The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 236



Only Krnovel

236. An unexpected gift (5)

I received an unexpected gift from Musk: a share of SpaceX.

Musk and his employees are currently struggling in a shabby factory, but if they stick around until the end, they will receive a jackpot in the form of stock options.

Of course, I would receive a bigger jackpot than them.

And since there were still more gifts left to receive in the United States, we headed to Silicon Valley.

There are several buildings in Silicon Valley owned by SAVE Investment Company, and I visited one of them.

“How have you been?”

“Vice President Kim, are you here?”

“Mr. Kim! What happened without contacting you?”

People who welcome me.

Fantasy TV CEO Kim Ik-soo, and even Hurley and Steve Chun.

They were working together to develop a new video platform.

“I heard that the development of a video platform was imminent, so I came here.”

“There really isn’t much time left. We have created a perfect video platform by adding several features to the alpha version created by Taewo Group. We plan to release it in January next year, and we are currently working on fixing errors.”

It was CEO Kim Ik-soo who answered with a bright face.

ah! Now I have to call him team leader.

He led a large team of Fantasy TV developers and joined Silicon Valley, and Hurley and Steve, who created the rare platform called YouTube, were with him.

“You have a lot of pride. Can I take a look?”

“Of course not. I still wanted to show you!”

Team leader Kim Ik-su showed the beta version of the video platform.

There were definitely more features added than the alpha version.

There was almost no difference from the YouTube I used before the regression, and it even seemed superior in terms of intuitiveness.

“It looks pretty good.”

“We made the UI as simple as possible and even applied several algorithms to provide customized videos for customers.”

“So have you decided on a name?”

“We have selected a few candidates. Could you please make a choice, Vice President?”

Team leader Kim Ik-soo guides me to the whiteboard.

There were four candidates written in large letters.

[MyTube, YouTube, WeTube, World TV, One TV]

As expected, there was one name I expected.

The name that dominated the video platform even before its return.

However, I did not necessarily choose that name, leaving the choice to the developers.

“Those are all good names. I think whatever name you choose will be fine.”

“Then, since the vice president is here, how about having all the employees vote to decide on a name?”

“That’s a good idea. Can you give me one vote too?”

“Vice President, I can give you 10 votes.”

“That’s not possible. I will only cast one vote.”

The election could be seen as a kind of party.

That’s why I called a business buffet at the company, and everyone was free from work for today and ate food, drank drinks, and laughed.

“Have you all had your fill? Then, let’s begin the long-awaited voting!”

Mark climbed up the desk and caught everyone’s attention.

Meanwhile, a piece of paper was distributed to everyone, and they wrote down the name of one of the five candidates and placed it in the ballot box.

Want to spice it up a little more?

This type of voting is more fun when betting is included.

“We’re offering a prize of $50,000! We’ll split the $50,000 equally among the groups that voted for the chosen name!”

[wow! If I do well, I could get $2,000 more per person, right?]

[Can I vote again?]

[Where is that? All you have to do is vote once!]

The atmosphere got even hotter.

Meanwhile, voting ended and counting began.

Representative Kim Ik-soo personally took out each piece of paper from the ballot box and announced it.

“Vote for WeTube! This time, World TV!”

Since there were only 50 employees, the vote counting proceeded quickly.

The name of the new video platform was decided by just one vote.

“WeTube was selected with 19 votes! From now on, the name of the video platform we created will be WeTube. Everyone applaud!”

[Waaah!]

While everyone laughs and claps.

I couldn’t help but smile awkwardly.

Because the name of the candidate who came in second place with 18 votes was YouTube.

“The employees can continue enjoying the party, and the team leaders can go to the conference room with me for a while.”

“I’ll go right away.”

Now that the name has been decided, it is time to coordinate the details.

The developers explained to them the weakest areas of promotion and planning.

“We will promote WeTube on a large scale starting in January of next year. First, we will begin promoting it simultaneously through TV, radio, newspapers, portal sites, and communities in the United States, Korea, and throughout Europe.”

“Wouldn’t an excessive amount of money be spent on promotion?”

“As the person with the largest stake, shouldn’t I do that? Don’t worry about the promotional costs. All of it will come from the Taewo Group and my own pocket. And it doesn’t cost that much. The affiliated companies have agreed to promote it for free. ”

WeTube had a complex shareholding structure.

Of course, I held the largest stake, and the remaining shares were held by Google, Apple, Amazon, etc.

It was a structure shared by several IT companies, and of course they also had an obligation to promote it.

“If we promote it properly, we can be confident that it will be a success!”

“We will promote it so actively that you won’t hear people say that it failed due to lack of promotion. In particular, all future Apple phones will be released with WeTube installed. Wouldn’t this be better than any other promotional tool?”

It could be said to be the strongest promotional motion.

Currently, the iPhone holds more than half of the smartphone market.

Although the market share was less than 20% of the entire mobile phone market, there was no need to worry because WeTube was targeting smartphone users.

