October is the season for conferences here in San Francisco and one of our favorite can’t-miss events is Rakuten Optimism. Held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on October 23, Rakuten gathered 3,000 attendees to hear talks from the likes of Rent the Runway Co-Founder and Jetblack CEO Jennifer Fleiss, Google Chief Evangelist of Brand Marketing Gopi Kallayil, and many others to discuss the newest trends in digital innovation. 

Highlights from the day included:

The Power of Optimism: Did you know “Rakuten” in Japanese translate to “optimism”? Rakuten Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani showed us just how strong the power of optimism really is. In his talk, he broke down how he grew Rakuten’s brand awareness in the United States by over 50% in just one year—all through optimism!

Does It Spark Joy?: One talk that couldn’t be missed was by best-selling author and tidying expert Marie Kondo. We are so glad we were able to catch Marie and Big Questions Podcast host Cal Fussman speaking about what exactly is joy and how to spark it in both business and personal life. 

Brand Building in the Digital Age: Connecting with customers in this competitive digital market is hard, to say the least. Google Chief Evangelist of Brand Marketing Gopi Kallayil has a solution: take your customer on a journey. Using five case studies (P&G Olympics, Clinique, Sonos, Nike, and Dela), he showed us how it’s possible to rebrand and reposition yourself in a digital market.

Capital, Growth, and Disruption​: Another cred favorite from the day was a panel between KKR Chairman of Media Richard Sarnoff, Lyft Co-Founder and President John Zimmer, and Rakuten Founder and CEO Mickey Mikitani, discussing the importance of capital, growth, and disruption. Each industry leader discussed how their business valued growth and the biggest trends they expect to see in the near future.

Fundamentals for Success in Business and Life: It was standing room only at FUBU Founder and Shark Tank cast member Daymond John’s session! A successful businessman for more than 25 years, Daymond walked us through his entrepreneurial journey and shared his five "S.H.A.R.K points,” which are his keys for success in business and life. 

After a day of inspiring talks, eight-time Grammy Award winner Usher took the stage to perform all of his top hits—making us all say YEAH! to a captivating day!