New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25. Negotiation (5)

 

 

 

Two decision-makers from PayPal entered the VIP Room.

Like typical young Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, they had a confident attitude.

The two people who sat down naturally without showing any signs of intimidation looked like they were already fully prepared for everything.

 

[Nice to meet you. I’m Carter Till. Thank you for Tiger Fund’s interest. I also personally accessed the website called ‘Rollbook’ that I heard about through Musk, and it’s definitely completely different from existing websites.]

[We’re also planning to expand into the United States soon. For that, introducing a simple payment system is absolutely necessary. If PayPal’s technology is added to Rollbook’s existing system, I’m confident it will become a perfect payment system.]

 

Carter Till and the Branch Manager exchanged greetings with a brief handshake and immediately got to the main point.

Since what each party wanted was clear, there was no need for formal pleasantries.

 

[The two-factor authentication system and other security technologies were also impressive. To be honest, they’re exactly the technology PayPal needs right now.]

[Simple payment systems ultimately operate based on ‘trust.’ That’s why security issues occur frequently, and the risks from them are also significant.]

[If Rollbook wants it, we’re ready to start collaboration at any time.]

 

Musk spoke up.

Since he was the person in PayPal’s CEO position, he also held the final decision-making authority.

 

“What does Employee Lee think?”

“I also hope for collaboration with PayPal.”

[Since the founder himself wants collaboration, we can proceed with negotiations quickly.]

[If the conditions match, we could even sign a contract today.]

 

The Branch Manager’s time began.

While the PayPal founders might have the advantage in technical aspects, when it came to negotiation, the Branch Manager was several steps ahead.

 

[Tiger Fund already holds some equity shares as an early investor in PayPal. With this technology sharing and collaboration as an opportunity, we’d like to secure a bit more equity. Of course, we’re thinking of offering a fair amount.]

[There aren’t many equity shares we can sell in the current situation.]

[We’re not hoping for a large amount. About 5%, wouldn’t that be possible?]

 

Musk and Carter Till had a brief conversation between themselves.

Then, as if they had made up their minds, they turned their heads back to look at us.

 

[About 5% equity is possible. But there’s one condition. We’d like to exchange equity shares with the Rollbook founder, not the private equity fund. Private equity funds ultimately prioritize profits, but developers have to take the company to the end.]

[Then I’ll step back for a moment.]

 

The Branch Manager leaned back deeply into the sofa.

Now it was my turn.

After hearing Musk’s proposal through the interpreter, I nodded and spoke carefully.

 

“If it’s an equity exchange for technical cooperation, I welcome it too. But I’d like to set one condition.

I want to exchange equity equally, 5% each.”

[Equal equity exchange… Isn’t PayPal’s value much higher based on current standards? Without other conditions, it’s difficult to accept.]

“Of course. I’d like to add the condition of re-evaluating each company’s value after one year and settling the difference in cash.”

 

This was a proposal I could make because I had confidence.

PayPal would also grow rapidly, but I believed Rollbook would grow much faster than that.

 

[Wouldn’t it be better to settle now? In one year, PayPal’s value could jump 10 times higher than now.]

“Rollbook will grow just as much. And if cash settlement becomes difficult, we can reduce risk by returning the received equity shares.”

 

Carter Till and Musk looked at each other.

A moment of silence passed, and then Musk smiled and spoke.

 

[This is the first time I’ve heard such an interesting proposal. We’ll accept the proposal. And I hope we can continue to jointly develop various technologies in the future.]

“If good ideas come to mind, I’ll consult with PayPal first.”

 

Technical cooperation and equity exchange.

Rollbook and PayPal had now become a community that would grow together and bear risks together.

It was the moment when two precise cogwheels meshed together, and from this start, we could build a massive structure.

 

As the atmosphere became one where the negotiation would succeed,

the Branch Manager leaned forward again and added a word.

