Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2011. The ages (Tanaka 34, Maezawa 35), fortunes (2.2 billion and over 1 billion dollars), ZozoTown traffic of about 40 million visits a month and over two million subscribers are 2011 figures.
In the previous article we looked at the case of Mark Pincus, creator of Zynga (FarmVille). The two business ideas below were developed by two Japanese entrepreneurs whom Forbes has named among the youngest and richest of the moment. Their ideas are based on existing business models, but with an “innovative twist”.
Yoshikazu Tanaka: Gree
Tanaka is the Japanese Zuckerberg and the second-youngest billionaire in history. He is 34, and his business idea is modeled on the social network Facebook. But his business doesn’t rely on advertising: like Zynga, he has created a virtual need for the user.
His business is making money by selling virtual clothes and accessories for users’ avatars. Let me explain. The social network Gree is a lot like what the Bruce Willis film Surrogates shows, where we create a virtual “other self”. If you want to look better online, wear nicer clothes or simply buy accessories, you get them by paying for them. The business works: Tanaka has 2.2 billion dollars in the bank.
Yusaku Maezawa: ZozoTown
Maezawa, 35, created ZozoTown at the end of 2003. It’s a virtual shopping mall where, unlike the other two business ideas, you pay for products you receive in real life. The site lists all kinds of clothing and accessories from many different companies and a wide variety of brands.
On the site, users can find shoes, swimwear, DVDs, music, home decor and more. It’s like going to a shopping mall without leaving home.
The site gets around 40 million visits a month, which isn’t a lot. But consider that it has more than two million subscribers: those are the potential customers it has every month, and they receive the offer catalogs by email. Once again, this kind of business is profitable: Maezawa has more than 1 billion dollars in the bank.
So if you have an idea, it doesn’t matter how crazy it is. As you’ve seen, on the internet any wild idea you come up with can end up being a great business, as long as you win users over.
Further reading
Featured image: Syced, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
