Japanese entrepreneur Takeshi Homma, whose Silicon Valley-based startup has embarked on a project to build next-generation "smart homes" in the United States, sees himself as not only a problem solver but an innovator. In 2016, Homma quit his executive role at Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc. at age 41 to found Homma Group Inc. He did so with an eye on designing the creature comforts of futuristic residential living, using home construction smart technology. Coming from a family of builders, including one grandfather who was an architect and the other who ran a construction materia...
