Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 429

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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429. We’ll provide legal support on our end.

The next day.
Seok-won sat at an outdoor table in the Del Coronado Hotel Restaurant with Landon Shore, where he was staying.
The sky was cloudless and brilliantly clear, and a cool breeze swept across the wide beach spread out before them, brushing through my hair.
The sunlight was intense, but a large parasol stretched across the table made it bearable.
From one side, the jazz rhythm played by a four-piece mixed band mingled with the sound of waves.
When Seok-won, wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, gazed out at the brilliant blue Pacific Ocean, the sea breeze stinging my eyes, a Caucasian man approached the table.
He was a man in his late thirties, wearing glasses and a gray jacket, with a lean build.
Landon smiled upon seeing him and stood up.

“Mr. Phillips. You’ve arrived.”

Seok-won turned his head to look at him while remaining seated, and John Phillips responded with a smile.

“My apologies. I’m late.”
“Ha ha ha. Not at all. We simply arrived early—we still have ten minutes before the appointed time.”

Landon gestured toward Seok-won, who had risen with one hand, and made the introduction.

“Allow me to introduce you. This is Park Seok-won, the owner and representative of our fund.”

John Phillips, who had been stealing glances at Seok-won, extended his hand with eyes gleaming.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m John Phillips.”

Seok-won removed his sunglasses and clasped his hand.

“I’ve wanted to have a conversation with you for some time, and now we finally meet.”
“Thank you for saying so, even if it’s mere courtesy.”

Seok-won gave a slight shake of his head at Phillips’s words, which he accepted as mere politeness.

“I mean it sincerely. Two years ago, I witnessed you pioneering the search advertising revenue model through IdeaLab, and I was genuinely impressed.”

John Phillips’s expression shifted to one of genuine surprise.
A natural entrepreneur with a gift for brilliant ideas, John Phillips operated or served on the boards of several companies.
One of them was IdeaLab, a business incubator that provided essential support to both established business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

“I had no idea you were familiar with IdeaLab.”

Seok-won offered a gentle smile, his gaze warm with appreciation.

“I believe the search advertising model is a truly revolutionary idea that elegantly solves the profitability crisis that has been plaguing internet companies.”

As Seok-won lavished praise, Phillips couldn’t suppress the broad smile spreading across his face.

“Thank you for the kind words.”
“I’m convinced that your idea, Mr. Phillips, will become the driving force for revolutionary change not only in dot-com companies but in the entire internet ecosystem. That’s precisely why I’ve been pushing so hard for the StartDotCom investment.”

StartDotCom was the company John Phillips had founded directly to implement the search advertising model concept.

“I’m truly delighted that you, of all people, Mr. Park, recognize the true value of the search advertising model.”

Phillips responded with evident pleasure.
Landon Shore, standing nearby, glanced between the two men and spoke.

“Well then, shall we sit down and continue this conversation?”

Only then did Phillips realize they’d been standing throughout their exchange, and he broke into a hearty laugh before taking his seat.
As the three men settled around a circular table facing one another, a neatly uniformed Waiter approached and placed the menu before them.

“What would you like to order?”
“The steak here is quite good—let’s go with that.”

When Seok-won recommended the menu, Phillips, whose favorable impression had risen considerably from their earlier conversation, nodded immediately.

“Yes, let’s do that.”
“I’ll have the same.”

Landon Shore answered without even glancing at the menu, and Seok-won turned to the Waiter.

“Three steak courses, please.”
“Very good. Please give us a moment.”

The waiter who had collected the menu promptly returned with an aperitif and light appetizers.
Seok-won picked up his wine glass and addressed the other two men.

“Shall we toast to the hope of a prosperous partnership ahead?”
“Excellent.”

Phillips readily raised his glass in agreement.
The three men clinked their glasses with a crystalline ring, then took a sip of wine before setting them down.

“Truth be told, I arranged this meeting hoping that cultivating a relationship with you, Chairman Park, might prove invaluable to our business endeavors.”

Phillips spoke candidly as he gently swirled his wine glass.
Unlike the computer-obsessed tech entrepreneurs Seok-won had dealt with before, Phillips was a seasoned businessman, and recognizing his intentions, Seok-won responded with an amused smile.

“You’re far too generous with your assessment. My reputation hardly warrants such praise.”
“On the contrary, you’re known throughout Wall Street as the man with the Midas touch—everything you invest in turns to gold. There’s hardly a soul in Silicon Valley who doesn’t know your name.”

Phillips gestured emphatically as he spoke with conviction.

“Even those skeptical of StartDotCom’s search advertising model will reconsider once they hear that the Eldorado Fund—that you yourself—have invested in it.”

Landon Shore, seated beside him, glanced over with an amused expression as if to say, “See?”
Seok-won suppressed an inward chuckle and responded with ease.

“I’m somewhat embarrassed by the praise, but if my name can benefit the companies we invest in, there’s no harm in that.”
“With the necessary capital for growth and the knowledge that you’ve invested, we can create tremendous synergy. In fact, I’ll make sure of it.”

Phillips’s face brightened with genuine enthusiasm and determination.
Just then, the waiter arrived with filet steaks garnished with asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
As the three men cut into their steaks and continued conversing, the atmosphere remained warm and convivial throughout, especially as Seok-won demonstrated his long-standing interest in IdeaLab.
Having spent years in various venture businesses, Phillips and Seok-won found their conversation flowed naturally, with surprising alignment in their perspectives across multiple topics.

“I didn’t realize you had an interest in clean energy.”

