From a case study I'm reading for class:<p>"Mikitani (founder of Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten) considered but rejected the idea of acquiring a U.S. company that had developed
software for online malls."<p>Was this Viaweb?
Yes, though that description may be stretching the truth a bit; Hiroshi gave up trying to buy us at about the time we decided not to be bought, so it's not clear even to me who rejected who first. <p>It is true, however, that he got the idea of doing a web-based online store builder plus mall from us, and that what they launched initially was a very literal imitation of our site-- at least on the surface.