---
title: "The Sprint turnaround under Claure"
description: "The cost and capital moves used to fix Sprint after the failed T-Mobile merger."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-sprint-turnaround-under-claure/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# The Sprint turnaround under Claure

> The cost and capital moves used to fix Sprint after the failed T-Mobile merger.

Lionel Barber's framework, from Gambling Man, pp. 188 to 234.

Framework 7 of 8 from [Gambling Man](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gambling-man/index.md) by Lionel Barber. Category: Hiring and teams.

## The steps

1. **Lease the phones.** Lease handsets to customers so the cost counts as investment and ebitda rises.
2. **Put spectrum in a special purpose vehicle.** Use spare spectrum as collateral in an SPV to borrow at 3 to 4 per cent.
3. **Zero baseline budget.** Set each cost line from scratch, such as 200 lawyers instead of 800 and 10 PR staff instead of 100.
4. **Spend Fridays in a store.** Study customer and employee behaviour first hand.
5. **Rebrand the culture.** Build a Silicon Valley base with Japanese touches and push a no loser mentality.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: PART FOUR: THE EMPIRE BUILDER, pp. 188–234

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-sprint-turnaround-under-claure.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-sprint-turnaround-under-claure-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-sprint-turnaround-under-claure.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-sprint-turnaround-under-claure-dark.png