Making the Most of a College Student’s Advantage
“Hmm. Did it show that much?”
“It didn’t show that much. But I figured there was no way a real college student who knew nothing would remember only the toxic clauses in such detail. That was just my guess.”
“Yes. JH Medical didn’t exactly leave a good impression.”
At my answer, Director Son Boyoon burst into loud, clear laughter.
It sounded like laughter that had come straight from the heart.
“Nice work. I heard the person who sent that got demoted, right? He was the bastard who made my business hard too.”
“Kang Sangyoon?”
“Yes. Ah, I felt so relieved I could’ve screamed~”
Looking every bit refreshed, Director Son Boyoon stretched her arms overhead.
Then she turned to me with a face full of anticipation.
“You came here to ask me to work with you, didn’t you?”
At the direct question, I smiled and nodded.
Then Director Son Boyoon held out both hands toward me, abruptly.
“The business plan. Let me see it.”
The conversation moved with such ruthless efficiency there wasn’t a single wasted word.
I steadied myself and handed over the business plan.
“May I explain it briefly from here?”
“I looked up the basics online already. I’ll read it myself. Just sit there.”
There was no need for a separate pitch or any kind of performance this time.
All I had to do was hand over the business plan from my bag and keep my mouth shut.
“Mm-hm~ Hm~”
Director Son Boyoon hummed to herself as she read through the plan.
She went over everything carefully, from the companion-animal X-ray analysis AI product to the human X-ray analysis AI product.
“You’ve got veterinarians who can help, but no doctors. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Mm. Still, this would be interesting.”
The first piece of feedback was fairly positive.
But the next sentence didn’t come so easily.
It seemed like her mind was tangled.
“What part worries you the most?”
At my question, Director Son Boyoon frowned slightly and answered.
“There’s too much to worry about. The only upside is that it ‘sounds interesting.’”
I nodded calmly.
“You’re already running this hospital successfully, and I imagine you’re also worried people might misunderstand and think you’re developing an AI to replace doctors.”
“Those two are the biggest things.”
“If you’d rather stay involved only to the extent that it doesn’t interfere with the hospital, then I’ll ask for help only in that part of the project.”
“But if we’re going to do something interesting, then honestly, it’s better to get more involved and throw ourselves into it. Hm.”
Director Son Boyoon was the kind of person with real drive.
The kind of person who had started a business while she was still being ground down in the process of becoming a specialist.
But she didn’t seem certain enough to step halfway into something.
“If I put my hand to a business, I want to do it with everything I’ve got. It’s all or nothing.”
“Yes.”
“It’s not that I dislike it.”
She seemed to know herself that she was wavering.
She kept sneaking glances at my expression, and it almost looked like she felt bad.
“Director. Please tell me honestly what part troubles you the most.”
So I asked more firmly.
It was the only way to keep the conversation moving quickly and smoothly.
Then Director Son Boyoon stripped the laughter from her face and threw the answer straight at me.
“It’s embarrassing to join a company that hasn’t really accomplished anything yet.”
It was an honest answer.
There was no need to keep circling the subject anymore.
“Are you worried the company you’d belong to might fail?”
“No. Looking at CEO Kim Siwon, I don’t think you’d let the company fail.”
“Then what’s the point that makes you feel embarrassed?”
“I don’t want to attach myself to a company whose name value is lower than mine.”
Name value.
At those words, I nodded.
Director Son Boyoon was still someone who never slacked off on things like academic conference presentations.
So even though she wasn’t a professor at a university hospital, her standing in the field of pulmonology was by no means low.
From that position, she probably didn’t want to belong to a company that still had no real shape.
Right. It was the kind of situation where an awkward label would feel burdensome.
“Does that bother your pride?”
“No. I understand.”
I looked steadily into Director Son Boyoon’s eyes and said, “First, I’ll show you results with the canine chest X-ray diagnostic assistance AI currently under approval.”
At my words, Director Son Boyoon smiled with a playful expression.
She seemed to take it as nothing more than a casual “I’ll do my best from here on.”
So I gave her something more concrete.
“I’ll bring in at least 3 billion won in investment within three months.”
At that, the playful atmosphere vanished completely.
The serious conversation had begun.
“You’ve started a company before, so you’ll know this: 3 billion won at the pre-A stage isn’t bad.”
“And after that?”
“We’ll prove our product’s performance in reputable journals related to computer engineering and veterinary medicine.”
“How long?”
“Let’s set the initial target at one year. Before then, I’d hope your mind will have changed.”
Now Director Son Boyoon seemed confused too.
It wasn’t absurdly grand, but it wasn’t ordinary either.
