User Base as Negotiation Currency

““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.”

“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.”