 

[The fund won’t intervene in the equity exchange, but I’ll make one proposal. We’ll provide Tiger Fund’s network free of charge. In return, if PayPal goes public in the future, we’d like you to give Tiger Fund the right of first refusal.]

[You mean the right of first refusal. If it’s that level of condition, we can fully accommodate it. We’ll specify it in the contract.]

 

There was already a prepared contract draft.

The Branch Manager requested several modifications, and a contract that everyone could nod to was soon completed.

 

[With this, the contract is finalized. Tiger Fund promises full support for the success of Rollbook and PayPal. We’ll help with legal, financial, and even political issues.]

[That’s reassuring. But rather than problem-solving, we’d appreciate it if you could put some effort into promotion. There are still many companies that don’t know about our service.]

[Rollbook will solve that part. It will become the fastest-spreading website in United States history.]

 

The Branch Manager was more confident of Rollbook’s success than I was.

Of course, it was definitely a well-made website, but he was confident of success for different reasons than mine.

 

Tiger Fund’s network.

Connections to various companies, institutions, and even the political world.

This was the basis for his confidence that we could penetrate the United States market much faster than in Korea.

 

[Rollbook was definitely an interesting website. We’ll take care of Stanford promotion. Most of our team are Stanford graduates, so our network is solid.]

[As Rollbook users increase, PayPal’s usage rate will also increase together.]

[More than that… I want to start collaboration with Mister Lee as soon as possible. When would it be possible?]

 

Musk leaned forward and asked.

I felt the same way.

I wanted to start work as soon as possible.

 

“When I return to Korea, I’ll immediately begin research. Although we can’t work in the same space, collaboration should be fully possible with just email and code.”

[Don’t do that and come over to the United States.]

“I appreciate the offer, but I still have many things left to do in Korea.”

[That’s unfortunate. Then, next time we’ll go to Korea.]

 

I felt a strange sense of kinship with Musk and Carter Till.

The same disposition and the same sense of purpose as me.

It was a sense of kinship that could only be felt among people who wanted to design structures rather than be part of structures.

Perhaps that’s why, even though we met for the first time today, it felt like we had known each other for years.

 

[Alright! Let’s call it a day here. We can’t leave the booth empty for too long, can we?]

“Thank you for the great contract! Please take care of us going forward.”

[We’re the ones who should be grateful! Well then, see you next time.]

“I’ll contact you about the collaboration as soon as possible.”

 

Musk and Carter Till left the VIP Room.

Watching their retreating figures, the Branch Manager spoke meaningfully.

 

“Thanks to Apple and Microsoft, the PayPal contract was easily concluded.”

“Is it because Nexpin’s recognition has increased?”

“That’s right. No matter how much PayPal is still a small venture, they wouldn’t have exchanged equity shares with a small Korean website and even pursued joint development. But Nexpin has already become a company that both Jobs and Gates have their eyes on. Thanks to that, there were no trust issues.”

 

Indeed, what would they trust to make a contract with a small Korean company?

But during the COMDEX period, Nexpin’s recognition rose exponentially, and thanks to that, Rollbook was also able to enjoy the benefits.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help in the negotiation.”

“For someone saying that, you wrapped up the negotiation really cleanly. The equity swap with the value reassessment condition after one year was an excellent idea that even I hadn’t thought of.”

“I was thinking about how we could exchange equity shares on equal terms and just said whatever came to mind.”

 

Come to think of it, watching yesterday’s negotiation with Bill Gates was a great help.

Thanks to seeing right beside me how the Branch Manager designed the situation and led the other party’s psychology, I was able to think of a similar flow today.

 

But I was still lacking.

Negotiation was a battle of initiative and control.

I felt the desire to design and adjust the situation even more than now.

 

“You really did well. Sincerely. Actually, if it were up to me, I’d want to bring you over to our private equity fund side.

Jobs, Bill Gates, and even the PayPal people – now I understand why they all covet Employee Lee so much.”

