all its products.

Okamura, now 33, has grown Adways from a small startup to an international corporation with over a thousand employees around the world. Outside of Japan, Adways has offices in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong, the US, and Singapore. Revenue outside of Japan makes up 10 percent of the company’s revenue, but the figure has grown over 50 percent in the last few years. Apparently, Okamura doesn’t just want to be successful in Japan. He is hungry for success across the globe, too.

Adways also invests in other promising and interesting tech companies. Its latest investmentwas Gumi, the social mobile gaming company behind the popular Brave Frontier mobile game.

“We are in a good position as mobile marketing company throughout Asia and we want to be number one in this field. But it is impossible to do this by ourselves so we are always looking for partners to work together. We are willing to make investments to achieve our target,” says Nobu Noda, head of global business development group at Adways.

Okamura is encouraging the new generation of entrepreneurs to be bold, especially in the internet industry. Walking the talk, Okamura shared that more than 60 percent of Adways’ sales revenue generated now comes from businesses it created three years ago.

“We have to read the trend in the internet industry. Everything is fast and going up and down. Entrepreneurs need to go with the flow,” says Okamura.

Individuality

You are your own best expert...

Friendship

Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest. It's about who walked into your life, and said "I am here for you" and proved it.

Confidence

Be confident. Too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren't. Be happy with who you are.

Making A Change In Your Society

I have tried this with my 7 and 8 Graders, take a moment, get yourself an pen/pencil and paper.

• List 10 things you dislike in your environment(Society, Community, Work, School) even your home.
• Think about why you dislike the 10 things.

Then...

• List 10 things you like in your environment(Society, Community, Work, School) even your home.
• Think about why you dislike the 10 things.

Remember...

• You are part of that environment.
• So take the time to look deep within and ask yourself how you can contribute positive energy within your environment. 

We are mere humans with the power of choice. Utilize that power wisely. We can't make a change by changing someone else. BUt we can make a change by making the right choices daily.

 "Holding onto anger is like grasping onto a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned." - Gautama Buddha

Finding your purpose in life

I believe that our names speaks volumes of who we are. I have research the meaning of my name and found out that I has a significant meaning, LEADERSHIP. Of course there is many types of leadership, but I have chosen to be leader in my own life that will influence youths to be leaders in their own lives.