New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 35

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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 35. Simple Payment System (5)

 

 

 

Employees finally started coming to work at the Rollbook office.

Just watching the employees sit at the furniture and desks I had personally arranged filled me with satisfaction.

 

“CEO, the office is really nice. It’s definitely on a different level from the research lab.”

“Just think of it as the space changing. The people sitting next to you are the same, so you shouldn’t have any trouble adapting.”

“That’s true. Other friends are apparently lounging around for a month or two before graduation, but we started working a bit earlier than others.”

“Are you disappointed by that? Should I delay your start date?”

“Starting early is much better than worrying about finding a job.”

 

Five people including Kim Sang-sik.

I had to build Rollbook in earnest with them at the center.

I would have liked to bring all the Research Lab Members with me, but I couldn’t pull up everyone who still had several years left until graduation.

 

Of course, there was an exception.

There was someone who came to work despite not having graduated yet.

 

“Everyone came early! I have a free period this morning. Where’s my seat?”

“Min-jung is here too. With these six people and myself, we have seven founding members total. Let’s do well together.”

 

Since we all knew each other’s faces, we exchanged brief greetings.

Then all the gears moved into place and started working, and I prepared to launch the Simple Payment System together with Kim Sang-sik.

 

“Now we can finally implement the Simple Payment System.”

“I nearly lost my hair overhauling the PG company’s system. Without you, CEO, we’d probably still be unable to even touch it.”

“You worked hard too, Sang-sik. Let’s apply it right now.”

 

Korea’s first Simple Payment System on the Internet.

I had lost sleep creating this and registered over 30 patents.

PayPal’s technology was also a great help, and they too were growing rapidly thanks to my patents and technology.

 

“I’ve applied the Simple Payment System! I’ve also put up Simple Payment System ads on all the main banners.”

“I hope sales increase a bit more now.”

“But users are already used to bank transfers, so there might not be immediate big changes, right?”

 

The Simple Payment System started operating.

The first payer appeared later than expected.

Point charging through simple payment only occurred after 10 minutes had passed, and it wasn’t as explosive as we had hoped.

 

“Simple payment still seems unfamiliar.”

“The concept of card registration itself is strange. But once you register once, the authentication process is skipped, so it’s much more convenient.”

“People might think they could get hacked if they register their credit cards. But now that mobile phone payment is also possible, sales should increase.”

 

We had also introduced a mobile phone payment system.

It wasn’t groundbreaking technology, but it was structured so that when payment was approved by entering a verification number, it would be added to the carrier bill.

 

“Mobile phone payment is only possible up to 30,000 won, so sales probably won’t jump dramatically, right?”

“If the proportion of small payments increases, sales could actually rise significantly.”

“But do we have to buy points only online? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to buy them offline too?”

 

Yu Min-jung, who had been watching from the side, suggested an idea.

As she said, there was no need to focus only on online payments.

 

“You mean making it possible to buy and charge points like cards?”

“Like bus cards or gift certificates. If we make the design pretty, they’d be good as birthday or anniversary gifts, and people without cards or accounts could use them too.”

 

I had been trapped within the limited framework of an Internet website.

But reality was still a world where the offline market was bigger than online, and introducing a prepaid card concept could provide various benefits.

 

“We could increase payment accessibility and secure cash flow. Would you like to take the lead in creating the design, Min-jung?”

“I’ll give it a try. But I probably can’t get commission for this.”

“I’ll give you a bonus instead. If sales exceed a certain level, I’ll give you 200% of your monthly salary as a bonus. Is that a decent condition?”

“That’s more than enough! I’ll pour my soul into creating a masterpiece!”

 

I applied what I learned from the Branch Manager.

What moves office workers is ultimately compensation, and I applied to Yu Min-jung the teaching that appropriate rewards lead to better results.

 

Just looking at Yu Min-jung, I could tell the teaching wasn’t wrong.

Her figure heading to the workshop with quick steps while humming was full of excitement.