“I’m grateful you say that, but I still have many shortcomings.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. Oh, and there’s no schedule tomorrow. Rest well for a day with President Cha and Manager Kim. Since we came all the way to Las Vegas, shouldn’t we at least check out the casino?”

 

The purpose of this business trip had been sufficiently achieved.

And since the private equity fund personnel could handle the booth for about a day, we were given what was essentially a bonus rest period.

 

Actually, it was an unnecessary bonus for me.

I wanted to move according to the COMDEX routine I had just gotten used to.

But I didn’t refuse the rest for the sake of my colleagues.

 

“Thank you. I was actually feeling uncomfortable because it seemed like I was the only one having fun.”

“I already gave some tourism money to President Cha too. Let’s have fun and then return to Korea.”

 

My heart was full of desire to return to Korea quickly.

I wanted to recombine the technologies I gained from COMDEX, and thoughts of making the gear structure even larger through collaborations with various companies filled my head.

 

***

 

Could there be a more glamorous place than this?

That was the first thought that came to mind when I entered the Las Vegas casino.

Sparkling lights filled the ceiling, free drinks and food were spread everywhere, and it felt like all my senses were being stimulated simultaneously.

 

It wasn’t an environment that made me particularly uncomfortable either.

It was a space designed with consistent patterns.

Since it was a space designed solely to make customers open their wallets, there was a sense of unity.

 

“President, how much did we get?”

“Exactly a thousand dollars. That’s about a million won.”

“But… what do we do now? Employee Lee, have you ever played casino games?”

“I’ve never even played simple card games.”

 

I had no interest in gambling at all.

Games that relied on uncontrollable luck didn’t suit me.

 

“Should we just buy gifts with this money? It would be perfect to buy chocolate for our colleagues.”

“Still, since we’re here, we should try it once. Just 100 dollars! Consider it a loss.”

“What game will you play?”

“Employee Lee will decide that. You trust and leave this kind of intuition to him.”

“I don’t particularly have a game I want to play.”

 

I’m not a fortune teller, so how would I know?

But the moment I passed by a slot machine,

I saw a spinning gear overlapping on top of the machine.

 

“Why? What game do you want to play?”

“I’d like to try this machine once.”

“Good, President! Employee Lee is drawn to that machine.”

“Then we have to try it. Think of it as a commemoration and pull it refreshingly.”

“If you win, we split it!”

 

The Department Manager gave me a 100 dollar bill.

I instinctively put the bill into the machine and pulled the lever.

 

“100 dollars for one slot? Wow, you sure picked like a ghost again.”

“Don’t hesitate and pull! If you lose, we’re going straight to the gift shop!”

 

Whirrrr!

I put full strength into my hand and pulled the lever.

A hundred thousand won for this one action, but there must be a reason why the gear appeared.

 

Beep beep beep beep! Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeeeering! Ba-bam! Ba-bam! Beep-ding!

A sound louder than the siren that suddenly rang.

The word JACKPOT flashed large at the top of the slot machine.

 

“What? Did the jackpot hit?”

“President, Employee Lee hit the jackpot! Jackpot!!”

“How much? How much did it hit?”

“50,000 dollars! Fifty million won hit in one shot! Oh, this lucky charm is really adorable!”

 

It really worked.

The people in front of the machine started applauding.

A staff member approached and handed over a paper like a check with $50,000 written on it.

 

“Employee Lee, is there any other machine you’d like to try?”

“Just a moment.”

 

I looked around the casino here and there, searching once more to see if there was any machine that brought gears to mind.

But today’s luck seemed to be just a one-time thing.

 

“Let’s just go now. If we do more here, I think we’ll just lose money for nothing.”

“Right, if Employee Lee says let’s go, then we should go! Wow~ we can really buy some proper gifts.”

“Family gifts are okay too, right?”

“Of course! Buy everything you want!”

 

It was a day like a gift from heaven after all our hardships.

We left the casino and headed to a nearby souvenir store.

We were able to return to Korea with light hearts, carrying armfuls of gifts for our families and work colleagues.

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