Milestones
| History | Year | Story |
|---|---|---|
March(1999)
August(1999)
October(1999)
November(1999)
|
1999 |
A superior lack of sense“See what you believe in through to the end” – this attitude has not changed since the our founding. However, this policy hasn’t always led us to success. In fact, in the beginning it was related more to failure. Those failures became formative experiences and led to our proudly proclaimed philosophy even now: a superior lack of sense, which we continue to utilize as we resolutely set our eyes on even greater challenges. A risk worth takingIn consulting, you put in your two yen, but you never have the opportunity to get your hands dirty and actualize your recommendations – something that Tomoko Namba had always aspired to do. At long last, she had such an opportunity when she approached a former client with her proposal, but was encouraged to try it herself. Abandoning her life as a partner with consulting firm McKinsey & Co., Namba founded DeNA in 1999. Starting with an online auction business, she aimed to create a company whose name would last not years, but centuries.  Founder Tomoko Namba at her desk Unprecedented failure(s)The establishment of Bidders should have been easy, with no competitors in sight during the planning phase. However, two months before the site’s release, Yahoo!Japan unexpectedly launched its own auction service, threatening Bidders with little to no market share. One month before the launch of Bidders another problem came to light. The outsourced development of the underlying system was incomplete. When Bidders opened for business, the makeshift system, in unprecedented fashion, couldn’t even display items – only accept bids. It was then we realized we needed to develop our own production abilities if we were to succeed in the future.
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July(2000)
December(2000)
|
2000 | |
May(2001)
|
2001 | |
December(2002)
|
2002 |
Impending death of profitabilityIn those days, a “winner takes all” mentality was prominent – if you weren’t number one, there was little chance you’d make it through the quarter. However, we wanted to prove that even if you’re number two – or worse – you could survive. With the desire to break even with Bidders before diversifying, we pressed forward and, in 2002, against all odds, turned a profit. Then, in a decision that was to set the stage for our growth into the future, the management decided to change direction and aim to be number one in the mobile web services market. |
October(2003)
|
2003 | |
March(2004)
June(2004)
July(2004)
|
2004 |
A change in strategySeizing the advent of the mobile web, we established the mobile auction service Mobaoku (Moh-bah-oh-koo). This time around, the decision was made to develop an entirely new system for what was to essentially be a mobile version of Bidders. Common sense would dictate that the established PC user base could be connected to the mobile service, but aiming for number one called for an entirely new approach. In three months, our super-engineers completed a new system and with peerless determination, snatched the label of ichiban (No. 1) from our competitors.  Founder Tomoko Namba rings the Tokyo Stock Exchange bell |
January(2005)
February(2005)
|
2005 | |
February(2006)
May(2006)
July(2006)
August(2006)
November(2006)
|
2006 |
Global growthCompanies can no longer grow by doing what led them to profitability in the first place. The Japanese mobile web market has reached the limits of its growth. With this knowledge and our earlier experience in China under our belts, we reached out across the Pacific to Silicon Valley. There we forged a relationship with ngmoco:), establishing it as our new base of operations for our global expansion.
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February(2007)
March(2007)
April(2007)
December(2007)
|
2007 | |
January(2008)
February(2008)
March(2008)
April(2008)
May(2008)
September(2008)
|
2008 | |
April(2009)
July(2009)
August(2009)
October(2009)
December(2009)
|
2009 | |
January(2010)
April(2010)
May(2010)
June(2010)
July(2010)
September(2010)
October(2010)
December(2010)
|
2010 | |
March(2011)
April(2011)
May(2011)
June(2011)
July(2011)
August(2011)
|
2011 |
Looking to the futureWith the launch of Mobage worldwide, we have officially made our presence known globally. Learning from our past failures and successes, we intend to continue producing innovative services, venturing into new industries, and following our superior lack of sense – wherever it may lead. |
