Trade the Straw Before It Rots

"“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."

"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."

"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."