Chapter 50. CoolCloud (1)

After unpacking our bags at the hotel, we analyzed the materials related to CoolCloud.

To be precise, David created the materials, and I just received them. Indeed, having staff is convenient.

If I were to describe CoolCloud in one sentence, it is a 'cloud-based data platform.'

In my childhood, I learned about the Third Industrial Revolution at school.

Words like informatization, digital, and World Wide Web all came from there. But by the time I was in college, the talk of the Fourth Industrial Revolution suddenly emerged.

Artificial intelligence, robots, big data, virtual reality, IoT, blockchain, cloud computing, autonomous driving, and so on.

When writing reports at the securities firm, the talk of the Fourth Industrial Revolution was never absent. The companies subtly requested to include related stories.

Investors like it, apparently.

Whether we are truly in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and what its definition is, has not been clearly determined, but it is a fact that changes are occurring across industries.

If I were to define these changes in one word, it would be Digital Transformation. Everything that exists is turning into data.

People now shop on the internet, listen to lectures, chat with friends, and order food. The important thing is that all of this leaves a data trail.

CoolCloud is a cloud-based data platform that aggregates fragmented data in one place.

It provides a service called DWaaS (Data Warehouse as a Service), which collects and analyzes various data needed for business activities.

The most innovative startup!

A company leading the future!

A new wind in Silicon Valley!

These are the epithets currently given to CoolCloud, and it is indeed showing a steep growth trend.

It has only been three years since its founding, but its enterprise value has surpassed 70 billion dollars.

"The losses are larger than expected."

"Leasing servers, building systems, and using data all incur significant costs, while profits are low due to fierce competition. However, the loss is rapidly decreasing due to increased revenue and customer growth."

Originally, platform companies prioritize growth over immediate profits.

The idea is to dominate the market first and then raise prices. Investors know this, which is why they pour money into loss-making companies.

"The growth of CoolCloud is terrifying. For companies, utilizing big data has become essential. You can think of it similarly to how investment firms use Bloomberg terminals."

"Oh! Bloomberg terminal."

It's a terminal provided by Bloomberg Media Group, founded by Michael Bloomberg.

Using this terminal, you can find, compare, and analyze all economic data, including global stock markets, derivatives, raw materials, price indices, purchasing indices, and employment indicators.

The usage fee per terminal is approximately $50,000 per year.

If 100 employees use it, it would cost $5 million annually.

You can find such data on the internet, so why do they pay such a huge amount for the Bloomberg terminal?

After joining the securities firm, I realized the reason. It provides the fastest, most accurate, and easiest-to-understand information.

Compared to the losses from inaccurate and delayed information, $50,000 per year is nothing. Therefore, even if the usage fee increases annually, they cannot stop using it.

David asked as if it were obvious.

"Since you worked at a securities firm, didn't you use it?"

"Well..."

I watched others use it.

Unlike him, who was a professional investor, I was just an RA. There was no way they would put a terminal more expensive than my salary in a new employee's position.

"Anyway, CoolCloud provides such services to companies."

"Yes."

CoolCloud provides the most accurate, fastest, and easiest-to-understand data needed for business activities.

Even someone who knows nothing about cloud computing or big data can visualize and view the information they want with just a few clicks.

Innovation isn't always grand.

Improving and developing something that already exists to make it easy for anyone to use is also innovation.

It's innovative because others couldn't do it.

It might seem unfamiliar now, but in ten years, almost all companies will use such cloud-based platforms.

Even the chicken restaurant I ran with Seonwoo was no exception.

First, we used big data to analyze the commercial district and choose the location. When running the business, we analyzed various variables such as the weather, events, and foot traffic to predict which menu items to order and in what quantities. This helped us prepare for orders in advance, which was a great help.

The accuracy of the predictions was astonishing.

It was about 90% accurate, and thanks to this, we could achieve stable profits.

"..."

Well, it almost went bankrupt due to the head office's bullying.

If I hadn't regressed, I would have gone out of business and ended up on the street. It's fortunate that I regressed and avoided that fate.

"Let's talk about the founders."

The founders of this incredible company are Alex Preston and Rolf Buch.

David explained about the two.

"Alex Preston is the third son of the Preston family, a financial tycoon in the United States. You must have heard of the Preston family."

I nodded.

