Chapter 60. Increase the Stake (2)

I asked David.

"What are the ways to minimize the acquisition cost?"

"First, reduce the value of the company itself."

For example, if you file a lawsuit for intellectual property rights infringement and a preliminary injunction against the core program of the company and publicize it in the media, the company's value will inevitably decrease.

"Second?"

"Reduce the stake you are acquiring. Compared to acquiring 100 percent of the shares, acquiring 80 percent will reduce the cost accordingly."

In any case, Seed has to stay with me until the end. Therefore, I planned to give Seed shares after acquiring CoolCloud.

But if Seed can get as many shares as possible from the two of them now, it will reduce the acquisition cost.

No matter how I think about it, it's a good idea.

David asked me.

"Why exactly 20 percent?"

"If I ask for more, they might just tell me to leave, right?"

"I think there's another reason."

Indeed, you noticed.

"You're right."

If the request is approved, Seed's share will increase to 20 percent. This will bring about a significant change in the shareholding ratio.

"Do you think they will accept the proposal?"

"Negotiations are won by the side that is more reluctant to give up, right?"

Seed has nothing to regret if he leaves CoolCloud, but CoolCloud has a lot to regret. In the end, they will have to give Seed the shares he wants to keep him.

Even if Seed quits because Alex and Rolf refuse the conditions, it doesn't matter. Then I can acquire CoolCloud and make Seed the CEO.

Either way, neither Seed nor I will lose.

While thinking this, a call came from an unknown number.

I answered the phone.

"Hello."

As soon as I pressed the call button, I was greeted with a stream of curses.

"Shit! What the hell are you doing, you bastard?"

I didn't need to hear his introduction to know who it was. The fact that he called me suggests he had my business card.

"Starting a call with curses is quite rude, isn't it?"

"Rude? The guy trying to poach someone else's employee is talking about manners?"

"You're being a bit too harsh."

In fact, Rolf Butch is known for his terrible temper. He would freely vent his anger and curse in front of cameras and at official events.

For a regular person, having a bad temper is just asking for trouble. But a genius is often recognized for such traits as part of their personality.

"So, what kind of nonsense did you tell Seed?"

"I just proposed to help him start a company."

"So, who the hell are you to make such a proposal to someone else's employee?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"What?"

"If Seed hasn't sworn to work at CoolCloud forever, it's ultimately up to him to accept or reject it, right?"

"You damn fraud!"

"Fraud?"

Hearing this from a real fraudster, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's see who the real fraud is."

"Shit! I won't let you get away with this!"

"Do as you please."

I have no intention of letting you off either.

I hung up the phone as if I had no more to hear. David, who had been listening, asked.

"Who was that?"

"Rolf Butch."

David nodded, as if he had expected it.

"Seeing him make such a fuss, it seems he's quite regretful."

* * *

When Alex heard Rolf's story, he was shocked.

"Continy Capital offered to help Seed start a company?"

"That's right. They approached him with the intention of poaching him from the start."

Alex gritted his teeth.

'So, they got the upper hand.'

He couldn't understand it at all.

Han Miro and David had never met Seed before. How did they know about him and approach him with such a proposal?

"Isn't that David guy the one who orchestrated this?"

"Probably."

It couldn't have been a plan that came from the mind of that young Asian man. He must have just followed orders.

"Is that Korean guy funding it?"

"It doesn't seem so."

"What? Then who is he?"

Alex, who had felt a sense of unease from their first meeting, had done some research on Han Miro.

Although the person was Korean, not American, he was able to gather some information through the Preston Group.

"Graduated from the economics department at Seoul National University. He worked at DA Securities in Korea, exposed a private equity fund scandal, and then moved to the U.S."

"Private equity fund scandal?"

"It was the Premus incident."

The Premus fund fraud case was a significant event that made the news in the U.S. People in the financial industry generally know about it.

'For a mere new employee to detect and expose such a fraud...'

Most frauds seem obvious once they are revealed, but discovering the truth when everyone else is being deceived is not easy.

"What about his family background?"

"From the lack of information, it seems like a regular family."

"What? So, he's just a nobody?"

"Probably."

"How did such a person come to the U.S. and team up with David?"

"That's the mystery."

I have no idea what happened in between.

'Did David bring Han Miro to the U.S., or did Han Miro seek out David?'

I couldn't find any connection between the two.

I also wondered about the capital of Continy Capital. Did they have the capital to make a $700 billion acquisition offer?

'Where are they getting their capital from?'

The information is too limited.

In investments, information is life. The one with more information always has the upper hand.

I don't know much about the other side, but it feels like they know a lot about me.

In any case, now that the situation has arisen, it needs to be resolved.

"Have you tried to persuade him?"

