The God of Coding, Becoming an IT Conglomerate

41. knowledge explorer

Hoyoung went into a steak house where soft music was playing.

Jones Grill was a street steakhouse that couldn’t be called low-end, but by no means high-end.

But this was one of John Scully’s favorite restaurants.

‘This is Apple’s CEO’s favorite restaurant, whose annual salary easily exceeds hundreds of thousands of dollars… Didn’t Chairman Warren Buffett say his favorite food was Coca-Cola?’

Hoyoung looked around the restaurant.

But John Scully didn’t seem to have arrived yet.

“Have you made a reservation?”

“yes. Mr. I made a reservation with Yoon.”

“Has confirmed. Please come this way.”

I followed the waiter and came out to a fairly private room.

“When my party arrives, please guide them this way. And I will place an order right now. Two T-bone steaks, please.”

Knowing the characteristics of this restaurant, which usually takes 2 to 30 minutes to order, Hoyeong ordered from the start.

When Hoyoung handed the waiter several dollar bills while ordering, the waiter nodded and left the room.

While waiting for John Scully for a moment, Ho-yeong organized her thoughts.

‘John Scully’s knowledge seeker is still dismissed as nonsense, but after a few years, a prototype will be created under the name of Newton Message Pad.’

The Newton Message Pad is considered the world’s first PDA.

In the end, the Newton Message Pad department was disbanded due to sluggish sales, but the iPad department was established with the members intact, and eventually it became the department that succeeded in the iPod touch.

‘Did the Newton Message Pad project start? If so, how far would it have progressed?’

Hoyoung was lost in his thoughts when he heard the waiter’s voice.

“Your companions are here.”

Hoyoung stopped thinking and looked up at the entrance.

A white male with distinct features.

It was the same face Hoyoung had only seen in pictures.

“hello? This is Hoyoung Yun from H&H.”

“This is John Sculley, CEO of Apple.”

Hoyoung briefly shook hands with Scully and examined his face.

At first glance, he seemed soft, but his stubbornness was evident in his pursed lips.

‘This person must also have a personality.’

Hoyoung thought about it and laughed inwardly.

It was a new feeling to see the person who kicked Jobs out of Apple right in front of me.

“What do you mean you want to buy my dream?”

Scully asked without question.

It seemed that he was quite curious about what Hoyoung had left him.

“Shall we have a meal first?”

“Hmm···. I was in a hurry. So, shall we start with the order? I am T-Bone…”

“It’s a T-bone steak, right? I have already placed an order.”

I knew that John Scully liked T-Bone steak because I had researched it beforehand.

Scully looked at Hoyoung with puzzled eyes.

“Did you do a background check on me?”

“haha. It’s embarrassing to say it’s a background investigation. Think of it as asking a trusted source for your favorite food because you wanted to look good.”

Scully laughed at Hoyoung’s clever words.

And at the steak that came in just in time, they finished the meal with a light chat.

“ruler. Then, the meal is over, shall we talk about the main topic?”

“Okay. What the hell is the story of wanting to buy my dream?”

After talking for a while, Scully was different from what Hoyeong had thought.

Until we met, I thought of a cold-hearted and analytical businessman, but in fact, Scully was a person with a hotter heart than anyone else.

‘Well, since he’s that kind of person, he must have left his high-ranking position at Pepsi to change the world instead of wasting his life selling sugar water.’

Hoyoung thought and spoke softly.

“Knowledge Explorer.”

“Aha?”

“Your dream I said I want to buy is a knowledge seeker.”

“A knowledge seeker? whooping…”

Scully laughed bitterly at Hoyeong’s words.

“How are you going to buy that knowledge seeker, which is just a concept? I can’t take my brain…”

Hearing his words, Hoyoung sang for joy inside.

The meaning of that word obviously meant that the production of the Newton Message Pad had not even started yet.

“I was very impressed with the five concepts of the knowledge explorer that the CEO talked about.”

“The five concepts that made me the joke of engineers?”

“you’re right.”

The five concepts of the knowledge seeker he devised were as follows.

First, it should be a size that is comfortable to carry in the hand.

Second, it must have a high-resolution display.

Third, high-quality graphics, animations, and texts must be output.

Fourth, it must have high-quality sound.

Fifth, it should have many multimedia applications such as voice recognition function.

In fact, it was a concept that meant the smartphone of the future.

However, at this time, when John Scully told the technicians about the concept, he was often immediately laughed at.

The reason was that he was making an impossible request.

However, John Scully persevered and succeeded in applying for a patent.

The development of each technology is still far away, but when the technology was developed someday, the idea of having all functions in one device was recognized as a patent.

However, some people kicked their tongues for wasting patent fees on absurd ideas.

“As the engineers say, why do you want to buy an idea that is not feasible?”

“I am not rich, but I am not short of it. Do you know about Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings?”

“The Lord of the Rings? Hmm···. I haven’t read it, but I think I’ve heard of it. Isn’t it a fantasy novel with dragons and magic?”

Hoyoung nodded.

He thought it was good that Scully knew about The Lord of the Rings.

“Do you know how much the film rights to The Lord of the Rings sold for?”

“I don’t know.”

“Despite being a worldwide bestseller, the film rights sold for only $13,000.”

“You sold it for that price?”

“That’s right.”

“Why the hell did you give it away so cheaply?”

Hoyoung shrugged and said.

“Because it was 1976. Tolkien thought so at the time. As Scully said, he thought that his novels with dragons and magic would never be made into films.”

Scully nodded slowly.

“To say the least, that is correct. I still haven’t heard that the novel is being made into a movie.”

Hoyoung barely managed to hold back a laugh.

