I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 473

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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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Chapter 473
Jeon Tae-guk stared at me with a flustered expression.
My words had clearly shocked him.
“Sung-guk, what are you saying? That it’ll fail? We haven’t even started yet….”
“Brother, how much actual experience do you have in the IT industry?”
“Well… you’re right here beside me, and you’re a global legend in the IT world.”
“I mean, how much have you personally worked in this field?”
“I… I worked at your company before.”
I nodded.
Before Jeon Tae-guk began working in earnest at Samjeon, he had worked at our company.
“Back then, you handled most of your tasks with Samjeon’s help.”
“That may be true, but….”
Jeon Tae-guk trailed off.
Whether then or now, Jeon Tae-guk’s identity was Samjeon.
The reason I needed him back then was precisely because of Samjeon’s support.
“You didn’t start a company from scratch, and your experience at a successful IT firm was mostly just handling tasks with Samjeon’s assistance. That’s all there is to it.”
“Sung-guk, don’t wound me with words… I’m being serious. If I can’t pull this off, my position as successor is in jeopardy.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, stop exaggerating.]
He simply needed justification—his position as successor wasn’t actually in danger.
Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with a slightly sullen expression.
“I came to you for advice, and you’re being awfully cold about it, aren’t you?”
“Brother, it’s not coldness—it’s the truth. You said all of Samjeon’s top talent gathered, but have any of them actually worked outside of Samjeon?”
“Well, that’s….”
That was the reason I had failed with E-Samjeon in my previous life.
Son Jung-hoon, the CEO of Hard Bank, wasn’t born into a chaebol family.
He was a case of building wealth from the ground up, developing an instinct for investment through diverse experiences.
But I was different in my previous life.
I was born into a chaebol and received successor training.
In short, I was a frog in a well.
The bitterness of those days rose to my throat.
“Brother, the IT sector is a place of constant change. To develop a sense for what might emerge and why, you need people with deep understanding of the field. It’s not just about top grades.”
I offered my advice earnestly.
It was counsel born from the failures of my previous life—wisdom that had become my flesh and blood.
Jeon Tae-guk’s expression suggested he was beginning to understand what he had done wrong.
“Brother, start E-Samjeon over from now with the resolve that it’s a fresh beginning.”
[A dog at the village school—now listen to me carefully. If you want to recite poetry!]
“Sung-guk, you’re saying I need to recheck everything from the ground up?”
“E-Samjeon—Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung must have already set everything up for you, right?”
“That’s right.”
Jeon Tae-guk nodded heavily.
I could tell without even looking that it was a talent pool I already knew about.
Jeon Tae-guk probably had Samjeon’s founding contributors positioned right beneath him, and the team members were likely elite talents gathered from Samjeon Group itself.
“Brother, you need to stop just picking up a spoon from tables others have set. You’re the representative director of E-Samjeon. If that’s the case, you should be the one thinking about and selecting the company’s personnel.”
Jeon Tae-guk didn’t answer my words.
But just from his facial expression, it seemed he’d realized how poorly the first button of E-Samjeon had been fastened.
“You’re right, Sung-guk. Even if E-Samjeon succeeds, people won’t see it as my success.”
[Huh?]
“I’ll verify everything from the ground up once more.”
Today, for the first time in my life, I saw Jeon Tae-guk’s resolute face.
[Even a dog at a village school becomes human if you keep at it, huh?]
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk sat before Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung with a stern expression.
Though it was the weekend, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung had come to work as always, and Jeon Tae-guk had exceptionally come in as well.
“You’ve come to the office on a weekend—what’s this about?”
“Father, I have something to tell you.”
Jeon Tae-guk’s voice was grave.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung found this side of Jeon Tae-guk unfamiliar. He’d almost never seen him like this.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung leaned forward. For some reason, he had a premonition that today he would see a different side of his son.
“Go ahead, let me hear it.”
“It’s about… my inauguration as representative director of E-Samjeon.”
“Wasn’t it set for next Monday?”
“Please postpone the inauguration.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was actually quite shocked. But he tried his best not to show it.
“May I ask the reason?”
“I’ve been reviewing E-Samjeon’s personnel all through last night.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung doubted his ears.
“You did it yourself?”
“Yes, Father.”
Until now, Jeon Tae-guk had only eaten from tables others had prepared. Often, he hadn’t even managed to eat properly from those.
And now this Jeon Tae-guk had personally reviewed E-Samjeon’s personnel one by one?
Anyone who knew Jeon Tae-guk would doubt their ears hearing this.
Jeon Tae-guk continued.
“Father, please let me restart E-Samjeon’s setup from the beginning.”
“Why?”
“I cannot see E-Samjeon’s future with these personnel.”
Such words coming from Jeon Tae-guk’s mouth…
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was somewhat shocked. No, to be honest, it was more than shock.
“You’re dissatisfied with E-Samjeon’s personnel?”
“Of course, they are certainly Samjeon’s finest talents. However, to be frank, I’m skeptical whether these individuals are truly experts in an IT industry that changes by the day.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung felt as though he’d been struck on the head.
Jeon Tae-guk had identified the greatest risk of E-Samjeon: it was packed with talented individuals whom everyone, including himself, called elites.
“Are you trying to build a foreign mercenary squad or something?”
“Not exactly, but I’d like to assemble a diverse group of talents. I believe the foundation of the IT industry is brilliant ideas. Honestly, even looking at Sung-guk’s success, the older generation doesn’t understand it. Nobody cared when people would want to connect with friends online or express themselves. It was never on anyone’s radar.”