“If WeTube is installed as Apple’s default app, the number of users will definitely increase significantly in a short period of time!”

“And Google and Amazon will also actively promote WeTube. This means that not only smartphone but also PC users will have many more opportunities to access WeTube.”

“I really can’t say that it was ruined because of the publicity.”

“And we will also actively promote it on Facebook.”

“Are you talking about Facebook too? Wow…!”

What kind of product could receive this much publicity?

This was possible because of WeTube and because I own the majority stake in WeTube.

“So don’t worry about promotion, just maximize the level of completion.”

“We will catch all errors before release!”

They were determined team leaders.

I trusted them and returned to Korea.

* * *

I spent the New Year of 2005 on the plane returning to Korea.

When I arrived at Incheon Airport, dozens of bodyguards were waiting for me, and the head of the planning department personally came out to greet me.

“Did you have a good business trip to America?”

“It can be said that all of the desired results have been achieved.”

“I’m so glad you had a satisfactory business trip. Then, I’ll take you home. The Chairman is waiting for you at the mansion.”

In the car, I received a report from the planning director that I had not received before.

It was reported that nothing special had happened and that most of the Taewoo Group’s affiliates were on an upward trend.

I arrived at the mansion around the time I heard the report, and as I entered the house, my grandfather welcomed me with open arms.

“You must have had a hard time traveling a long way.”

“I haven’t been to the U.S. once or twice on a business trip, but seeing you welcome me like this makes me think you have something you want to say.”

The corners of the grandfather’s mouth rose up into the sky.

It was clear that you had solved a big problem while I was in the United States.

“The issue of the new headquarters building has finally been resolved! Both the government and Seoul City have decided to grant permits.”

“It was your grandfather who suffered, not me. Congratulations! By the way, which site was approved?”

“We pushed for the KEPCO site, but we couldn’t get it. In the end, we got approval for the Charlotte Group site.”

It was as expected.

Thanks to the hard work put in by the Charlotte Group for 20 years, it was virtually the same as obtaining permission for the Charlotte Group site.

Since negotiations for the KEPCO site had just begun, more effort had to be put in to obtain permits.

“The Charlotte Group site is not a small one. Isn’t it important to finally start construction on the new headquarters? We were going to break ground in 2004, but it’s been a little delayed.”

“On the contrary, it worked out well. We started 2005 with very good news.”

“Do you plan to proceed with the design according to the draft created by Taewo Construction?”

To obtain approval, Taewoo Engineering & Construction created dozens of drafts.

All drafts were for skyscrapers over 100 stories, and the designs were quite different from the buildings made by the Charlotte Group before its return.

“I think it will probably happen that way. It will be a very large-scale construction project with a construction cost of over 3 trillion won.”

“It will take at least five years from the start of construction to completion.”

“The entire workforce at Taewoo Construction will work together to shorten the completion time as much as possible, but we cannot make it half-heartedly, so it will take quite a long time.”

The smile did not leave my grandfather’s face.

Well, it was Taewoo Group, which had an office building that was not typical of a leading business group.

“Do you like it that much?”

“This is the first time in my life I’ve had such a good day since the day you were born. So I plan to take care of it by almost living at the construction site myself. So, I guess you’ll take care of the CEO’s meeting this year.”

“I don’t mind if I host the CEO’s meeting. Since you are old, can you stay at the construction site?”

“If a person only stays in bed or a chair, he or she will grow older. Only when he goes to lively places will his body and mind become younger.”

If you like it so much, how can I stop you?

It was best to simply take measures to avoid safety issues.

“If Grandpa goes to the construction site, the work I have to do will increase several times.”

“How could that be my responsibility? Wasn’t it because you kept starting new businesses?”

“You can’t avoid starting a new business just because you don’t want to work.”

“So, what new business are you planning to start this year? Are you going to continue to have fun with IT?”

For the first time, my grandfather asked a question with a serious face.

Since the question was about the future direction of the Taewoong Group, I straightened my posture and answered.

“As I always say, Taewo Group can only grow further if we transition from a manufacturing-oriented business to a service business.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t give up the manufacturing business completely. Both automobiles and electronics are manufacturing-based businesses, and they are the heart of the Taewoo Group.”

“I did not mean to completely abandon the manufacturing industry. We should engage in manufacturing, but focus on high value-added manufacturing.”

“Like a smartphone?”

“In the automotive industry, electric vehicles will occupy the same position as smartphones.”

Grandpa nodded.

Since my grandfather was interested in electric cars before me, he did not doubt the potential of electric cars.

“Okay, lead the Taewo Group in the direction you want. I will now take a step back and only provide support.”

“It’s too early to back down yet. Please help me a little more.”

“This guy is trying to take away all of Hwanghee’s backbone. Yes, I will help you with the spirit of Hwanghee Jeongseung!”

It was a better start to 2005 than ever before.

And 2005 was also a year when better news would be delivered in the future.