Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 502

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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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502. I never said I was giving up my investment rights.

Manhattan, New York, USA.
Beneath a cloudless sky, the brilliant midday sun struck the glass windows of the One New York Plaza Building standing tall before the passenger ship terminal, casting brilliant reflections across the facade.
Seok-won, who had arrived in New York yesterday, stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows that dominated one side of his private office, hands buried in his trouser pockets, gazing down at the landscape sprawling beneath his feet.
The large and small vessels crossing the blue East River and the sight of Brooklyn visible beyond the distant riverbank formed a beautiful panorama that seemed to affirm the success I had built up until now.
Though I had achieved such great success that I could be called a titan of Wall Street, the face reflected in the glass windows burned with ambition—not content to stop here, but determined to become the emperor who would dominate Wall Street itself, where money from across the entire world flowed.
At that moment, a light knock sounded, and Daisy, my female secretary, entered and spoke.

“Landon Shore and Andrew have arrived.”
“Tell them to come in.”

Seok-won turned away from the view outside and faced back toward the room.

“Yes.”

Daisy, whose long black hair was striking, stepped out briefly, and shortly after, Landon Shore and Andrew entered the private office together.

“Have you adjusted well to the time difference?”

As Landon Shore asked in a pleasant voice, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’m not flying back and forth constantly, so of course it’s fine.”
“Still, last time your biorhythm was quite disrupted, wasn’t it?”
“That depends on my condition, but fortunately this time it’s the latter.”

Andrew, as always neatly groomed with his trademark suspenders, spoke.

“Seoul and New York are completely opposite in day and night, so it’s naturally difficult for most people.”
“Still, I’m glad you’re doing well this time.”

Landon Shore added his agreement from the side, his expression bright.

“Let’s sit on the sofa and talk.”
“Yes.”

At Seok-won’s words, the two men nodded in agreement.
As Seok-won made his way to the leather sofa positioned in one corner of the spacious office and settled into the central seat, Landon Shore and Andrew naturally took their places on either side.
Shortly after, Daisy brought in tea and set it on the table before leaving. Seok-won, crossing his legs as he sat, turned to Landon Shore with a question.

“I hear Google is planning to pursue Series B funding.”

Landon Shore, receiving his gaze, leaned forward slightly and responded.

“That’s correct. User registrations and search volumes have grown explosively beyond initial projections, reaching tens of thousands of queries daily. This has caused network traffic and server costs to increase substantially.”

Seok-won nodded slightly.

“Google’s advantage over other portal sites has always been its search speed. I’ve noticed the speed has slowed somewhat recently, but now it makes sense—they simply can’t handle the surge in traffic properly.”

Landon Shore picked up the thread, nodding in agreement.

“The founders, Whitcomb and Brown, have recognized the problem and decided to pursue Series B funding to expand their workforce and significantly upgrade their server infrastructure.”
“Their current revenue is limited to the two thousand dollars they receive monthly from Red Hat for providing search results, plus usage fees from some sites using Google’s search function. Additional funding is absolutely necessary.”
“Exactly. Their incoming revenue doesn’t even reach ten thousand dollars, but their expenses are far greater, so they’re burning through tens of thousands of dollars in losses every month.”

Andrew interjected naturally into the conversation.

“As Google’s search gains popularity and traffic explodes, their cash burn rate is accelerating as well. If our calculations are correct, they’ve likely exhausted nearly all of the two million dollars you invested by now.”

With the spread of the internet and the influence of the dot-com boom, Google received high valuations despite generating almost no actual revenue—a situation shared by most dot-com companies of this era.

‘One of the reasons that massively inflated dot-com bubble burst was precisely because earnings were so pathetic compared to stock prices.’

Only after an advertising-based revenue model was firmly established later could Google and other portal sites finally escape the red.
But that was the future, and for now, they were literally pouring water into a bottomless pit.
Yet investors, caught up in the dot-com fever that burned hotter than hot, placed greater weight on growth potential than on the company’s current revenues, and as time passed, more and more of the market’s capital flowed toward dot-com enterprises.
Dismissing his thoughts, Seok-won picked up the teacup before him, took a sip of coffee, set it back down, and asked.

