So just about every team has members who are remote, or in a different location and we have the systems and tools we need to manage and communicate well.īut we are also trying to create some office space in the near future for members of the Kobo crew who want/need some non-home space to work in. And we have a Japanese parent company who has prioritized video conferences as necessary for good communication ever since we were acquired in 2012. We are also spread out across offices in Toronto, Taipei, Dublin and Darmstadt so remote collaboration is essential. So we have employees who have been working remote for 5+ years who are leaders, managers and critical members of the team. We have had remote employees since we started the company, because we have historically tried to avoid creating new offices each time we expanded to a new country, allowing people to work from home instead. Most of our work can be done remotely without too much difficulty, with the exception of the factories that work with us to manufacture ereaders. Rakuten Kobo is giving staff the option of staying remote and working from home for the rest of 2020. Now, extending until January 2021 seems bizarrely normal. Way back in early March, making the call to go remote for two weeks seemed momentous. Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine? My dog is a terrible sparring partner, so boxing is off the table too. Now I am working at home and this is the longest stretch of time in almost 20 years that I haven’t been on a plane.ĭays start earlier with more video calls to Europe, and end later with more calls to Asia. I spent about 120 days on the road in Europe, Americas and Asia with our partners, publishers and offices in Ireland, Germany, Japan and Taiwan. My pre-COVID workday had two styles: half of the days were office days that started with a trip to the boxing gym in the morning and then a mix of meetings and video calls, stretching into the night for our Asian partners and parent company in Japan. As I write this, Canada, where I’m based, is still more or less in lock-down, with all of our offices closed and everyone working from home. What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?Īt the moment, I don’t know if any of us are having typical days. In a fiercely competitive market, it’s a model that has proven to be surprisingly effective against some of the biggest tech companies in the world. We did it by building these amazing partnerships with each country’s best booksellers, like WH Smith in the UK, FNAC in France, Feltrinelli in Italy, Booktopia here in Australia, with the retailer adopting Kobo as their ebook experience and introducing us to their community of customers and readers. In that time, we expanded to 24 countries as one of the world’s largest eBook retailers and device manufacturers. After that, I did another startup, ran a not-for-profit for a while, then got pulled back into the business world and in 2009 joined the founding executive team to launch Kobo.įollowing three rocket-ship years, Kobo was acquired by Rakuten in 2012, I took over as President in 2014 and CEO in 2016. I became the Vice President of Online, launching Indigo’s ecommerce platform, Indigo.ca.Īs a result, Canada, like Australia, is one of the two English-language markets where Amazon doesn’t run the table on ecommerce for books. In 1994, I co-founded the first online bookstore in Canada, bookshelf.ca, which was later acquired by Indigo Books and Music, Canada’s largest book chain. I did a degree in classical music, which turned out to be such a hard way to make a living that starting up a new company seemed like an easier alternative. I came into business through the side door. We are a global digital bookseller, selling eBooks and eReaders around the world, and after 10 years the largest dedicated eBook retailer competing against Amazon, Apple and Google.Īs a core member of Kobo since its inception in 2009, I have been lucky to see Kobo grow from a handful of people in starting up in Toronto, Canada to a company that has employees, customers and partnerships all over the world, including our latest launch in Australia with Booktopia. I am the Chief Executive Officer at Rakuten Kobo. To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

Get in touch with us about sponsorship opportunities! 1. Partner up with Balance the Grind to showcase your brand’s story and promote healthy work-life balance. Michael Tamblyn is the CEO at Rakuten Kobo, one of the world’s most popular global eReading services, offering more than 6 million eBooks and audiobooks to over 36 million users across the world.

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