10x Speed Goal Achievement Method: Masayoshi Son’s Efficient Rule

“The key is that it only took three years from the time I gave her advice to the realization of her dream. If she had directly set her goal as “opening a cooking class,” she might still be lingering at the starting point.”

“There is a world of difference between the strategies available to first and second place. Therefore, to succeed, you must strive to be first.”

““The Straw Millionaire”? Just to be safe, let me briefly recount the story. A poor man exchanged a piece of straw for an orange, and after multiple exchanges, he acquired fine cloth, horses, and ultimately exchanged for a house, leading to a prosperous life.”

““If your company partners with us, we can offer services like free calls between our IP phone users and Japan Telecom landline users, which will invisibly create a lot of new added value. The merger of the two companies will definitely bring us better cooperative results.” It was because Japan Telecom saw the value of the straw in President Son’s hands that they agreed to the acquisition by SoftBank. At that time, Japan Telecom also had 5 million users, so SoftBank’s acquisition instantly doubled its user base to 10 million.”

“By effectively using the “knocking brick,” whether the target is across a pond or an ocean, we can reach the destination. The president has personally proven how to “turn the impossible into possible.””

“Actually, when the president said he wanted to enter the ADSL field, I was very much against it. At the time, I strongly advocated, “The profit in this industry is not very high, just give it up.” But for some reason, the president finally said, “In that case, this task is up to you.” As a result, I had no choice but to take on the task. But later, I realized that my thinking was completely wrong. Because the president had foresight; he didn’t reveal everything at the start, perhaps to avoid complications. I believe that in the president’s eyes, from the beginning, he already saw this as the closest and fastest path to achieving the goal.”

““Do you know how to walk on water? I do.” I thought it was a joke, but the president was serious. I was truly puzzled, so I asked the president, “How do you do it?” The president replied, “Take a step with your left foot before your right foot sinks!””

“President Masayoshi Son gained worldwide fame in 1995. That year, the president purchased COMDEX, the world’s largest computer fair, for $800 million (80 billion yen at that time). At that time, SoftBank was just a company with an annual turnover of 200 billion yen. Even within Japan, it was merely a not-so-well-known venture capital company. Therefore, acquiring COMDEX seemed a bit overreaching for SoftBank back then. However, the president believed that no matter what, he had to acquire COMDEX because he was convinced that acquiring COMDEX was the stepping stone that could make him famous worldwide.”

“To be first, draw a boundary line by your own will and claim the lead within that drawn field. There’s no need to be modest; you can boldly dominate the world. Let me reiterate, the size and fame of the field aren’t important. What’s important is to find a way to make yourself first. This is the best shortcut to achieving your goal.”

“Find the stepping stone and achieve a leap forward. The essence of successfully implementing the “straw strategy” is not to directly target the “ultimate goal,” but to set several “intermediate goals” and achieve the ultimate goal by achieving these intermediate goals one by one. It seems like a detour, but in terms of results, it is a shortcut, as the saying goes, “more haste, less speed.” The key lies in how to set “intermediate goals.” “Determine the capacity you currently possess and use it as a stepping stone to make a great leap towards your ultimate goal.” So, how can you find this stepping stone? “Once you find this stepping stone, you can instantly open the door to the world.” Therefore, this stepping stone is the key to the “straw strategy.””

“I worked at SoftBank for about eight years. During this time, I witnessed firsthand how SoftBank, starting as an ordinary venture capital firm, emerged in the telecommunications industry through involvement in ADSL services and eventually grew into a well-known large enterprise. As a SoftBank employee, I feel honored to have personally experienced these significant transformations.”

“During my time at SoftBank, I learned a lot from the president. One aspect can be said to have changed my life. That is, I learned the method and ability to bridge the gap between “the current self” and “the ideal self” in the shortest time possible.”

“This rate of growth is not just twice or three times that of ordinary companies; it’s tenfold!”

“Some may say, “Perhaps such methods succeed precisely because he is the genius entrepreneur Masayoshi Son!” But in fact, the president’s methods at their core are extremely simple principles that even those without the president’s mindset and experience can easily emulate.”