“How much investment is Google looking for?”

Landon Shore answered immediately.

“Ten percent equity for twenty-five million dollars.”
“So you’re valuing the company at two hundred fifty million dollars.”
“That’s correct.”

Andrew’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at Landon Shore’s words.

“Google is certainly a fast-growing dot-com company, but for the valuation to skyrocket over four thousand percent in less than a year from just six million dollars—that seems excessive.”

As Andrew expressed his skepticism openly, Landon Shore seemed to share the sentiment, cautiously gauging my reaction before speaking.

“I also believe two hundred fifty million dollars is too steep.”

Faced with their negative responses, I asked with a measured tone.

“They wouldn’t have inflated the valuation this arbitrarily. What’s their reasoning?”
“Well… that’s…”

Landon Shore’s expression hardened as he straightened his posture.

“It appears they don’t genuinely believe Google is worth two hundred fifty million dollars. Rather, they’re trying to attract investment from other venture capital firms instead of us.”
“What do you mean?”

At my narrowed inquiry, Landon Shore explained the situation in detail.

“As Google demonstrated rapid growth, two major Silicon Valley venture capital firms apparently approached them and proposed investments first.”
“Which ones?”
“Sequoia Capital and KPCB.”

Upon hearing the answer, I furrowed my brow and clicked my tongue briefly.
Sequoia Capital, founded in 1972, and KPCB had such deep histories that they could be said to have grown alongside Silicon Valley itself, and both were major venture capital firms with impressive track records of investing in and successfully developing numerous startups.

‘Under normal circumstances, they would have been the ones to secure Netscape, PayPal, Cisco, and Amazon first—the iconic dot-com companies I invested in—and their reputations would have soared even higher from those tremendous successes.’

My involvement had caused them to miss out on major IT players in succession, so they no longer held the same standing as before my regression, yet they remained major venture capital firms competing fiercely for the number two position in Silicon Valley.
Of course, the overwhelmingly dominant number one was the Eldorado Fund that I managed.
Quickly grasping the situation, I crossed my arms.

“Since we have investment priority with them, they’re demanding an unreasonable valuation hoping we’ll abandon further investment, then they can negotiate with those two venture capital firms.”
“That appears to be the case.”

Andrew wore a displeased expression as he spoke.

“The boss is the one who invested in us when we had nothing. To stab him in the back like this—isn’t it infuriating?”

Landon Shore felt the same frustration, so he shook his head in agreement from across the sofa.

“Honestly, I’m disappointed by the founders’ behavior as well.”

However, Seok-won didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he maintained his composure and displayed a calm demeanor.

“They must have felt burdened about losing more shares when they already hold 33%.”
“Are you saying they’re afraid of losing management control?”

Seok-won nodded at Landon Shore.
Then Andrew raised his voice in disbelief.

“But we promised to guarantee the founders’ management rights, and we’ve kept that promise until now, haven’t we?”
“They probably became wary after seeing us acquire Qualcomm outright.”

Landon Shore countered Seok-won’s words as he leaned back.

“We started the battle for management control over Qualcomm shares before we even signed the initial investment contract with Google.”
“They didn’t think about it when they received the investment, but now it’s caught their attention.”

Landon Shore swallowed a sigh and clicked his tongue.

“Now that you mention it, if we also do the Series B investment, our stake will exceed 40%. I can see why the two founders would be cautious.”

Andrew added with a stern expression.

“If they receive additional investment from elsewhere, the number of shares will increase and their stake will decrease, but they can still maintain their position as major shareholders. I suppose they’ll have to be satisfied with that.”

Just as the two men were expressing their regret, Seok-won casually dropped a bombshell.

“I never said I was giving up my investment rights.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean by that…?”

Landon Shore and Andrew simultaneously widened their eyes and stared at him.

“Surely you’re not considering accepting such an outrageous demand?”
“Even with Google’s steep growth trajectory, this is clearly an overpayment.”

