"Did you say we should expand into the United States and Japan?"
Unable to hide his bewilderment, President Do-seon Choi, who was seated on the right, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and asked again.
Seok-won, however, nodded as if it were nothing.
"That's right."
"We've certainly achieved significant growth so far, but we're still only in the middle tier even within the domestic market. Wouldn't it be too early to turn our attention overseas at this point?"
President Do-seon Choi cautiously expressed his reservations while gauging the atmosphere.
Director Gwang-cheol Woo, who had finished his presentation and taken a seat on the left side, also spoke in a careful tone.
"We've been receiving a strong response from users through the Mini Homepage and avatar services, but competition is still fierce. Rather than spreading our strength across multiple areas, I think this is the time to focus on the domestic market first."
The other attendees did not voice their opinions aloud, but they shared a similar view to the two men.
However, Seok-won thought differently.
"What do you think is the biggest characteristic—and weapon—of the relationship-oriented social media service we created by introducing the concept of Ilchon along with the Mini Homepage?"
At Seok-won's question, everyone hesitated, unable to answer immediately.
Just as he began to feel slightly disappointed by their reaction, President Do-seon Choi opened his mouth to speak.
"The Mini Homepage creates a network of personal connections that links friends to friends, allowing it to expand endlessly. At the same time, once someone enters the ecosystem, it becomes very difficult for them to leave."
As expected of a founding member of Cyber World and the president leading the company, he demonstrated an accurate understanding of the core of social network services. Seeing this, Seok-won showed a satisfied expression.
"Exactly right. Just as President Choi said, once friends enter a particular social network service and begin communicating there, they have little choice but to keep using that service unless they completely separate themselves from their social group."
Seok-won slowly looked around at President Do-seon Choi and the employees as he continued.
"The reason I don't hesitate to invest tens of billions of won is to increase the number of users as much as possible and dominate the market."
As people pricked up their ears and focused on what he was saying, Seok-won continued with a rather serious expression.
"Right now, because the industry is still in its early stages, users are using several services at the same time. But due to the nature of social network services that I mentioned earlier, as time goes on, people will begin to gather around a particular company. The traffic—directly tied to profitability—will increase as well. On the other hand, companies that fall behind in the competition will be unable to withstand user departures and accumulating losses, and will naturally be eliminated and shut down."
Although Cyber World had grown significantly, it had only just climbed into the middle tier. Realizing that, as Seok-won said, their service could also end up among those eliminated and disappear, President Do-seon Choi and the employees unconsciously swallowed nervously.
Looking at the faces of the people, who had begun to show signs of tension, Seok-won continued speaking in a calm tone.
"On the other hand, once all the competitors have collapsed, and we dominate the market, a Lock-in Effect will be created. Since their friends and all of their personal networks will be there, along with the photos they've uploaded and all kinds of records they've accumulated, users will never be able to leave that particular platform and will keep using it. From that point on, not only will we be able to recover every bit of the investment we've made, but we'll also be able to continue generating enormous profits."
Seeing Seok-won laying out his strategy while looking several moves ahead, everyone could not hide their expressions of admiration.
"The reason we need to move quickly into the United States and Japan is exactly that. Right now, there is still no definitive powerhouse in those markets. If we fail to break in and establish ourselves now, we may never get another opportunity."
Although they agreed that hesitation could mean losing the chance altogether, President Do-seon Choi and the employees still hesitated.
After all, they had not yet risen to the top even in the domestic market. They worried that if they hastily turned their attention overseas, they might end up losing even their existing domestic users and fall behind in the competition.
However, Seok-won already knew that before long, the leading companies would make clumsy attempts at monetization, mismanage their members, and provide unsatisfactory services—causing users to leave in large numbers and move to Cyber World. With that knowledge, he spoke firmly.
"Even if we fight through fierce competition and eventually dominate the domestic market, South Korea has a population of only fifty million. That means the limits to growth are obvious. Japan alone has over a hundred million people, and if we can expand the market even further into the United States—which has far more people than that—the potential results will be incomparable. So if we don't want to remain frogs trapped in a well, expanding overseas is not a choice—it's a necessity."
Since there was not a single flaw in what he had said, no one could offer any rebuttal.
The biggest obstacle would normally have been the enormous investment required for overseas expansion, but since Seok-won himself was the owner, that was not something they needed to worry about.
The employees, who had been hesitating out of fear of failure, felt their thoughts gradually begin to change as they listened to Seok-won.
'Isn't there... really no reason not to do it?'
'If he's willing to pour in the investment without hesitation, what is there to worry about?'
Above all, the thought that Cyber World—the platform they had created—might become a global social network service used all over the world rather than remaining confined to the small domestic market made their hearts pound with excitement.
"Form a task force team to prepare for expansion into the United States and Japan, and calculate how much investment will be required before reporting back."
With those words, Seok-won firmly nailed down the decision to expand overseas.
At that, President Do-seon Choi no longer voiced any opposition. Instead, he replied with eyes full of enthusiasm.
"Understood. I will draw up a plan as quickly as possible."
Having decided on Cyber World's overseas expansion in this way, Seok-won murmured to himself inwardly.
'Before long, SNS companies like MySpace and Facebook will start popping up all over the United States. If we want to firmly establish our foundation before that happens, there's no time to hesitate.'
