America: My Time

Chapter 11 Game Consoles

Chapter Eleven: Game Consoles
A well-defined retail strategy is crucial; without control over the retail sector, one is easily at the mercy of others. Furthermore, the Japanese retail sector also marked the beginning of this foray into real estate. To reap a significant share of the profits from Japan's bubble economy, real estate was an unavoidable topic. For Japanese retail, bookstores were chosen as the starting point!
The bookstore I want to build is completely different from the bookstores that exist in Japan at present. After searching for information about the future, the most suitable one for me is Tsutaya Bookstore. This bookstore, which should have been founded in 1983, is the most suitable for my expansion in real estate and retail!

Even in the later years of Japan, during the internet age, when traditional businesses were declining and facing the strong impact of e-commerce, Tsutaya Bookstore was not affected. It successfully broke through and grew against the trend, with more than 1400 bookstores and sales exceeding 1300 billion yen. Tsutaya's success is a new retail model, which has been studied and referenced by many companies in the future!
Later generations have also conducted numerous analyses of Tsutaya's success, attributing it to its human-centered design. From the arrangement of books to the layout of the space, every detail of the bookstore was meticulously considered, all based on human-centered design.

Diversified operations are key. Traditional bookstores are simply bookstores with nothing else. But Tsutaya is different. It's a lifestyle and leisure space centered around a bookstore, encompassing cafes, restaurants, boutiques, parks, and many other facilities, which enhances the consumer experience and increases revenue.

In terms of market positioning, Tsutaya Bookstore is quite popular among users of almost all age groups in Japan, with no obvious weaknesses, which ensures its own customer traffic.

The bookstore's operation model restructures the space, featuring six major professional categories: literature, art, architecture, automobiles, cuisine, and travel. It also incorporates coffee, food, family activities, cultural and sports activities, and a slow-paced lifestyle, aiming to become a professional "proposer" of a better lifestyle and win customers with high-quality service.

Of course, there is also the membership system, which is irreplaceable. Tsutaya has a complete membership system and data capabilities, which allows it to transform itself into a new business model for the future, and it has the most fundamental difference from traditional bookstores in terms of business model.

After learning this information, John decided to open a new type of bookstore in Japan, starting his own retail business from scratch. However, he did not completely copy the Tsutaya Bookstore model. After all, times have changed, and blindly copying does not necessarily lead to success. A company needs its own characteristics. What he was doing was not a bookstore, but a group company. The bookstore was just a storefront; renting records and videotapes were its main businesses.

Only by becoming a conglomerate can we expand in real estate and reap the greatest benefits of the neon bubble era. Our goal is to build a conglomerate that can seamlessly integrate into the internet age, creating a business that combines real estate with culture, entertainment, retail, and catering, all centered around the bookstore.

The first step is crucial for emerging companies. Without any prior experience, everything needs to start from scratch, constantly refining themselves. They can't possibly focus all their energy on Japan! Japanese real estate, if the initial layout is successful, will grow rapidly along with the economy. However, when the bubble economy arrives, further development will become incredibly difficult, and the cost will be staggering. At that time, everyone knows that real estate can make a fortune!
John wasn't without ideas for solving the funding shortage; rather, he needed to take that crucial first step and make a perfect start. Only then could he gain the approval of the Japanese bank and secure a loan from them! The Japanese bank was his target; once successful, he could obtain a steady stream of development funds from them!

Having a plan is not enough; talent is also needed. Talent has become the biggest problem restricting its own development, especially in an environment like Japan. To start something from scratch, a large number of talents are needed. It is not easy for a newly established company to recruit top talents. Even if headhunting companies are available in Japan, it is still difficult because of the different corporate cultures!
Japan's corporate culture is based on lifetime employment and seniority, making it extremely difficult to poach talent from companies like Japan. Loyalty is ingrained in their very being, so finding talent is a major challenge.

Just as John was preparing to develop real estate in Japan, a phone call disrupted his plans. He had to put aside his plans in Japan, leave everything to Taro Matsumoto, and hurriedly return to the United States alone!

The game company finally saw results: prototypes for arcade and home consoles were assembled, and there was a breakthrough in handheld consoles! While the overall strategy in Japan was important, the game company itself was even more crucial. At this stage, the game company was paramount; the success or failure of the games would be the key to his business's success and his source of cash flow. Back in the US, John tirelessly tested the functions of the arcade and home consoles. The handheld console would require a little more time, but that wasn't a major problem. As long as he held the patents, everything was acceptable. Currently, the only constraint on his game company's development was the game content, but fortunately, John was well-prepared for that!
While John was busy with his game company, his family also became aware of his extensive plans in Japan. Many people didn't understand John's grand scheme in Japan, seeing it as a waste of his energy. They believed that he could partner with existing businesses in sales and other areas; starting a new company would only be a waste of his valuable time.

Looking at these issues from a normal business perspective, that's certainly true! There are many retailers in Japan who can collaborate with manga companies, but their plans don't just include manga; they also have real estate. Tsutaya's existence is essential, and the conglomerate is also necessary.

The more crazy the Japanese were during the bubble era, the more booming the real estate market became, and the profits from real estate were astonishing! Of course, it would be difficult for Tsutaya to build an entire industry chain on its own, and I don't have such crazy ideas, nor can I have such greedy ideas. What I want to control is only a certain amount of real estate resources.

John's return provided the game company with guidance on the overall direction, accelerating its development. The game console quickly passed acceptance tests, the patent was successfully applied for, all security restrictions were completely eliminated, and the company was able to expand its recruitment of talent. Several games were being developed simultaneously and were being improved at a rapid pace!

As the game company grew rapidly, his own ambitions expanded at the same time. He hadn't initially planned to get involved in computer software at this point, but with the game company's continued growth, he became interested and wanted to enter the software market and steal Microsoft's thunder.

John wanted to strike first and secure Microsoft's office software, cutting off Microsoft's path to success. Microsoft was able to obtain Apple's license for Windows precisely because they controlled the office software, forcing Apple to license Windows to Microsoft.

In the 80s, computer software was not as complex as it would be later. With the right planning, a few software engineers could handle it. That's why I had this idea when I saw the game companies grow so rapidly!

After understanding the true state of software, John admitted that he had overestimated the difficulty of software in this era. He made timely adjustments, locked in software patents to restrict competitors, and gained an advantage in the software industry!
With his father's help, John quickly registered a new company, Dream World Software Company, and then a new office software was born. This unknown software company quietly appeared in Silicon Valley, and its product was office software, word processing and spreadsheets!
When Dreamworld software was launched, it quickly caused a huge stir in Silicon Valley. Its emergence finally gave personal computers, which had been criticized as useless, a place to be used. Its appearance also led many to condemn Dreamworld as shameless. At that time, office software was very simple, but the simpler it was, the more terrifying its patent barriers became, making it impossible for anyone to overcome. Companies and individuals who wanted to copy it naturally hated the existence of these patents. They were like an impregnable fortress, keeping all enemies outside the patent wall and giving them no chance to break through.

If copying fails, acquisition is the most realistic portrayal of the world of capital, and the fundamental principle of the development of all enterprises. Soon, Apple came knocking, wanting to acquire Dream World Software Company. John, who was well-prepared for capital tactics, didn't even show his face and directly had Apple's acquisition rejected, not giving the other party the opportunity to get involved in office software.

(End of this chapter)