Both men expressed skepticism, dismissing it as an overambitious investment.
They couldn’t have known that Google, which would devour the entire global search market, would surpass a market capitalization of one trillion dollars two decades later.
Considering that Google would be called part of the Magnificent 7 and remain alongside Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple as a representative IT company—the ultimate victor of the internet age—250 million dollars was still a bargain.

“An overpayment? Is it really?”
“…?”
“The fact that both Sequoia Capital and KPCB, the second to none in Silicon Valley, are simultaneously backing Google is proof enough that we needn’t debate whether Google is a venture with high success potential.”

Andrew adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and countered.

“I’ll admit that Google is a lottery ticket with favorable odds. However, in a situation where Yahoo already dominates as the leading player, excessive investment will simultaneously erode profit margins and increase the risks we must bear.”

When I glanced sideways, Landon Shore seemed to share the same sentiment.
Seok-won interlaced his fingers and spoke with genuine seriousness.

“You two on Wall Street know better than anyone how fierce and intense the dot-com fever is.”

His voice, quiet yet clear, resonated softly through the room.

“Yahoo, a fellow portal site, has seen its market capitalization skyrocket repeatedly and is now on the verge of breaking through 50 billion dollars.”

Both men nodded simultaneously.
Since the Eldorado Fund held a massive 40% stake—invested before the IPO—they knew better than anyone what the stock price had become.

“If Google grows smoothly and goes public as expected, even if it’s valued at only half of Yahoo’s comparable valuation, that would be 25 billion dollars, wouldn’t it? Of course, we can’t calculate it so simply, but even if the IPO price comes in lower than half, it would still be far higher than what Google is asking for.”

At any other time, they would have continued expressing concerns, calling such a forecast overly optimistic.
But with liquidity flooding the market alongside the dot-com fever, where stock prices soared wildly whenever “.com” was appended to a company name, Seok-won’s argument sounded plausible.

“…Even if reaching 25 billion dollars is difficult, if we can secure just a 1 billion dollar valuation at the IPO, that’s a jackpot.”

When Landon Shore spoke first, Andrew also relaxed his expression slightly with a hum.

“I still believe the valuation is inflated, but considering the upcoming stock listing, it seems like a worthwhile bet.”

Confirming that both men’s opinions had shifted positively, Seok-won straightened his posture and made his decision.

“Then let’s notify Google that we’ll be handling the entire Series B investment.”

Landon chuckled softly at that.

“They’re probably expecting us to back out. If we agree to their demands outright, the two founders will be quite taken aback.”
“In exchange, make sure to reaffirm our promise to guarantee management rights.”
“Understood. However, once suspicion has taken root, it will be difficult to return to the previous relationship.”
“Hmm….”

Seok-won paused in thought before speaking again.

“Then let’s tell them we’re relinquishing our investment priority rights after this round.”

Both men looked at me with startled expressions at this unexpected decision.

“Is it really necessary to go that far?”

Andrew tried to dissuade me, but I wouldn’t change my mind.

“We’re entering a phase where we need to expand the board and accelerate growth. Scattering our focus on unnecessary matters would be wasteful.”
“That may be true, but….”
“Rather than getting distracted by trivial concerns and missing something more important, it’s better for us to clearly demonstrate that we have no appetite for management control, allowing the founders to concentrate solely on running the company. That benefits us too.”

I smiled with quiet confidence.

“When other venture capitals come in, our stake will be diluted and decrease from what we have now, but with what we’ve already secured, we can maintain our position as a major shareholder while generating sufficient returns.”
“If that’s your intention, I understand.”
“Since we valued the stake at 250 million dollars this time, considering the valuation will only rise next time, perhaps your approach is the better one.”

I certainly felt the temptation to secure more shares while Google’s value was still relatively cheap, knowing how astronomically it would skyrocket in the years to come.
But there was nothing more foolish than letting excessive greed lead me to slit the belly of the goose that laid golden eggs, so I decided to be satisfied with this.

‘Google’s true value lies with the two founders. There’s no need to create unnecessary uncertainties.’

I stroked my chin thoughtfully.

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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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