Name

About the name

Hako comes from my own name.
Mimi means ears in Japanese: keeping an ear out for all sorts of things. ⋂⋂ is those ears.

A rabbit's ears are large for its body, and the two often point in different directions.
Apparently they are shaped that way to pick up sound from several directions at once, rather than to focus on one.

Background

What I have done

Around thirty years at three U.S.-based technology companies, working on consumer product marketing and sales channels in the Japanese market. The categories were software (business and creative), operating systems, PCs, video games and smart devices.

From product positioning through to channel marketing planning, in-store visual merchandising, demo experience, sales staff support and data analysis. I have been involved across the whole range, from building the strategy to running it in the field.

I learned methods from the training teams at US head offices, while also supplying them with knowledge and content from the Japanese market. The familiar ideal of "one globally consistent rollout" rarely works as-is in any country. My work was to take in the head office strategy and then build the local execution for Japan around it.

Now

What I am working on now

Studying generative AI, machine learning and data science. Writing code in Python and using AI tools, testing where they can be applied to sales analysis and process improvement.

Qualifications and other

JDLA Generalist Test (Japan Deep Learning Association) / Class-2 Electrician (Japan) / Data Scientist training course, completed

Things I keep an ear out for

AI, PCs, cars, F1, tires, audio, games, film and video, music, retail floors, DIY, and rabbits. Listed together they look unrelated, but each one gets interesting in the same way once you start asking why it was built like that, and what the business behind it is.

Business

Business details