Rolf shook his head.

"I've tried several times, but it's no use. He says he'll quit unless we give him an additional 15 percent of the shares."

"That's strange. Didn't Seed lack a desire for money?"

If he had a desire for money, he would have made demands long ago. But Seed never did.

The shares he currently holds were given to him out of concern that he might leave the company. He never asked for them.

Rolf couldn't contain his anger and shouted.

"That's why those bastards are blowing hot air into his head!"

Alex also felt a surge of anger but held it back.

"Getting angry won't solve anything. Now that Seed is leaving, other employees are getting restless. Some are even considering following him."

Initially, employees seemed to dismiss Seed as a high school graduate and a young kid, but now they follow him.

Rolf recalled an incident.

In the early days of the business, the system suddenly went down. It happened in the middle of the night, and despite Rolf and the employees rushing to fix it, nothing worked.

Unfortunately, Seed was asleep and couldn't be reached, and everyone, including Rolf, was in a panic.

Fortunately, they finally managed to contact him.

Rolf instructed Seed to come to the office or turn on his computer and work on it.

But Seed, too lazy to turn on his computer after waking up, asked what the error was and fixed it verbally.

What all the employees couldn't fix in over an hour, Seed solved over the phone after just waking up.

Alex asked.

"Can CoolCloud continue to operate as it does now without Seed?"

Rolf shook his head, as if the answer was obvious.

"Seed understands all the systems from start to finish. The company will still function without Seed, but it won't run as smoothly as it does now."

CoolCloud's rapid growth was due to its ability to meet customer demands at a low cost.

For example, a similar company with the same revenue has over 1,000 employees. CoolCloud managed the same work with 90 employees, thanks to two factors: the AI program Minerva and Seed Lucas.

Thanks to these two, CoolCloud could operate with one-tenth the workforce of other companies. This reduced labor and management costs. Cost savings allowed them to lower prices, attract more customers, and create a virtuous cycle.

In fact, CoolCloud has reduced costs 20 times since its early days, inspired by AMZ's flywheel strategy.

Can this strategy continue without Seed?

"Even if he just leaves, it's a problem, but becoming a competitor is an even bigger issue. Is there a possibility that Seed could create a program similar to Minerva?"

Rolf frowned and said.

"Definitely possible."

No one understands the cloud industry as well as Seed. A reliable ally when close, but a troublesome enemy when far.

"Seed is a genius."

"I know."

"Not just any genius."

Rolf, who had observed Seed closely, knew better than anyone what kind of person Seed was.

'Maybe he's a genius like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Alan Turing, or Richard Feynman?'

He's a genius whose peers are hard to find, but what's even more frightening is his growth rate.

When Seed first came for the interview, Rolf thought he could be useful if well-trained, so he hired him.

But within a year, Seed surpassed him.

Rolf still didn't fully understand what Minerva was. But Seed, upon seeing it, immediately grasped what it was and how to handle it. Without Seed, he wouldn't have even considered starting the business.

Rolf, who considered himself a genius, felt a fear of Seed's talent. If he couldn't be a greater genius, he had to keep Seed under him. That's why he brought Seed out of his previous company.

"Even now, he's a genius whose peers are hard to find, but what's even more frightening is his growth rate."

No matter how talented someone is, their growth usually slows down over time.

For example, in a 100-meter dash, talented and hardworking individuals can easily break 10 seconds. But after that, it becomes a war to shave off 0.01 seconds.

"But Seed is different. It's as if every day is his first day, and he keeps growing endlessly."

Alex nodded.

"In a few more years, he'll become a complete monster."

After the IPO, the company's situation will be disclosed, and everyone will know the value of Seed Lucas.

The non-compete clause of five years is almost over, so he planned to grant additional stock options before that.

Alex shook his head.

'At most, I thought 2-3 percent, but 15 percent?'

The current valuation of CoolCloud is at least $100 billion.

Even 0.1 percent of the shares would attract all the geniuses in Silicon Valley. But even if 100 of them came, there's no guarantee they could match what Seed does alone.

The two of them made a cold, rational assessment of Seed Lucas's value. No matter how they calculated it, the conclusion was that they had to keep Seed in the company.

In the end, they would have to accept his demands.

But...

Alex gritted his teeth.

"We need to take decisive action to ensure this doesn't happen again."

In exchange for accepting his demands, they would have to make him work for CoolCloud for life.

Chapter 61. Hiring Employees

When I first time-traveled, I thought everything would be easy, but in reality, it wasn't.

First, I don't know everything that will happen in the future.

I only know what I've read in articles, so I don't know the details. And sometimes, the known information is different from the truth.

Second, even if I know something, it's not easy to convince others how I know it.

