--- title: "The Vodafone Japan turnaround" description: "How Masa turned a third-rate mobile business into a challenger to NTT Docomo." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-vodafone-japan-turnaround/ updated: 2026-11-03 --- # 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. Framework 4 of 8 from [Gambling Man](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/gambling-man/index.md) by Lionel Barber. Category: Offers and pricing. ## The steps 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. ## Where it comes from From chapter: PART THREE: THE OPERATOR, pp. 148–187 ## The animation 24 seconds, 4:5, no sound. - MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-vodafone-japan-turnaround.mp4 - MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-vodafone-japan-turnaround-dark.mp4 - Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-vodafone-japan-turnaround.png - Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/gambling-man/the-vodafone-japan-turnaround-dark.png