"The eldest, Michael Preston, founded Shark Management."

"That's right."

John Preston, the CEO and head of the Preston Group, entrusted each of his children with $1 billion to manage.

If they squandered it, that was the end, but if they showed results, he would invest more to increase the group's assets.

Among them, the standout performers are the eldest, Michael Preston, and the third, Alex Preston.

Unlike Michael, who graduated from Harvard's economics department and followed a typical financial elite path, Alex graduated from the California Institute of Technology and interacted with people in the IT industry.

He invested in startups and achieved several successes.

In the process, he realized the potential of the cloud and data market, and together with Rolf Buch, he founded the company and achieved tremendous success.

After that, the succession structure of the Preston family essentially became a contest between Michael Preston and Alex Preston.

However...

Thinking about it, I took David Rockheart, who was originally supposed to be Michael's person. Without him, Shark Management would not have grown to half of what it did in the first cycle.

And this time, I plan to acquire CoolCloud... then how will the succession structure play out later?

Well, it's not my business how things go in someone else's family.

What's important is my situation now.

"Who is Rolf Buch?"

"In a word, a genius."

David explained.

Unlike Alex, who was born into a financial tycoon family, Rolf Buch was born to ordinary parents.

He loved playing with computers from a young age, started coding at 9, and developed his first program at 12.

At 17, he sold the program he created to NS for $3 million and, with that money, founded an online dating app while studying computer science at MIT at 20.

Two years later, he sold the app to the global dating company Matching Group for $1.5 billion, becoming a billionaire.

At just 22, Rolf, with assets exceeding $1 billion, was a success story in the startup world.

He dropped out of college and founded various companies in fintech, content provision, crowdfunding, and SNS. He was a star in Silicon Valley and the IT industry's top genius.

Investors would rush to invest in any company Rolf founded.

"However, after that, he went through a considerable period of stagnation."

He had a few successes, but none as significant as the dating app.

After a few failures, he founded an anonymous social network company with an MIT classmate.

However, this did not go as well as expected.

As failures continued, media attention waned, and whispers began to spread that Rolf Buch was outdated.

However...

"CoolCloud's massive success re-established his genius worldwide."

"I see."

It's amazing to hear such stories.

What was I doing at that age? I probably just hung out with friends at PC rooms without much thought.

I read the autobiography of NS's third CEO, Satya Shamalan, in the first cycle.

Born in India, he recalled himself as an ordinary boy who loved cricket and games.

However, after a few pages, strange stories started pouring out.

He wanted to prove the P-NP problem and was fascinated by quantum computers, researching ways to implement quantum mechanical superposition and interference.

Reading such things, it seems geniuses are just geniuses.

"Is Rolf that great?"

"Yes, he can be called the top genius in Silicon Valley."

"Genius..."

I know another real genius.

* * *

CoolCloud was founded by Alex Preston and Rolf Buch.

Rolf provided the technology and initially invested $100 million, while Alex Preston invested $500 million.

The cloud is a goldmine in the digital world. The competition is fierce, but if you gain the upper hand, you can grow into a giant company.

To grow the company, large-scale investment was necessary.

Rolf added $800 million, and Alex added $1.6 billion. They then secured $3.8 billion in investment from PrestigeA PE, a private equity fund under the Preston family.

Currently, Alex holds 38%, Rolf holds 37%, PrestigeA PE holds 20%, and one employee holds 5%.

Since PrestigeA PE is a Preston Group fund and Alex Preston is a board member, he effectively holds 58%.

The stock exchange and investment banks kept urging them to go public, but they deliberately delayed it. The company value would rise over time, so there was no need to rush the IPO.

While the management was relaxed, investors were eager. Requests for investment kept pouring in from all directions.

Among them were Redstone, the world's largest private equity fund, and White Road, led by Aaron Baker.

Negotiations with Redstone had once fallen through due to price issues but were ongoing again.

During this time, after checking an email, Alex Preston told Rolf Buch:

"Continy Capital wants to invest."

"What kind of place is that?"

"I've never heard of it before."

After searching and investigating, there was no information. No data on who invested, how much capital they had, or how many employees they had.

There are many unknown companies and paper companies in the investment world, as long as they have capital.

Originally, they would have ignored a proposal from an unknown investment firm.

However...

"The person who sent the email is David Rockheart."