For example, in the case of the Bridgewater Airlines engine explosion, I was convincing because I was on the plane and heard strange sounds. If I had called to warn them, I would have been arrested as a terrorist.

Third, even if I can convince others with my knowledge of the future, turning it into reality is another issue.

No matter how good an opportunity, it's useless without money.

The stage is set; now I just need the money.

It might be difficult to get a few billion dollars right away, but at least I need to prepare a deposit. To do that, I need to invest the money I have.

Fortunately, there's a good investment opportunity right now.

"I want to hire some employees. Do you know anyone?"

David thought for a moment and said.

"I have some former colleagues from my time at Victory Investment. Some have moved to other investment firms, but a few are currently not working."

He is as good a person as he is skilled.

When David moved to Shark Management in the first cycle, many of his former colleagues at Victory Investment followed him.

His high performance there was partly due to the support of his colleagues.

"That's great. Can you ask if they're interested in a side job?"

"What are the terms?"

"About a week to ten days. Offer them $100,000."

"I'll check."

David sent messages and made calls.

About two hours later, he told me.

"Three of them can start immediately."

I received information about the employees.

A white man, a black man, and a Hispanic woman.

I was impressed.

Their educational backgrounds are impressive. New York University Accounting, Stanford University Mathematics, and Yale University Business School. My background from Seoul National University Economics can't even compare.

"Are they all good at their jobs?"

"I'll vouch for them."

"Then let's hire them."

David glanced at me and asked.

"Can I go to New York for a bit?"

"To meet them in person?"

"That's part of it, but I also want to see my daughter."

His daughter is currently hospitalized in a New York hospital. Despite daily video calls and phone calls, he must want to see her in person.

His expression suggested he wanted to go immediately.

What a doting father.

"Go ahead."

David nodded immediately.

"I'll be back in two days."

* * *

David left on a plane, and I was left alone in the unfamiliar American land.

Bored in the hotel, I decided to tour San Francisco. Seed, who had just resigned and was taking a break, joined me.

In the first cycle, he would have been busy working at a securities firm. Now, I'm touring with a genius who will lead the world in the future.

I suddenly remembered when Seed visited Korea. He was invited to the Blue House for a private meeting with the president, and influential politicians and economists lined up to meet him.

In the first cycle, I wouldn't have dared to approach such a person, but now I can comfortably call him "brother." This shows that one should invest in undervalued quality stocks, whether it's a person or a company.

The weather was chilly, but the sun was strong.

"It's been a while since I've been outside. When did it get so cold?"

Seed was wearing a T-shirt and Crocs on his bare feet. Worried he might freeze, I bought him a down jacket from a nearby store.

Unlike New York, with its dense skyscrapers, San Francisco mostly has low-rise buildings.

This is because the ground is weak and there's a risk of earthquakes.

The San Andreas Fault runs beneath the city, and earthquakes do occur from time to time.

I recalled a novel I once read about a major earthquake in San Francisco. The protagonist, knowing an earthquake was coming, ran around trying to prevent it... What was the title again?

We sat in a cafe and drank coffee.

Watching the passersby, I was reminded of the diverse ethnicities that make up the city.

Seed, eating a cake, said.

"To create a metaverse, there's a crucial technology we need."

"VR?"

"Exactly. Despite the decades since computers were introduced, input and output devices haven't changed much. Input is still through keyboards and mice, and output is through monitors. Smartphones have only changed to touch, but the mechanism is the same."

"But voice recognition and other technologies are emerging, right?"

Seed nodded.

"Finally, changes are starting. In the future, we'll be able to control computers with our thoughts."

Currently, VR devices are being developed, but they are far from true virtual reality.

However, brainwave-based input and output devices will revolutionize the IT industry.

It will be possible to control avatars in the virtual world with our thoughts.

"It can be used in games, too."

"Exactly. In the future, all games will run on the cloud."

Currently, the most active company in this field is NS.

Originally, NS centered around its PC OS, Windows. But after Satya Samalan became the third CEO, the company shifted to a cloud-centric model.

They made it possible to access their cloud, Azure, and manage data and run programs regardless of the operating system.

They also heavily invested in gaming.

The best way to enjoy games, regardless of platform or device, is through the cloud. NS grew to become the second-largest cloud company after AMZ, and its stock price soared.

This clearly shows the growth potential of the cloud.

"When will you acquire CoolCloud?"

"It will take about ten days."

I already have a plan for how to raise the money needed for the acquisition and how to carry it out.

While we were talking, Seed's phone rang. I saw Rolf's name on the screen.

"Do you need to answer it?"

"Even if I do, he'll just say useless things like 'let's have lunch,' 'let's have coffee,' 'let's talk,' and so on."

He must be quite regretful.

After all, R