5 Things I learned about working for Son Masayoshi "Masa" at SoftBank.
Background:
SoftBank was not as well known across the world as they are today when I first entered the company back in 2014. I was hired to work in Tokyo for SoftBank Mobile right after the $20 billion acquisition of Sprint. It was exciting times, because chairman Masa was eager to merge Sprint with T-mobile.
Within the 6 years I worked for SoftBank,
the company went thru a lot of changes.
A Brief History of SoftBank during my time at the company:
2014:
SoftBank Mobile releases Pepper, the very first semi-humanoid personal robot with the ability to read human emotions.
Alibaba IPO's on the New York Stock Exchange.
2015:
SoftBank Mobile, SoftBank Telecom, SoftBank BB, and Y-Mobile merged to become 1 company, now known as SoftBank Corp. and the previous SoftBank Corp. becomes SoftBank Group as the holding company.
2016:
SoftBank acquires British chip designer ARM Holdings for $31 billion to lay down the foundations to become the leader in Internet of Things.
2017:
SoftBank creates a $100 billion tech fund called, SoftBank Vision Fund which becomes the largest fund in history.
2018:
SoftBank Corp. IPO's on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
2019:
Yahoo Japan (subsidiary of SoftBank) acquires ZOZO then changes company name to Z Holdings. Line Corp. and Z Holdings reaches an agreement to merge to tackle big platforms like GAFA to build a stronger presence in Asia.
SoftBank Vision Fund invests in over 90 companies in 2 years but gets bashed by critics when WeWork's IPO flops.
2020:
Sprint and T-Mobile finally merge.
5 Things I learned working for Masa.
1. Clarifying your Mission / Vision / Value is key to success.
2. How to make any kind of business decisions.
Lessons from the Art of War.
3. How serious can you get? Become Crazy!
4. Dream Big! Aim High!
5. How to design your life plan.
You can check out each post link from above for more details.
To wrap this post up here are just some quotes that resonated with me during his lectures at SoftBank Academia. (Masa’s successor program)
- How many of you still have doubts about AI?
- Who here thinks they have thought about this topic the most?
- I can say with confidence that no one has studied more than me during my college years because it is physically impossible to.
- Have you thought about this to the point where your brain rips?
As you might be able to tell by his questions and quotes Masa is intense.
Masa thought me a lot about leadership. This blog is for me to document and share some of the lessons I have learned and applied over the years.
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