“Next, this book introduces the “10x Speed Efficient Goal Achievement Rules,” which are applicable not only to business but also to other aspects of life. I believe every reader has various goals in their heart.”

“SoftBank has reached today’s heights is due to the following three strategies: (1) Straw Strategy (2) Champion Strategy (3) Lottery Box Strategy The speed of achieving goals depends on whether you understand these three strategies.”

“President Masayoshi Son’s approach is akin to the “Straw Millionaire” method. Starting with something that seems not very valuable, gradually increasing its value through continuous exchanges to eventually obtain what one desires. It can be said with certainty that this seemingly circuitous method is actually the best way to reach the goal.”

“Here, I’d like everyone to recall, what’s the essence of the “Straw Strategy”? Exactly, it’s “starting with something that seems to have little value.” It was precisely for this reason that President Son intentionally ventured into the ADSL market. As a result, he immediately gained 5 million users. There were very few companies that could compete with such a market share. Ordinary companies only had 20,000 to 30,000 users, so having 5 million users was an overwhelming advantage at the time.”

“The president used this straw to barter for something of higher value, because his target at that time was the landline communication operator, Japan Telecom. I think that if SoftBank hadn’t entered the ADSL market back then, no matter how much the president wanted to acquire Japan Telecom, the other party might not have paid any attention to SoftBank, and financial institutions might not have sponsored the acquisition.”

“Tracing back, both Vodafone Japan and Japan Telecom belonged to the “J-Phone” company. When the president acquired Japan Telecom, he likely already had the idea of acquiring Vodafone Japan. SoftBank not only acquired Japan Telecom but also gained the technology, talents, and customer base that came with it.”

“Ultimately, SoftBank successfully acquired Vodafone Japan for 1.75 trillion yen, setting a record for the highest acquisition price in the history of Japanese corporate acquisitions. For a company that had just entered the telecommunications industry, without any achievements or reputation, this price was undoubtedly an enormous sum that was almost unattainable at the time.”

“Moreover, through acquiring Japan Telecom, SoftBank also absorbed excellent talents and management methods in the communication industry and easily acquired the brand image unique to landline communication operators, which made customers trust and feel secure. The effect was equivalent to exchanging a straw for an orange. No, it felt like exchanging it for high-quality fabric and horses! The president had already foreseen However, he didn’t stop there. Because his ultimate goal was the mobile communication field.”

“The president at the time adopted a strategy that appeared somewhat convoluted on the surface but successfully achieved the goal. First, they made achievements in the broadband ADSL and fixed-line communications fields, using those as collateral to borrow huge sums from financial institutions. This was also an important reason he successfully negotiated and smoothly achieved the acquisition goal.”

“But at that time, she was just an ordinary housewife without any achievements. Moreover, there was already a large number of cooking instructors in society, making it a field with many competitors and fierce competition. Based on the “straw strategy,” I gave her the following advice. “To ultimately gain the ‘teacher’ title, you could consider becoming a lecturer at a cultural center first. Since being a lecturer is a position with a certain level of social recognition, you could gain experience there first.” “”

“In fact, a friend of mine used this method and achieved her dream at ten times the speed of ordinary people. Let me share that story with everyone. This woman was a housewife whose ideal was “to turn her interest in cooking into her work.” She said, “Magazines and TV often have programs about super housewives. I also want to open a cooking class like them, specifically teaching my creative cuisine.” But at that time, she was just an ordinary housewife without any achievements. Moreover, there was already a large number of cooking instructors in society, making it a field with many competitors and fierce competition. Based on the “straw strategy,” I gave her the following advice. “To ultimately gain the ‘teacher’ title, you could consider becoming a lecturer at a cultural center first. Since being a lecturer is a position with a certain level of social recognition, you could gain experience there first.” “But the cooking field is a domain already populated by many lecturers; the probability of replacing experienced lecturers and hiring new ones is indeed very low.” “So, I suggest starting by collecting course brochures from cultural centers to see which courses exist in fields with relatively fewer competitors and are somewhat niche?” The woman went home and came up with the idea of “making handmade soap with olive oil” based on my advice. She had seen how handmade soap was made overseas and making soap at home was also one of her interests at the time. However, simply having the skill of “I can make handmade soap” to promote herself to cultural centers was somewhat lacking in persuasion. So the woman invited some friends over and taught them how to make handmade soap. In doing so, she gained the experience of having run a handmade soap class at home. Fortunately, friends who attended her home workshop introduced her to staff members at the cultural center, and she successfully established her course there. As a result, the woman became a lecturer at the cultural center and gained a certain recognition, eventually lecturing at more than 10 cultural centers nationwide. In just three short years, an ordinary housewife became a “super housewife.” With her experience as a lecturer at cultural centers, she also gained opportunities to appear in magazines and TV programs. She then took advantage of the situation and formally established her ideal cooking class.”