It is a fact that only Ho-young knows that the Lord of the Rings just mentioned will be released in about 10 years from now and will earn 500 million dollars worldwide at the box office.

“At that time, Tolkien sold the film rights to Saul Jannetz, who came to buy the rights, for two reasons.”

“What is it?”

“The first was back taxes. Of course, when Saul visited Tolkien, he received a tax bill that he had been delinquent and said the amount was 13,000 dollars.”

“ha ha ha. You handled your back taxes in a good way.”

Hoyoung also laughed along with Scully and continued.

“The second reason is important. Tolkien says he found something shining in Saul’s eyes. In fact, even Tolkien himself thought it impossible to film The Lord of the Rings, but in fact, he was the one he most wanted to see. Tolkien saw the passion for cinema in Saul’s eyes.”

“That means…”

“Can’t you feel something in my eyes?”

Scully opened her eyes wide and looked at Hoyoung, then laughed out loud.

“ha ha ha! Are you trying to say that I am Tolkien and Hoyoung is Saul Zannets?”

Like a smart person, Hoyoung understood at once the intention of bringing up the story of The Lord of the Rings.

Hoyoung also smiled at Scully.

After a while, he stopped laughing and talked to Hoyoung calmly.

“Sorry, but I have no taxes owed.”

An expression of euphemism.

But Hoyoung did not give up.

“I am confident that I will make the knowledge seeker a reality.”

“Are you saying you have better technology than Apple? The concept I came up with is a technology that even engineers at Apple, who pride themselves on being the best in the world, raised their hands.”

Hoyeong looked directly at Scully and said.

“If it’s a concept that can’t be realized, can’t you sell it to me?”

“phew···. I think this concept is like a destiny that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. One day, I really want to create a knowledge explorer.”

Despite Hoyoung’s continued persuasion, John Scully was unmoved.

“Then how about this one? I also want to conduct research and development on the knowledge explorer. If we make a knowledge explorer in the future, please allow us to release it freely.”

“Is it a simple use?”

“yes. It’s not a monopoly or anything like that. It’s just that we don’t want patents to get in the way of making knowledge seekers for the rest of our lives.”

Scully’s eyes at Hoyoung softened considerably.

“but···. Yes. It is always young people who change the world. Then I have one condition.”

“What are the conditions?”

“If you make a knowledge finder in the future, would you be sure to put my name on the creator? Thanks to John after the developer list. say.”

Hoyoung laughed at Scully’s words.

“That is natural. So, do you allow me to use it?”

“Permission and what? It’s just a simple concept. haha.”

Hoyoung took out a file folder from his bag.

There was a pre-made contract in the file folder.

“contract?”

“yes. We have prepared a contract to make sure.”

“The clauses are clichéd clauses at first. In addition to that clause, it is a contract that allows me to use the patent rights of Knowledge Explorer and related derivative products. Are you okay?”

Scully nodded with an unreliable expression.

Seeing Scully like that, Hoyeong opened her mouth.

“Then, how much do you want to pay for the down payment?”

“Again, unfortunately, I have no taxes owed…”

Scully laughed out loud as she spoke and continued.

“I have a plate of T-bone steak in debt.”

“A steak?”

“The T-bone steak you bought for me at dinner a moment ago. I will use it to replace the down payment.”

“May I?”

“ha ha ha. If they really create a knowledge explorer, I can achieve my dream. Besides, you could be very famous.”

Hoyoung made a puzzled expression.

“The man who sold the knowledge explorer’s related patent license for a single T-bone steak. Doesn’t this sound better than the story of Tolkien paying back taxes with a down payment for film rights?”

And Scully laughed heartily.

Hoyoung was also dumbfounded and laughed out loud.

“thank you. Mr. Scully.”

“no. Please make sure to see the Knowledge Finder with my own two eyes.”

“I’ll try my best.”

The two chatted for a while and then parted ways.

After leaving the steak house, Hoyoung thought.

‘Things worked out really well. I could barely get it with a steak.’

Researching John Scully’s favorite restaurants in advance had a tremendous effect.

‘In the future, there will be no patent disputes with Apple regarding smartphones.’

Among the contents that Hoyoung had sneaked into the contract with John Scully, there was a word that it was a derivative product from a knowledge seeker.

Since the Newton Message Pad up close and the iPhone far away were all derived products from the concept of a knowledge explorer, the iPhone’s patent will also be available to Hoyoung in the future.

“I did it.”

Hoyeong clenched her fists.

It was rewarding to fly to California.

Not only did it own NeXT and Pixar, but it also acquired the right to use smartphone-related patents later.

But this time in California, the money I spent was not one or two pennies.

Although he invested more than 60 million dollars, Hoyoung’s face was very bright.

In the future, Disney’s stock, and that of a giant stock, was not something you could buy just because you wanted to.

This is because existing shareholders hold tight to their stakes and do not release them to the market.

‘Even though I have to wait a dozen years, it’s well worth it.’

Hoyoung thought that the money invested in Pixar should not be taken care of until Pixar stands up to a certain extent.

I poured all the capital I currently have, but there is no big worry.

‘The IPO of Dell Computer is just around the corner.’

Hoyoung said to Miru, thinking of Dell Computer’s stock graph that would rise steeply.

“ruler. Shall we go back to the hotel now?”

Ho-young got into the car driven by Mi-ru and went back to the hotel.

And that evening, I ordered a glass of wine from room service and looked at the outside view while drinking a glass.

Even after I came to San Francisco, I kept busy.

short break.

Hoyoung enjoyed a break that was never long.

“Now, starting tomorrow, I will invest for the immediate future, not for the future.”

The glistening night view outside the window swallowed even the resolutions he made in his own words.