00:00:02another edition modeling the Masters
00:00:03where we look at how you can model the
00:00:05successful strategies of famous
00:00:06entrepreneurs today we’re going to look
00:00:09at akio morita a man who turned a
00:00:11bombed-out department store in japan
00:00:12into one of the most successful consumer
00:00:14electronic companies in the world Sony
00:00:35Akio Morita was a Japanese businessman
00:00:37and co-founder of Sony Corporation along
00:00:40with Masaru Ibuka a bucha was 38 years
00:00:43old and Morita was 25 when they started
00:00:45the company founded just after world war
00:00:48ii and based nagoya japan the company
00:00:50was established with initial capital of
00:00:52just three hundred and fifty dollars in
00:00:54a bombed-out shop that had been
00:00:56abandoned Japan at the time was known
00:00:58for making low quality products and
00:01:00Morita was determined to reverse that
00:01:01stigma he is often cited as a man who
00:01:04increased the value of the words made in
00:01:06Japan supported by innovative product
00:01:09launches like the Walkman Sony became
00:01:11the first Japanese company to ever be
00:01:13listed on a New York exchange and has
00:01:15revenues in the trillions of dollars
00:01:17Morita helped with his country back on
00:01:19the map while building his own
00:01:20reputation across the world in 1998 a
00:01:23Harris survey revealed that Sony was
00:01:25ranked the number one brand name by
00:01:27American consumers ahead of coca-cola
00:01:29and General Electric
00:01:32so the next question is how can you
00:01:35model the success of Akio Morita here
00:01:37are three action items that you can put
00:01:39to use into your business today action
00:01:42item number one trust your gut
00:01:44there’s never enough information to make
00:01:46a decision that you can be 100% sure of
00:01:48by the time the information becomes
00:01:50fully available it’ll be too late either
00:01:53someone else would have scooped the idea
00:01:55from you or the window of opportunity
00:01:56will have closed as entrepreneurs we
00:01:59have to trust our gut when making
00:02:00decisions using the best information
00:02:01that we have available in 1978 Sony
00:02:05developed the prototype product that
00:02:07would allow people to listen to cassette
00:02:08tapes while they were on long flights
00:02:10the project was put on hold as market
00:02:12research indicated that no consumer
00:02:14would buy a tape recorder that did not
00:02:16have the capacity to record and that
00:02:18earphones would hold the product back as
00:02:19they were seen to be irritating and
00:02:21potentially associated with hearing loss
00:02:23despite the advice given to him by his
00:02:25marketing department Morita chose
00:02:27instead to trust his gut
00:02:29he told Sony SAP that they were going to
00:02:31create a worldwide culture of headphone
00:02:32wearers and in 1979 Sony released the
00:02:35Walkman it went on to sell over 330
00:02:39million units Morita then gave the
00:02:41following advice for business owners
00:02:43carefully watch how people live get an
00:02:46intuitive sense as to what they might
00:02:47want and then go with it don’t do market
00:02:50research
00:02:53action item number to find a good
00:02:56company name and product name the names
00:02:58you choose your company and products our
00:03:00people remember you by
00:03:01if they’re too hard to pronounce
00:03:03difficult to spell are not easy to
00:03:05recall then you lose out on the
00:03:06opportunity of having customers talk
00:03:08about you to their friends and coming
00:03:10back as repeat buyers Sony’s original
00:03:12company name was Tokyo jooshin kogyo
00:03:15kabushiki kaisha long and difficult to
00:03:18remember in English the company decided
00:03:20it would need to change its name
00:03:21to better serve the North American
00:03:23market trying to find the new name
00:03:25Morita found that sonís is the Latin
00:03:27word for sound he thought its meaning
00:03:30was appropriate considering their
00:03:31industry however he didn’t think that it
00:03:33was catchy enough Morita decided to
00:03:36combine sona’s with Sonny a nickname
00:03:38that had become popular amongst American
00:03:40kids Morita thought Sonny would help
00:03:42portray the image of the company as a
00:03:44youthful one with lots of energy and
00:03:46bright future ahead with that the Sony
00:03:48Corporation was formed
00:03:50similarly when Sony first released a
00:03:52Walkman Sony’s u.s. division considered
00:03:55the name Walkman to be improper English
00:03:57and changed the product to the sound
00:03:59about for the American market other
00:04:01divisions also began using different
00:04:03names until Morita put his foot down and
00:04:05insisted that everyone used the same
00:04:06name Walkman became such a success that
00:04:09is listed as a word in almost every
00:04:11major dictionary
00:04:15action item number three look after your
00:04:18people if you’re building a company
00:04:20beyond yourself you’ll quickly realize
00:04:21how important it is to have the right
00:04:23people in place and to look after them
00:04:25money is important to them but don’t
00:04:27forget that people want to feel
00:04:28appreciated challenged and be a part of
00:04:30a team that’s working on important
00:04:32problems
00:04:32here’s akio morita is advice the most
00:04:35important mission firm manager is
00:04:37develop a healthy relationship with his
00:04:39employees to create a family feeling
00:04:41within the corporation a feeling that
00:04:43employees and managers share the same
00:04:44fate we will try to create conditions
00:04:47where persons could come together in a
00:04:48spirit of teamwork and exercise the
00:04:51heart’s desire the technological
00:04:52capacity I believe people work for
00:04:55satisfaction I believe it is a big
00:04:57mistake to think that money is the only
00:04:59way to compensate a person for his work
00:05:01people need money but they also want to
00:05:03be happy in their work and proud of it
00:05:08so remember trust your gut
00:05:11find a good company name and product
00:05:13name and look after your people I wanted
00:05:16to end the video today by sharing one of
00:05:17my favourite true stories about Akio
00:05:19Morita Akio Morita was born into a
00:05:23family that had been in the Sakae
00:05:24brewing business for over 15 generations
00:05:27from his childhood it had always been
00:05:29assumed that Morita would continue the
00:05:31family tradition of making sake he had
00:05:34begun being groomed to take over the
00:05:35family business by the age of 10
00:05:37at which time his father even made him
00:05:39attend all of the company’s board
00:05:40meetings in just a few years
00:05:43Morita have become an expert on
00:05:44everything from monitoring the brewing
00:05:46process to evaluate in quality the sake
00:05:48that their factories were producing to
00:05:50managing their workers but while Morita
00:05:53was learning the ins and outs of the
00:05:54family business so too did he discover
00:05:56that his interest was not in sake after
00:05:58all
00:05:59Morita realized that he was not destined
00:06:01to keep the family tradition alive
00:06:03much the disappointment of his father
00:06:04and followed his true passion for
00:06:06mathematics and physics which led him to
00:06:08founding Sony
00:06:12thank you for joining me for another
00:06:14edition of modeling the masters I hope
00:06:16you enjoyed I’d love to hear your
00:06:17thoughts if you want to leave a comment
00:06:19below and stay tuned for the next
00:06:20episode
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