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Gambling Man by Lionel Barber, framework 4 of 8

The Vodafone Japan turnaround

How Masa turned a third-rate mobile business into a challenger to NTT Docomo.

Lionel Barber's framework, from Gambling Man, pp. 148 to 187.

  1. Buy the weak incumbent

    Acquire an existing operator with 15m customers rather than build from scratch.

  2. Pad the customer base

    Add Yahoo! BB and fixed-line subscribers to turn 15m customers into 26m.

  3. Control the handset

    Buy flashy handsets and supervise colours and features personally.

  4. Force instalment payments

    Oblige customers to pay the full handset cost over 12 to 24 months.

  5. Securitise the receivable

    Sell the right to the instalment debt to raise cash today from promises to pay tomorrow.

  6. Cut price hard

    Launch the Gold Plan and then the White Plan at ¥980 a month, a quarter of rivals' price.

  7. Build a warm brand

    Use a talking white Hokkaido dog, Otosan, as the face of SoftBank Mobile.

From chapter: PART THREE: THE OPERATOR, pp. 148–187

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