Phillips set down his fork and responded to Seok-won’s remark.

“It’s undeniable that rapid industrialization has brought severe environmental destruction. For a sustainable future, developing clean energy that produces no pollutants is absolutely essential—that’s my conviction.”
“Environmental pollution is indeed destroying the ozone layer, and we’re seeing increasingly frequent anomalies like El Niño and La Niña phenomena.”
“Precisely. That’s why I’m confident that clean energy will become a crucial business in the future.”

John Phillips leaned forward slightly, his eyes brightening with intensity.
Seok-won, recognizing that Phillips viewed eco-friendly energy not merely as an environmental cause but as a promising business opportunity, couldn’t help but silently marvel at his insight.

‘He conceived the search advertising model, and his foresight combined with his business acumen is quite remarkable.’

What impressed me even more was knowing that in the near future, eco-friendly energy would become a major industry generating substantial added value.

“Among the various renewable energy sources, I believe solar power generation has the highest practical feasibility and greatest promise.”
“Why is that?”
“Wind energy is certainly a good renewable source, but it has a fatal drawback—it cannot generate electricity without wind.”
“But solar power can’t generate electricity at night either, so isn’t it the same problem?”

Seeing Seok-won’s interest, Phillips finally had the chance to elaborate on his passion, responding with animated enthusiasm.

“True, but the advantage is that solar power can store the electricity generated during the day in large-capacity batteries and use it continuously, enabling 24-hour operation without interruption.”
“Couldn’t wind power do the same by storing electricity in batteries?”

Landon Shore interjected, setting down his wine glass after taking a sip.

“Solar energy can be reliably recharged as the sun rises regularly each day, but wind doesn’t blow for days at a time, making it fatally unreliable in terms of consistency.”
“Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case.”

Landon nodded slightly in agreement.

“Moreover, unlike wind power which requires massive infrastructure, solar panels can be installed on residential rooftops, allowing individual households to generate their own electricity independently, making it far more efficient and economically viable.”

Phillips glanced at Seok-won across the table and spoke with ambitious conviction about his aspirations.

“If the opportunity arises, I’d like to venture into solar power generation business.”
“Realistically, renewable energy won’t completely replace fossil fuels overnight, but it does seem like a business with tremendous growth potential.”

Phillips’s face lit up noticeably at Seok-won’s positive response.
Coming from someone who had never experienced failure, his words felt tremendously reassuring.
Yet beneath the surface, I harbored serious doubts about the solar business venture.

‘If only China weren’t in the picture.’

Just as Phillips had predicted, the adoption and expansion of eco-friendly energy—particularly solar power generation—accelerated at a breathtaking pace.
Yet throughout this process, Chinese Companies seized market dominance through aggressive pricing and volume offensives.
They had effectively monopolized the entire value chain of the solar industry, from polysilicon to ingots, wafers, cells, and modules.

I thought to myself: when other nations produced something for a hundred dollars, China manufactured and sold it for less than half that—forty dollars. There was no way to compete against that.

The same held true for other renewable energy sectors and ventures like electric vehicles and wind power.
So while Phillips’s vision was undeniably ahead of its time and brilliant, I remained skeptical whether it would ultimately translate into success.
Unaware of my reservations, Phillips spoke with an optimistic expression.

“Hearing you speak about solar’s future only strengthens my conviction!”

I hesitated for a moment, considering whether to caution him, but I couldn’t bring myself to prophesy that solar companies would collapse en masse under China’s massive dumping campaign. So I held my tongue.
A flicker of regret crossed my eyes before I naturally steered the conversation back to what I had intended to discuss.

“As promised when we signed the investment agreement, I won’t interfere in StartDotCom’s operations. However, might I offer one piece of advice?”
“Please, go ahead.”

Phillips, already at maximum rapport, responded readily.

“Once it’s proven that the pay-per-click search advertising model is profitable, countless internet companies desperate for revenue will rush to sign contracts with you.”
“Since we can fill the gap that was most lacking, they certainly will.”

Phillips answered with confidence, but his expression hardened at what I said next.

“While some will enter into legitimate contracts, there will inevitably be opportunists who attempt to steal your ideas outright.”
“…!”
“Copying innovative and superior ideas or technology has always been a persistent problem.”

Indeed, StartDotCom’s crisis—despite its IPO windfall and advertising revenues reaching hundreds of millions of dollars—stemmed directly from the emergence of copycat competitors who had stolen the idea.
The irony was that the copycat threatening StartDotCom was none other than Google.

What was even more remarkable was that in the early days, Phillips himself had proposed a merger, believing the two companies would create tremendous synergies, only to be flatly rejected.

They had dismissed the model dismissively, arguing that accepting payment per click while altering search results would compromise the integrity of search itself.
Yet that same Google later shamelessly replicated the idea and launched their own service—a bitter pill for Phillips to swallow.
I looked at Phillips’s grave expression and offered serious counsel.

“To prevent such damage beforehand, wouldn’t it be wise to strengthen your patent protections beyond what you currently have?”

Phillips paused in thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I hadn’t considered that far ahead. As you say, it does seem necessary to strengthen the patent protection.”
“Well, now that we’re partners in this venture, our firm will provide legal support on our end.”
“I’d appreciate that greatly.”

Phillips readily accepted the proposal.
A subtle smile played at my lips as I achieved what I’d sought so effortlessly.
Of course, reinforcing the patent wouldn’t prevent others from imitating StartDotCom’s search advertising model, but with the strengthened patent rights, I could at least extract significantly more damages and settlement fees than before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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