“Acquiring COMDEX was undoubtedly a proclamation to the world—“SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is here!””

“In fact, after acquiring COMDEX, as long as he claimed to be “COMDEX President Masayoshi Son,” everyone was willing to interact with him. This also allowed the president to quickly strengthen his network with Bill Gates of Microsoft and other business leaders and industry figures in the IT world.”

“This directly led to the establishment of Yahoo! JAPAN through a joint venture with U.S. Yahoo! the next year, which was an important step in the leapfrog development of SoftBank today.”

“SoftBank leaps from one stepping stone to another, quickly stepping forward before one foot sinks, successfully traversing the water’s surface.”

“Those with great ambitions, be sure to base your plan to reach your goal on the “straw strategy” that belongs to you.”

“The president’s obsession with being number one is almost universally known. And he places great importance on one thing: winning first place with an overwhelming advantage. Of course, the president’s thinking has its rationale. That is, once you become the number one in the industry, people, money, resources, and information all come together.”

“When you want to know some information, you’ll surely consult the leading figure in that field, right? I think no one would specifically seek out the person who ranks second.”

“If an enterprise becomes the leader in the industry, it can recruit outstanding talent, and the wisdom of these talents can raise more capital, purchase materials at better prices, and expand sales to increase turnover.”

“Indeed, under normal circumstances, it’s indeed difficult to capture the championship. However, we have a secret strategy that turns the impossible into possible, which is “finding fields that no one or very few people are into.” If no one is doing it, the person who starts it is the first from the beginning. If only a few are doing it, the probability and speed of winning first place will increase drastically.”

“That said, perhaps we also hear voices like this: “I understand the reasoning, but if becoming number one were so easy, we wouldn’t have to go through hardships and detours.””

“However, there is still a way to succeed: change the battlefield. More specifically, refine the field as much as possible and create a stage where only you can enter. A battlefield with only yourself means becoming the champion without a fight.”

“After subdividing these fields, you can choose a field with no competitors; don’t be limited by your existing professional skills and knowledge.”

“Once everything is prepared, you can apply at the cultural center to become a “Chilean Pastry Training Course Instructor.” Since there are no competitors, such a course might not even exist. However, to attract students, cultural centers are also looking for unique and original plans. As long as you market yourself fully and inform them that your pastries are unique, you are very likely to succeed. If you are luckily accepted, this will mean the birth of Japan’s first (and possibly the first) “Chilean Pastry Instructor.” If that really happens, you will become Japan’s number one in that moment. An exclusive instructor is bound to attract many students eager to learn.”

“Becoming the first will make fame easier to achieve. “Japan’s only Chilean Pastry Instructor” could become your label to advertise on blogs or Twitter, possibly attracting magazine or TV producers. If you get some media appearances, you will become a pioneer in the field, a great “master.””

“For example, in 1995, he invested $2 million in America’s Yahoo! (then 200 million yen). The following year, a joint venture was established with Yahoo! JAPAN. Note that Yahoo! America formally established the company and started its business in March 1995, and SoftBank decided to invest in the company in November of the same year. That is to say, shortly after Yahoo!’s inception, the president saw its value and made a decisive investment decision. As everyone knows, Yahoo! has become one of the world’s largest search engines, and Yahoo! JAPAN has an overwhelming advantage as a portal site in Japan. Today, as the leading shareholder of Yahoo! JAPAN, SoftBank has an off-balance sheet profit of 1.2 trillion yen. The 200 million yen initially invested in Yahoo! is just a tiny fraction of today’s return on profits.”