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Gambling Man by Lionel Barber, framework 2 of 8

The Yahoo! formula

The repeatable cycle Masa built from his Yahoo! investment.

Lionel Barber's framework, from Gambling Man, pp. 66 to 147.

  1. Find a cutting-edge US internet business

    Look for a strong American company early, as with Yahoo!, E*Trade or Morningstar.

  2. Attract the foreign partner into a joint venture

    Offer to be the gateway to Japan, with a Japanese version built on his terms.

  3. Own majority control of the venture

    Take a majority stake in the Japanese unit and often put SoftBank executives in charge.

  4. Take the units public

    List the venture, as with Yahoo! Japan on Jasdaq in November 1997.

  5. Use the proceeds for more deals

    Recycle the cash and the market value into the next round of bets.

From chapter: PART TWO: RISE AND FALL, pp. 66–147

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