7 Attack Patterns of Victor Son Jeong-eui

“Life is either offense or defense. Is there any reason not to attack him?”- Son Jeong-eui

This is a tweet left by SoftBank Chairman Son Jeong-eui after acquiring Supercell, a mobile game company that developed Clash of Clans, and Splint, the third-largest mobile operator in the US in 2013.

7 steps by to successful decision making Softbank Chairman Son Jeong-eui

As I said, Chairman Son has always been aggressively expanding his business with high goals.

Let's look back on his steps when he shouted 'charge forward' at the moment when he had to make a decision.

Send out 1000 free coupons

The year when Chairman Son Jeong-eui turned 12.

At that time, Chairman Son's father started a small coffee shop, but there were no customers, so he continued his hardships.

So, Chairman Son, despite his father's objection, throws out 1000 free coupons on the day the coffee supplier visits.

The coffee supplier saw the crowds and supplied good products at a low price, and people who visited the store with free coupons bought several other products, creating a virtuous cycle.

It attracted customers by spraying it for free.

Son Jeong-eui seems to have had a brain that was optimized for internet business from a young age.

Failure? NO NO retreat to advance!

At SoftBank's 30-year vision presentation on June 25, 2010 Chairman Son Jeong-eui presented the goal of SoftBank to make people happy through the information revolution.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-SbNuNBSMQ[/embed]

Now, as one of Japan's leading telecommunication companies, it has entered the United States, but it was not easy for Chairman Son Jeong-eui to enter the telecommunication business.

Launched cheap internet service

Failed Attempts to jointly venture wireless internet with large corporations failed

Failed to invest in submarine cable business between the US and Japan

Afterward, SoftBank eventually succeeded in the ADSL wired internet network business called Yahoo!BB, but this business also succeeded in turning black after four years of loss.

 

“It doesn’t matter if you fail, so start.”

If there are no results, SoftBank will close the business.

"But I changed my method and tried again in the same field."

It is said that the fields that SoftBank has challenged have a high probability of failure, but are worth devoting their life to the challenge.

If you look at the next 20 or 30 years like Chairman Son, it seems that today's failure is rather a medicine.

Be sure to keep your words!

When Yahoo! BB was first launched, some people said they couldn't keep up with the influx of opening requests and waited as long as months for installation.

At this time, Son Jeong-eui unconventionally launches a ‘10-day opening campaign’.

To keep this word, Chairman Son works until 2 am every day to send an opening request form to the company and check the service by himself.

Even after that, Chairman Son made promises that others would say ‘no’ and lived a life of keeping them.

Build small successes!

When Chairman Son Jeong-eui acquired Vodafone, Japan's third-largest telecommunication company, Vodafone said that the company's atmosphere was not good due to repeated sluggish business.

“We will not”

Son Jeong-eui, who always showed a confident attitude, was very dissatisfied with this situation.

It is said that Chairman Son's father instilled in him the saying, 'You are a genius since childhood.

Still, he must have always had confidence because his smart friends around him praised him as a genius every day.

Anyway, Son Jeong-eui chooses to create small successes and raise the morale of his employees.

Without worrying about the company's operating profit, we launched a terrifying campaign so that our employees could sell their products!

Eventually, it will rise to the position of the No. 1 telecommunications operator in the market for net subscriber growth.

“Has losing become a habit? Try to be the best just once.”

At the time, it was a slur that Chairman Son threw at the former Vodafone employees.

Create a situation where you can't lose!

When we look back on SoftBank's glory days, the story that is always mentioned is the acquisition of exclusive sales rights for Apple's iPhone in Japan.

Softbank said that before the iPhone was released, Apple was a big customer.

It is said that the mobile phones sold by Softbank have been buying Apple's 'iPod' in bulk to compensate for the poor MP3 function.

When the iPhone was released, it was already a customer of Apple, so it was one step ahead of other carriers.

However, Chairman Son is not relieved, and at the time of mass importing of iPods, Softbank's store interior and company logo are already replaced with Apple-like soft silver and white -_-b

Don't think too long!

“If you think about it for 10 seconds, you can do anything. Still, there is no point in thinking about problems that you do not know.”

It is said that Chairman Son Jeong-eui often uses the word to his employees.

Chairman Son cites quick decisions and execution as one of the most important factors in business.

It is said that the more you procrastinate, the more you will invite negative thoughts.

There are countless stories related to this, but even when starting the aforementioned Yahoo!BB, Chairman Son shows off his ‘crazy’ execution skills.

At that time, Yahoo! BB was a project with a low probability of success, although the road was clear.

"We recruited people to participate in the project in-house, but the number of applicants was small."

Then one day, Chairman Son
"All who have time after 6 pm, gather together," he instructs. As a result, about 100 employees gathered. Chairman Son collected their business cards in a shabby box.

“With this business, SoftBank is starting a second business. The person who put the business card here is the first member of the 2nd founding!” High bomb declaration.

About 100 people who were hit by the bomb had no choice but to push forward the ADSL business without thinking and they eventually succeeded.

And they are currently in key positions in each department of SoftBank or are active in starting up their ventures.

Breaking stubbornness just once for the sake of the dream

Joined SoftBank in 1998.
Miki Takenobu, who had been by the side of Chairman Son Jeong-eui, wrote in his book, “Chairman Son never achieved his thoughts even in the face of opposition, but there was only one exception.”

This was the only moment when SoftBank's stock price plummeted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis in the United States.

Son Jeong-eui decided that free management was necessary for such a crisis situation, and pushed for SoftBank delisting.

This is because listed companies inevitably move more slowly than unlisted companies.

But at this time, Kazuhiko Kasai, known as Chairman Son's right hand, said, "Absolutely not.

If we delist, SoftBank’s dream will become smaller.”

Although it is possible to manage quickly right away, it becomes difficult to attract large-scale funds, which is the biggest advantage of a listed company.

In the end, Chairman Son Jung-eui followed Kasai's advice, and SoftBank was able to actively invest by attracting large-scale funds that took advantage of the merits of a listed company.

Son Jeong-eui's attack is currently in progress So far, we have looked at the management style of Chairman Son Jeong-eui by case.

His striker style continues to this day.

SoftBank's stock price has recently fallen sharply due to sluggishness.

However, in the last earnings announcement, Son Jeong-eui said, “SoftBank is undervalued compared to its performance and potential. We are harboring more golden eggs that have not yet been put on the market.”

Striker Son Jeong-eui is still shouting ‘Shut up and attack’.