I think that Ultra Mobile and Mint Mobile got lucky selling to T-Mobile. Don’t get me wrong, it was brilliant on Ultra and Mint’s part. I believe this was all part of the MVNO’s owner’s plan.
I have to admit, buying Ryan Reynolds must have been very appealing. Maybe they’re hoping he has the same effect Michael Jordan had for Nike or Oprah had for anything she touched. Can Ryan move mountains? I guess we’ll see.
I have to admit one thing, this Ryan is one hell of an entrepreneur. He has bought and sold Aviation Gin for a nice profit. I think that was what made him want to get into Mint Mobile.
I can imagine David Glickman saw a huge opportunity when Ryan made the offer.
David is the CEO and founder of Ultra Mobile and Mint Mobile. He had experience building and selling MVNOs in the past. I admire the risk he took letting Ryan move in and take over marketing. This is a risk that paid off so very well.
Ryan is taking even more risks. As many of you know he invested in the Welsh Soccer club, Wrexham, (football if you live outside the USA/Canada). This paid off because he created a series around the club and they actually won the championship this year. Someday we may see them in a Premier League. I’m a fan of the English Premier League and La Liga. (Respectively my teams are Arsenal and Barcelona.)
Wrexham actually won the championship this year. WOW! Another fairy tale ending for Ryan and all his partners. That and he sold Mint, how do you top that?
He owns his production company and invests in many others like Wealth Simple, 1Password, and Nuvei. He may own a Pro Hockey team soon.
David is no slouch, he understands how the MVNO industry works and was waiting for the right time to sell. He also knew that with a celebrity as the face of the business without having to cut a check for every commercial was a good plan.
Kudos to Ryan and David for pulling this off the sale to T-Mobile. Congrats!
Hence, I wondered why T-Mobile paid so much for 2 MVNOs. I have been trying to figure this out. That’s when a friend called me, (he asked to remain nameless), and told me that the social clout that Ryan Reynolds has is what they wanted along with the perks that go along with it. They have a new face for the company. I would think that Ryan’s production company could get plenty of work from this for years to come.
If Ryan can promote TMO like he did Mint, they should be able to steal market share from their competitors. After all, look what he did for Mint Mobile.
He may become THE TMO guy. Very nice.
TMO now has 2 MVNOs under their umbrella that they can model plans after. They can find a way to do more online sales, cutting expenses and staff while increasing sales. Something they have been dreaming about.
So was buying Ryan Reynolds worth it? Well, the way I see it time will tell.
I am curious if Mint and Ultra will be around in 3 years or if they will be swallowed up as TMO letting those two brands fade away.
Can TMO’s current leadership make this work? It has nothing to do with the network, it is all sales and marketing and customer service. Could this be the reason Mike Sievert decided to do this?
Maybe Sievert sees an opportunity to break into new businesses that the TMO brand could build or make better. Maybe build the fixed wireless access (FWA) business into a brand that could compete with cable companies everywhere. They have a great wireless network that can do it. They have a solid following that is somewhat faithful. They just need to get the word out and make it work.
Think how Ryan Reynolds could promote FWA. I am not sure how many of you have seen the TMO FWA Superbowl commercial with 3 huge starts, John Travolta, Donald Faison, and Zach Braff. It was a great commercial. Just brilliant in my opinion. It made me try TMO FWA, which works great.
What if they break into new businesses that could bring in new revenue? Entertainment and advertising are avenues they could open up. They have a customer base where they could sell to many advertisers.
Mobile apps that only Google and Apple have right now could migrate to a TMO brand.
Maybe shows that cable doesn’t have or something overlooked by Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube. They may try it or they may look at the failed attempts of Verizon and AT&T and decide not to.
They have a solid opportunity here to build something new and exciting.
Or, they stay the same, continue with business as usual.
I guess we’ll see.