Quotes from Ken Hakuta

I want the Wallwalker in the back of consumers' minds, but not actively thought about. When it returns, they'll react, 'Oh, there they are!' and they'll buy them again as impulse items.

My life is a life of hobbies and enthusiasm.

It's incredible how much money you can make on a rubber toy.

People in Los Angeles are more used to acting silly than other people.

I think what you inherit is not real. I haven't inherited anything. What I have is really mine because I made it myself.

When I was a boy, my father used to criticize me for - it's hard to translate - I guess you could say 'mindless time.' Thinking what to do. I need to be bored so I can be pushed into doing something.

Whatever you do, don't sink your life's savings into cliche items.

A lot of great inventions are just little improvements on past ideas.

When I did inventions, I always thought only of the invention itself, but the kids would ask for marketing materials.

I was the first person to export Teflon-coated ironing board covers to Japan.

If you come up with something that's useless and promote it the right way, everybody will have to have it yesterday, even though they get up the next morning and wonder why they bought it.

California starts a lot of trends.

In Japan, the more expensive a restaurant is, the larger the plates and the smaller the portions. The cheaper a restaurant is, the smaller the plates and the larger the portions.

As a book is judged by its cover, so a fad is judged by its name.

Most fads get jump starts because of the media.

People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been snapped up. In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours.

Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.

In fad standard time, a day is a month, and a fad that lasts two months is a classic.

There are some keys to success in the fad business. One is never give up. You need total motivation and the right kind of creativity. You also have to back the right activity. It is a disaster if you back the wrong idea with your energy. You not only lose money, but you take a big social risk.

Opportunity just exists in the air for a few minutes. If you don't obey your gut feeling right away, you've lost your chance.

Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.

You can't be an inventor trying to figure a better way of changing the spare tire. That's boring. We need someone who figures out how to hit a button and turn the entire car upside down.

In California, you want to have the strangest thing, be doing the strangest thing. People admire that.

I've done strategic planning, all kind of cash flows, but in fad marketing, it is all really irrelevant. It is marketing by total gut feeling. There is no market research. You either sell 500 of something, and it is a total bomb, or you sell 500 million.