From the moment he acquired Cyber World, Seok-won had never intended to remain confined to the domestic market and act like a small-time king in a narrow neighborhood.
'If you're going to step into the water anyway, shouldn't you swim in the big ocean?'
Imagining the future of Cyber World as it grows into a global social network platform that connects people all around the world, Seok-won formed a deep smile at the corners of his lips.
***
After finishing the meeting, Seok-won left the room and sank into the back seat of the Maybach, gazing indifferently out the car window.
Even though it was midday, the Olympic Boulevard was packed with passing cars, preventing the vehicle from picking up much speed. Beside the road stretched the wide Han River, and along the riverside stood rows of densely packed apartment buildings.
Seok-won suddenly recalled something he had once heard—that one of the things foreigners were surprised by when they visited Seoul was how a large river like the Han River flowed right through the middle of the city, along with the tightly packed apartment complexes. The thought made him let out a faint chuckle.
At that moment, his phone vibrated in the inside pocket of his jacket. Seok-won took it out, checked the name displayed on the screen, and answered the call.
"I'm here."
[I just met with Chairman Sheikh Sabah of Aramco.]
Since he had already been waiting for the result, Seok-won straightened slightly and asked.
"Did they agree to the conditions we proposed?"
[They said they would accept the 10% management fee and the 50% performance fee we proposed.]
Seok-won had expected them to ask for adjustments, so when he heard that they had immediately accepted terms far higher than the industry average, he showed a slightly surprised reaction.
Then, as Landon continued speaking, Seok-won made a face that suggested he had expected as much.
[However, they say they want something in return.]
"What is it?"
Even if they did not end up managing the Saudi royal family's assets, Seok-won had nothing to regret. If the request turned out to be unreasonable, he intended to end the negotiations cleanly.
[They asked to increase the entrusted funds from five billion dollars to ten billion dollars.]
At Landon's words, spoken with a smile, Seok-won momentarily wondered if he had misheard.
"So you're saying they're willing to double the entrusted funds even though they know they'll have to pay one billion dollars a year in fees alone?"
[That's correct.]
Holding the phone to his ear, Seok-won let out an incredulous laugh.
No matter how overflowing Saudi Arabia might be with oil money, ten billion dollars was by no means a small sum.
Yet they were offering to entrust such an enormous amount of capital while also paying massive management fees, which made the situation difficult not to find bewildering.
However, Landon did not seem particularly surprised by it.
[The exact figures have never been publicly disclosed, but Wall Street has a rough idea that our fund has been recording enormous returns every year. Naturally, the Saudi royal family must know that as well, which is why they were the ones who proposed entrusting us with the asset management.]
"That would make sense."
[Not long ago, The Wall Street Journal published an article estimating that our fund's average return over the past three years exceeded 80%. Of course, in reality, we earned far more than that.]
Realizing what he meant, Seok-won let out a faint chuckle and replied.
"So even if the article exaggerated things, a return of just half that—40%—would still earn them three billion dollars after fees. In other words, it would still be profitable for them."
[Exactly. And didn't we set the benchmark for paying performance fees at a 40% return?]
"We did."
[It seems the Saudi royal family interpreted those conditions to mean that we are confident in generating returns of over 40% every year.]
A low chuckle escaped from Landon on the other end of the phone.
[In that case, even after paying both the management fee and the performance fee, the calculation shows that it would still be far more profitable than entrusting their money elsewhere.]
Considering that even the best-performing funds on Wall Street record annual average returns of around 20%, Landon's explanation made sense.
[Moreover, it's not as though they can entrust money to our fund whenever they want. It seems they intend to commit as large an amount as possible while this opportunity exists.]
"Then shouldn't we be charging them even more in management fees?"
[Oh. I see. Shall we raise the fees and submit a new proposal?]
Landon played along smoothly with Seok-won's joke.
"That's fine. Well, if the entrusted funds increase to ten billion dollars, the fees will increase accordingly, so there's nothing for us to lose."
[Ah, and they also said that part of the management fee could be replaced with shares of SA Oil and transferred immediately upon signing the contract.]
"That's better. No need to make things complicated."
Seok-won nodded.
[Then, shall we conclude the negotiations as they are?]
"Go ahead."
[In that case, I'll contact you again after the contract has been finalized.]
"All right."
After ending the call, Seok-won leaned back against the soft leather seat and muttered to himself.
"If it becomes known that I've acquired shares of SA Oil, the stock price will rise. I should secure additional shares before that happens."
To manage the company stably and later sell it with a management control premium, he would need to accumulate at least 10 percent of the shares.
After organizing his thoughts, Seok-won immediately dialled a number saved in his phone.
After the ringtone sounded two or three times, Director Ho-geun Choi's voice came through.
[Yes, Chairman.]
"Starting today, begin accumulating SA Oil shares."
[SA Oil shares, you say?]
Director Ho-geun Choi asked back with a hint of surprise.
"That's right. Secure 10 percent of the total shares within a week."
Although it was a sudden instruction, Director Ho-geun Choi did not ask for the reason and simply followed the order.
[Understood.]
After placing the phone back into his inside pocket, Seok-won turned his head toward the window with a satisfied expression and looked out at the scenery passing by.