“How are you so confident? Is it because Professor Shin Dongjin’s lab tends to publish good papers?”
“That too, and our product is pretty good.”
“Mm.”
“And my team members are all solid too.”
When people take on a “So what have you got?” attitude, it’s better to answer, “We’ve got plenty.”
Excessive humility can make even us look as though we don’t believe in ourselves.
“All right. Let me know whenever you get some kind of result.”
Apparently my approach had worked, because Director Son Boyoon handed me her business card.
For a first meeting, this was a decent haul.
“Yes. Thank you. I’ll give you my card as well.”
“But.”
I was just about to exchange closing courtesies and leave when her voice stopped me again.
“Hmm. What happens if I give you the X-rays I’d be using to train the AI from now on?”
“Do you mean you’d provide data for learning?”
“If I do that, can you put my position on hold for three months?”
I smiled.
Director Son Boyoon.
So she really did want in on our business.
“Three months is fine. We’d be grateful if you came to TA Medical anytime.”
“All right, then.”
“Yes. Then I’ll contact you later with good news.”
“Good. I’ll email you too.”
We exchanged a warm, and oddly meaningful, farewell.
Once I stepped out of the hospital and looked up at the sky, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this good.
Buzz. Buzz.
Just as I was looking peacefully at the sky, my phone started vibrating.
“Perfect timing.”
It seemed good things really did come one after another.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Regression is a precious gift. I knew that.
Literally getting to live a second life was no small thing.
But from the perspective of someone trying to start a company, being a college student was a maddeningly awkward position.
Too old to be treated like a prodigy, too young to be taken seriously as a businessman. That was the age I was in.
So early on, I spent a lot of time worrying about that awkward in-between state.
But Badugi never let me stay stuck in that worry.
The biggest advantage of being a college student is that you can cling to your alma mater’s professors.
It sounded almost too obvious, but nothing could have been more true.
That’s why you latched onto Professor Hwang Junhak.
You should latch on even harder than that. The country’s top university professors are all over the place.
Right. Fair enough.
So I made the professors’ approval my first goal from the outset.
What we were doing wasn’t B2C.
It was a B2B business targeting veterinarians, doctors, and medical device companies, not the general public.
So in truth, recommendations from top experts in the field mattered far more than public recognition from television appearances or the like.
That was part of why I had worked myself to the bone building a connection with Professor Shin Dongjin.
And now the first fruit of that effort was beginning to appear.
Siwon, this time I’m thinking we might push for AI use across the department for academic purposes.
Academic use of AI.
It meant using AI for scholarly purposes, such as education or writing papers, rather than for commercial use.
In cases like that, startups often didn’t charge a usage fee.
There was more diversified value to be gained than immediate profit.
“Does Korea University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine have any conditions to propose?”
Three papers submitted directly by the professor, product introductions in major courses, and even data provision for training.
“That’s excellent.”
See? I did put some thought into it.
At Professor Shin Dongjin’s self-satisfied voice, I smiled.
It was impossible not to laugh at those conditions.
“So once the contract is signed, it’s all right for us to promote that part aggressively, yes?”
Of course. Blast the partnership with Korea University all over the PR.
“What about the free-use period?”
I’ve tentatively set it at three years. That okay?
“Yes. That seems appropriate.”
Send me the contract and I’ll negotiate a little more.
“Thank you, Professor!”
After hanging up, I immediately shared the news in the club group chat.
Unfortunately, the others didn’t grasp at once how good this opportunity was.
“You’ll have the title of an AI used by Korea University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine.
Just think of it as raising the product’s credibility.”
“And they’re sharing X-ray data for product training too. We have to take it.”
Thankfully, with help from Sung-hoon hyung and Juwon, I managed to make everyone understand.
The little project to impress Professor Shin was also nearing completion.
Honestly, the timing was perfect.
You guys, the Your Paw app update is completely ready, right?
Then when’s the release?
The updated adoption-promotion app for Your Paw’s rescue animals had also been completed.
The UX and UI were much cleaner and more intuitive than before.
I heard the Your Paw staff who saw our mockup were so impressed they even offered to publish a PR article about our story instead.
Then once the Korea University contract is signed, have Sung-hoon hyung tell Your Paw too. Tell them it’d be great if they could include that in the PR article.
I nodded at the satisfying flow of business when Badugi suddenly popped up on my phone screen.
I thought for a moment.
I had done a few interviews, but it was hard to say I’d built enough of a connection with journalists to have them write a proper PR piece for us.
At Badugi’s words, I fell into thought.
With so many things to boast about, it was hard to spread the PR around.
I couldn’t just go on a live broadcast at exactly the right moment, either.