How did Todd scale a T-Mobile retail business to 150 stores?
Short answer: Todd entered when T-Mobile was the fourth national wireless company, giving his team room to grow distribution as the carrier gained traction.
In a fireside chat on Richard C. Wilson's YouTube channel, Todd described building Express Locations, a T-Mobile retailer, to 150 stores.
Todd on complementary partners
Todd said he found two partners with financial and operating skills he lacked. Though he controlled most of the business, he gave all three equal decision-making power and offered the partners a chance to acquire equity (4:15 to 5:12). (at 4:15)
The store target expanded
Todd said the team initially aimed to open 75 stores. As opportunities in new states appeared, they reset the target to 200 and reached 150 (13:04 to 13:32). (at 13:04)
The business funded its growth
Todd said the business was self-funded, drawing on money he had built through earlier company IPOs. He also let a couple of minority investors join (14:27 to 14:55). (at 14:27)
Todd on T-Mobile's momentum
Todd said they had reached 100 stores when T-Mobile's new CEO introduced the Un-carrier strategy. He said they were prepared for the customer influx and the momentum that followed (10:17 to 11:11). (at 10:17)
"I found guys who had financial skills I didn't have and operating skills that I didn't have."
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Bobby Castro: Change the strategy to scale. Bobby says that to scale a business, everything has to change. He suggests asking whether the business is scalable, whether it offers a solution and whether it is disruptive.
- Tony Robbins: Think like an owner. His biggest turning point was moving from operator to owner. An operator tries to supervise everything and cannot scale.
- Don Wenner: Commit to scale. Don's major turning point came when he decided to build a great company that makes an impact. Making money and being successful was not enough for him.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
How did Todd scale a T-Mobile retail business to 150 stores?
Todd entered when T-Mobile was the fourth national wireless company, giving his team room to grow distribution as the carrier gained traction.
How many stores did Todd acquire at first?
Todd said they acquired the first nine stores and bought three more later. He said the rest were built from the ground up (17:13).
What did Todd say about hiring?
Todd said they learned to take more time hiring, especially for senior and key leadership roles (18:09).
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.