 

While Yu Min-jung moved to the workshop.

Kim Sang-sik and I discussed distribution plans for the prepaid cards.

 

“For offline sales, we need to connect with stores. If we could sell them at stationery stores in front of schools, PC bangs, and convenience stores, accessibility would be much better.”

“I’ll make contact with them. But we’ll have to give at least 5% commission. Gift certificates and transportation cards give about that much.”

“We’ll have to accept that. We can’t acquire a convenience store company just to save on commission.”

 

I did acquire a PG company to save on commission.

But acquiring convenience stores too would make the cure worse than the disease, so we had no choice but to pay commission.

 

“Still, the commission is quite regrettable.”

“Let’s also discuss giving banner advertisements instead of commission. Even if we can’t get complete commission exemption, we should be able to reduce it somewhat.”

“That’s not bad! I’ll contact the convenience store company right away. I actually got their contact information while distributing the Enterprise Patch.”

 

Kim Sang-sik was already holding the phone.

But to seriously enter the offline business, we lacked manpower on our own.

Especially for commission negotiations, we needed expert help, and we had Tiger Fund as our support.

 

“Let’s request support from the fund. A major fund stepping in should allow us to negotiate better prices.”

“Then that’s less work for me, which is good.”

“Please proceed that way. I’ll go to work at Nexfin and come back when I get off.”

“Even having two bodies wouldn’t be enough. I’ll make a clean prepaid card report.”

 

I came out through the door of the Rollbook office.

It was the moment my CEO business card came off, and when I opened the door to Nexfin, I returned to employee rank again.

 

“Why did you come so early? It’s the first day, so couldn’t you have stayed a bit longer before coming?”

“I have a patent draft I was working on that I need to finish.”

“I told you to take your time. There are already over 10 drafts piled up. So for now, focus more on Rollbook.”

 

The Department Manager spoke urgently, but I couldn’t do that.

I couldn’t stand waiting even one more day to turn the ideas in my head into patents.

And I needed to build up my track record in advance to continue collaborating with MS and Apple.

 

***

 

I left work 30 minutes earlier than usual.

To be precise, I left Nexpin and went back to work at the Rollbook office.

It felt a bit strange to go back to work after leaving work, but it was a new routine I had created after several days of consideration.

 

“CEO! Users are already starting to accept the simple payment system. The sales curve is rising rapidly.”

“That’s fortunate. Is the prepaid card report finished?”

“I included everything you mentioned and wrote it up cleanly.”

“Very clean. There’s no need for revisions.”

“All those reports and papers I wrote countless times in graduate school paid off.”

 

Just as I was about to go find the Branch Manager with the report, it became unnecessary.

The Branch Manager came to the Rollbook office carrying a cake.

 

“Everyone looks very busy. But it’s the first day, so shouldn’t we blow out some candles?”

“Thank you!”

“Let me introduce myself formally. I’m Kang Dong-ju, the Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch. Feel free to call me Mike.”

“Nice name. I’ll call you Branch Manager Mike!”

 

Everyone was in an awkward atmosphere, but Yu Min-jung was the exception.

She was already putting candles in the cake the Branch Manager had brought, and we naturally started a modest celebration party.

 

“How was the atmosphere on the first day?”

“There’s one matter I need to report to you, Branch Manager.”

“Already? I was hoping the first day would be quiet, but I guess it’s not that easy. What’s it about?”

“It’s about introducing prepaid cards. Here’s the report.”

 

The Branch Manager took the report and immediately smiled.

A pleased expression appeared clearly on his face, and his eyes were full of anticipation.

 

“This is a really good idea. It’s good for cash flow and effective for increasing sales. Is this CEO Lee’s idea?”

“It’s not mine, it’s an idea proposed by Ms. Yu Min-jung.”

“Wait! I’m the one who came up with that!”

 

Yu Min-jung urgently shouted while wiping the cream from her mouth.

The Branch Manager looked through the employee list and then looked at her and said.

