Michael Tamblyn
CEO | Rakuten Kobo
Michael Tamblyn is the CEO of Rakuten Kobo, one of the world’s largest eBook retailers and makers of eReaders. Part of the founding team since 2009, he became CEO in 2016, guiding Kobo from Canadian startup to a global brand now in 30+ countries.
He believes digital platforms should make reading lives better, not just digital, and has pushed Kobo to experiment with both hardware and software to keep eBooks open and accessible worldwide, and working with retail leaders to keep booksellers a critical part of the eBook industry.
Beyond Kobo, he supports startups focused on aging and tech as Chief Entrepreneur of Age-Well NCE and advises early-stage founders at Toronto’s DMZ incubator.
20 MINS
Trading Floor - 2nd Floor
The Long Game: Building Global from Canada
Michael Tamblyn launched Canada’s first online bookstore before most people had bought anything on the internet. What followed were 30 years of building digital companies through every wave of disruption. As a member of Kobo’s founding team in 2009, Tamblyn helped turn a Toronto startup into a global reading platform now operating in over thirty countries, navigating every cycle of hype, crash and reinvention along the way. Especially relevant today, Kobo did the heavy lifting of building a truly global business, looking beyond North America to embrace the challenges and rewards of growth in Asia and Europe. As Canada looks beyond its traditional “next market” to the south, join us as we unpack what it takes for Canadians to win on the world stage.
