(20 seconds in) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15IZtzWOzRU
So he is French, educated in Paris and living in Japan since 2009?
Speaks French, English and Japanese. Sounds interesting, he's no dummy.
The point of this kind of apology is to tell people you are sorry and you have caused trouble to other people, and you are repenting for this trouble. There is no such feeling in this act of Karpeles.
Moushi-wake-arimasen is a phrase used to mean "there is no excuse [for what I have commited]". He was unable to finish it, and half way through he goes, nan-dakke? Meaning "what was it?". If Mark is really trying to do it Japanese style, he would not have messed up like this. Some people say he is under stress. I don't think that gives a free pass for such a shameful performance.
It's like a foreigner going to US court and thinking, I should act American, so starts by saying "Yo dude, my bad."
Involved with the internet, so he speaks English.
Lives in Japan, so he speaks Japanese.
This is not impressive.
Additionally, if you're exposed to a new language early in life, it becomes much easier to learn new languages in the future. And being immersed in it forces you to learn, as your survival depends on it.
So, incredibly impressive? Nah. Mind you, if someone is legitimately a fast language learner, given that I am not at all, it does impress me, especially if they truly master it and can think in that language.
For a majority of the people on this planet, this isn't the case.
I'm only fluent in 3 languages.
He may know enough Japanese to get along in daily life -- many people I know who have lived here for a number of years develop some level of listening proficiency regardless of whether they can speak it -- but the Japanese he uses in the video does not convince me that he can "speak Japanese" in either the normal usage of the phrase (proficiency in the language) or the cultural usage of the phrase (understanding register and when and how to say things).
This should be a perfect, well-rehearsed apology. There's really no excuse for the level of Japanese he demonstrates in there. At the least, he should have written something, had a native check it, and then practiced saying it. He should also have gotten a suit/shirt that fit properly.
I know this comes across as sounding very superficial and nitpicky, but image means a lot here, especially in business situations, and especially with these formal apologies.
I don't know about his motives or feelings, but when I watch that video, it comes across as very half-assed, as if he doesn't really care and someone is making him do it. It's very unprofessional and culturally deaf; I would not use it as evidence that "he's no dummy."
Just that he seems rather smart in general, or rather not stupid.
I wonder what the motivation to move to Japan was.
He may have a high IQ, but he is not fit to run a giant financial exchange. I'm not sure any single person is, this is why large financial organizations have tons of people with different areas of expertise (development, security, law, finance, risk, etc etc). He rode "internet freedom" all the way to being way over his head and took everyone else down with him.
I'm beginning to think that the only constant in security/crypto is that people fuck it up.
Coding aside, I don't think anyone at HN tries to push the mentality that you should try a financial startup without any accountants or a compliance department.
If people are expected to learn languages early, polyglots are the norm.