 

“Ah, you’re the only employee still in school. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m also in charge of the prepaid card design.”

“Once you complete the design, the fund will take responsibility from factory to distribution.”

“Actually, I was going to consult with you about that. We want to use Rollbook banner advertisements to reduce distribution fees.”

 

The Branch Manager clapped softly and nodded.

 

“Good idea. Convenience stores are sensitive about promotion, so we could negotiate fees with banner advertisements as a condition.”

“There are already many companies waiting for advertisements. I judged that guaranteeing advertisements during desired periods could be a condition for reducing fees.”

“Good. I’ll negotiate the best possible terms for you.”

 

With the Branch Manager stepping in, there was nothing to worry about.

He was someone who could make even American IT company CEOs dance in the palm of his hand.

 

“I’ll report back once the design is completed.”

“There’s no need to be too hasty. Rollbook is already doing well enough. There are few sites in Korea that have grown this rapidly.”

“There are still many areas lacking.”

“Then let me give you a small assignment.”

 

The Branch Manager made a playful expression.

But employees who hadn’t received their diplomas yet reacted sensitively to the word assignment.

 

“What kind of assignment? What’s the deadline?”

“Buy a newspaper tomorrow morning and come to work. That’s all.”

“Do we analyze the newspaper and write a report?”

“No, just buy a newspaper and bring it. Well, I’ll be going now. See you next time.”

 

After the Branch Manager left, the employees gathered around me.

 

“Do we really just need to buy a newspaper? Isn’t there some hidden meaning?”

“I don’t know either. Don’t think too deeply about it, just buy one and bring it.”

“Still, something seems suspicious.”

“Since it’s the first day, let’s all go home. I’ll take the night shift today.”

“You’re taking the night shift, CEO? You don’t need to do that.”

 

In a venture company, the CEO was also an employee.

And I was only a CEO here – if I opened the door and went to the adjacent office, I was just a staff member.

Moreover, there was a mountain of site modifications to do, so I had no intention of going home.

 

***

 

While modifying the site, the sun had risen before I knew it.

Since I had to apply the abstract concept of liberal arts sensibility, the work progressed slowly, and I couldn’t finish the modifications even by the time employees came to work.

 

“CEO! Did you see the newspaper?”

“Ah, I didn’t have any reason to go outside, so I couldn’t buy a newspaper. Do you have a spare newspaper? No, I can’t pass the assignment to someone else, so let me go out and buy one now.”

“There’s no need. Buying a newspaper wasn’t the assignment!”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

 

The moment I saw the front page of the newspaper, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The Rollbook site was decorating the front page, and not just one or two places – several newspapers had run related articles on the front or second page.

 

“What’s going on? Why is Rollbook on the front page?”

“If you read it, you’ll see it’s an article about expanding to the United States. And we even won a venture company award.”

 

The newspaper’s front page headline was also blatant.

[Venture Company Award ‘Rollbook’]

[Korean Website’s Expansion into the United States!]

It was exactly the kind of headline that the Korean Government and Media, obsessed with IT, would love.

 

“It seems the Branch Manager conducted some Media Play.”

“I thought only Large Corporations did this kind of play, but Private Equity Funds do it too.”

“Even for the Branch Manager, getting articles in multiple newspapers would be difficult. Since Rollbook achieved record sales after monetization, the newspaper companies had no choice but to cover it.”

 

You could tell just from reading the article content.

Rollbook’s sales were written in specific figures, and the phrase ‘shortest-term sales record’ was even highlighted with emphasis.

 

“It wasn’t an assignment, it was a certificate.”

“Since we received the certificate, we should do even better. Let’s work hard!”

 

The employees’ eyes changed.

The Branch Manager had utilized even the Media to instill motivation in everyone, and the employees began to focus on their work with fire in their eyes.

 

I definitely needed to learn more about this aspect.

The Branch Manager’s method of using even the Media as lubricant for the gears was nothing short of remarkable.

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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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