“Hmm… You have a point there.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung nodded in agreement.
He understood well that assembling only first-rate talents didn’t guarantee first-rate results.
“But Tae-guk, from my long experience, a group composed solely of top performers carries less risk.”
“I understand. Just like Samjeon is now. But I think that’s really Samjeon’s case. That strategy might work for a company with an already stable industry, but E-Samjeon is different.”
“So, you genuinely want to postpone the inauguration ceremony?”
“Yes. And please give me authority over personnel decisions.”
That was truly a difficult matter.
Honestly, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung didn’t yet trust Jeon Tae-guk one hundred percent.
Jeon Tae-guk knew this fact all too well.
“Father, if we continue like this, E-Samjeon will collapse. When that happens, people will likely blame your poor judgment rather than me. But if I proceed according to my plan and fail, then everything becomes my responsibility.”
Jeon Tae-guk struck at Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s weak point with precision.
Having grown up as a crown prince and lived a life without failure, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was always sensitive to the prospect of failure.
“Very well. Then go ahead and try it your way. You decide the inauguration schedule as well….”
“Thank you, Father.”
Jeon Tae-guk quickly rose from his seat.
At that moment, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Tae-guk, these thoughts of yours—are they entirely your own? Or….”
“Are you asking if they’re Sung-guk’s ideas?”
“Yes….”
“Father, even if these thoughts are Sung-guk’s, wouldn’t it be fine as long as I make them succeed? That’s how you utilize talent, isn’t it?”
….
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung nodded instead of answering.
Jeon Tae-guk left the Chairman’s Office with an animated expression.
And Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung smiled for the first time in a while.
Jeon Tae-guk was growing after all!
* * *
Week one of the “molding people” project.
There was one thing in this world that refused to move according to one’s will: people.
I had elevated investments and companies to their peak using memories and abilities from my previous life, but people alone defied such control.
My parents were the same, and my two perpetually complaining younger siblings were no exception.
I’d managed to make my two siblings barely function as human beings by wielding the carrot and stick appropriately.
And then there was Jeon Tae-guk, my younger brother from my previous life.
I had simply offered him a few words of advice because I wanted to test E-Samjeon once more in this life—a company I had spectacularly ruined in my previous one.
After that, Jeon Tae-guk secured an office for E-Samjeon right next to the Alpha office in Pangyo.
By Samjeon’s standards, it was practically a hole-in-the-wall operation.
Commuting from there, Jeon Tae-guk spent breakfast, lunch, and dinner with me.
Knock. Knock.
Noon.
Hell hour had returned once again.
The door swung open, and Jeon Tae-guk entered in his training clothes.
“Sung-guk, I burned through my mental energy this morning… let’s grab eel rice bowls for lunch. Park Secretary is bringing some from a place in Cheongdam-dong that does them well.”
“Hyung, you’re not even trying to hide that you came here to get sauce from me.”
“Don’t be like that. Honestly, I could just accept whatever Father serves me on a platter, but because of what you said, I’m suffering like crazy too. Sung-guk, I’m only getting five hours of sleep these days.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, that’s my everyday reality.]
Soon Secretary Park Sung-hee arrived with the packaged eel rice bowls.
“Young Master dislikes eating from disposable containers, so I specially requested they bring it in the original dish.”
[A dog at the village school has a long way to go before becoming human….]
Secretary Park Sung-hee quickly set up the meal.
And as Jeon Tae-guk rapidly consumed his eel rice bowl, he brought up the talented individuals he’d been considering.
“Sung-guk, you know Lee Kyung-soo, the investment specialist?”
“Of course. He’s a famous investor in the domestic venture sector.”
“What if I brought him on as an advisor?”
“Hmm… to have him as an advisor, his character matters most. First, meet him in person. Don’t rush into making an offer right away.”
“Ah, you’re right!”
Even as Jeon Tae-guk ate his eel rice bowl, his eyes never left the recruitment list.
“My head hurts. It feels like me and the talent team employee are literally hunting down hidden masters from nowhere.”
“Hyung, don’t overthink it, and don’t go to the opposite extreme either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hyung, you seem too rushed right now. I understand you’re anxious about abandoning the fully-established E-Samjeon and starting from scratch, but you need to understand that since you’re personally setting this up, you should prioritize meeting each individual and grasping their character first.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, this is expensive advice from the former Vice Chairman of Samjeon Group and current CEO of FaceNote, YouTube, Instagrim, and Alpha.]
“A company is ultimately an organization. If you want to excel alone, you’d be better off doing an individual sport like swimming.”
“So you’re saying it’s more important to recruit talent that fits E-Samjeon?”
“Yes.”
[A dog at the village school is finally starting to understand.]
Jeon Tae-guk looked at Secretary Park Sung-hee with a firm expression.
“Park Secretary, set up meetings with everyone on our list—lunch, dinner, coffee time, whenever. Make it at Samjeon Hotel.”
“Yes, I’ll arrange that.”
And Jeon Tae-guk turned to face me.
“Sung-guk, honestly, the talent I most want to recruit is you. You know that, right?”
….
I simply ate my eel rice bowl, waiting for what came next.
“Should I make that offer now?”
“Hyung, I won’t be joining E-Samjeon. That’s not the picture Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung wants either. Hyung, even if this project is difficult, you need to do it yourself. That way, whether you succeed or fail, it’ll be meaningful.”
[A dog at the village school—I’m literally dying trying to make a person out of you too!]

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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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