Villains Prepping Their Comeback
The paper had been published.
More precisely, papers about our products had been published in both veterinary medicine and human medicine.
It wasn’t just that the research was finished, or that the conference had been decided. These were papers that had actually been presented at academic conferences and then released to the public.
"The newsletter went out the moment the papers were published!"
"Thanks."
As soon as the papers were announced, we sent the news by email to everyone whose contact information we’d collected.
When a veterinary medicine paper was published, emails went out to veterinary professors and professionals in the field; when a medical paper was published, they went to Asian doctors we’d met through exhibitions.
"So there’ll be more business trips now?"
"We won’t suddenly be drowning in them, but yes, we’ll probably be busier than before."
"Does that mean we need to hire more people?"
"Let’s first see what direction the business settles into."
By then, no one at TA Medical was surprised or rattled by the fact that things were getting busier.
They were simply focused on watching the total number of demo contracts go up, the way you’d watch a game score climb.
"The PR article’s been distributed, right?"
"Yes. Everything went out normally."
"And the company website, recruiting page, and product materials—those have all been updated too?"
"Yes. They’ve all been applied."
Fortunately, we’d already prepared the marketing updates for each channel in advance.
It was a precaution to make sure that when people searched for the product, the latest information about us would be the first thing potential clients saw.
"Since all our products have already passed domestic approval, we can just stack up the demos as the calls come in, right?"
"If another paper comes out, we’ll announce it with fanfare, and when we sign a proper contract, we’ll celebrate by eating beef."
"Haha. This is the kind of busy I can live with!"
No matter how much I denied it, everyone could only imagine a sudden, rosy future.
So many good things had happened one after another that they seemed full of hope that business would keep going like this forever.
That kind of optimism wasn’t entirely a bad thing; it gave them more loyalty to the company than most office workers had. But too much of it could be dangerous, too.
"So far, it’s been one rapid growth after another, but soon we’ll start running into a lot more situations where we have to stop things from going downhill."
At my earnest answer, everyone burst out laughing.
"Well, sure, next year’s growth rate probably won’t match this year’s. But you’re already worrying about a downturn?"
Everyone was laughing, but I couldn’t offer more than a faint smile.
I’d seen up close what startups went through as they grew.
"So is the meeting over? It ended early today, didn’t it?"
"Ah. There’s one more item."
So I had to prepare, step by step, for the future coming our way—and if possible, start with the nearest future first.
"What do you think about M&A involving TA Medical?"
M&A: merger and acquisition.
It was uncommon in Korea, but among overseas startups, especially in the United States, it happened fairly often.
"You mean being bought by a bigger company?"
"In simple terms, yes."
At my flat answer, the members were all shocked.
They were worried that TA Medical—their precious company—might be sold off at any moment.
"I hate that! We came this far, and now you want to just throw the company away?"
"I’d rather see TA Medical grow even bigger and become a major corporation. I don’t want us getting swallowed up by someone else!"
"You’re not seriously thinking about that, are you?"
Everyone was practically jumping out of their seats.
Still, looking at their faces, I could tell they really did want to protect the company.
"I don’t want that either. I only wanted to ask for your opinions first."
"Why would you think we’d like that?"
"Because if you have shares in the company, it’s the fastest way for you to realize financial gain."
They all looked at me as though I’d said something absurd, and answered with immediate firmness.
"We’re going to protect the company with our shares."
"Any company that invested in us would think the same thing."
I let out a tiny sigh of relief.
"Yes. Then I’ll make our defenses even more solid to protect the company."
At my words, Ha Juwon shook her head and scolded me.
"You don’t need to go looking for negative possibilities, Siwon. The company isn’t even making real profits yet."
I decided not to reply to that.
"Right. I just ended up making everyone uneasy for no reason. Let’s go buy coffee!"
"Oh, yeah!"
Now that I knew how my team felt, it was my job to make sure I protected what we had built.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In truth, Kim Siwon’s concern wasn’t unfounded.
It would be hard to call it needless worry, because there were quite a few companies eyeing TA Medical.
"TA Medical looks like it’d be a good one to swallow."
"Exactly. Rather than making uncertain investments, it’d be better to eat them up through M&A."
"The people there might even be waiting to be absorbed into a big corporation."
"Aren’t there already some places moving on it? Find those first."
Its current market value might be small, but its growth potential was obvious.
It was a front-runner in a newly emerging field, and the first to stake out a position in the gold mine that was medical technology.
Anyone in the know couldn’t help but lick their lips.
For now, though, everyone was still at the stage of figuring out the right way to go about it.
"Sangyoon. You know all the TA Medical people’s contact info, right?"
In the middle of all that, someone who had been fading from Kim Siwon’s mind started to come up again.
Kang Sangyoon, once a rising star at JH Medical before being demoted to a local branch.
His MBA classmate from college approached him.
"What about those bastards?"
Dumped into a drinking session while nursing a bruised ego, Kang Sangyoon snapped at his friend immediately.
The one pouring drinks for Kang Sangyoon and asking about TA Medical was Jang Minjin, chairman of a mid-sized IT company.
"We’re going to take over TA Medical."
At his friend’s blunt declaration, Kang Sangyoon gave a bitter smile.
Even when the man was riding high at number one in the industry, it had made him sick with envy; now that he was talking about taking over a company Kang had found first, it was enough to drive him mad.
"If we buy it, you should be the one running it."
But then, at his friend’s sudden proposal, Kang Sangyoon’s eyes widened.
"Honestly, no matter how big JH is, the real money only comes when you’re the one sitting in the CEO’s chair. And this is the company you found first, isn’t it? You should be the one steering it."
The offer was simple, and dangerously tempting. Before he knew it, Kang Sangyoon was smiling.
"So all I have to do is give you the contacts?"
"We need to plan it together. Who’s in TA right now, what they do, how to sweet-talk them—we should go over all of it."
At Kang Sangyoon’s smile, his friend smiled too.
"If they agree to join, will you put it in writing?"
"Of course. Let’s start with me as an executive in TA Medical. Put all those co-founders under you."
"You said you’d make me the representative."
"If I suddenly write up a contract saying I’m making you CEO, I’ll look suspicious too. There won’t be any competitors, so just climb up as fast as you can!"
Two snakes talking over drinks.
But at this point, Kang Sangyoon’s position inside JH Medical was beyond miserable.
So even if there was a chance he’d take a loss, he couldn’t afford to pass up the opportunity to become the CEO of a promising company.
"For now, the CEO is some guy named Kim Siwon. He’s been on TV a lot—you know his face, right?"
"Of course. That smart-acting pretty-boy bastard."
"He’ll never be persuaded, so we’ll have to move behind the scenes."
No matter that Kang Sangyoon had been demoted to a department everyone avoided. The experience he’d built up over the years was no joke.
He knew very well how to make a startup’s life miserable.
That had practically been his day job, after all.
"I think they’ve gotten about four offers so far, including angel investment. Should I make contact?"
"Yeah. I’ll get you a business card from our company if you need one."
"Right. That’d be better than being listed under JH."
In their drinking session, illegal and underhanded schemes were tossed around as casually as side dishes.
There wasn’t a single word about the people who would be hurt by those plans.
The only risk they cared about was the one they themselves would have to carry.
"Come back in two days with a contract saying you’re being recruited as part of the TA Medical M&A deal. I’ll have the business card ready by then too."
"I’ll bring a concrete negotiation proposal by then as well."
"As expected, you’re good at this shit."
"That’s what you’d expect from someone who’s worked in a big corporation, right?"
The two of them were certain Kim Siwon would never see this coming.
After all, he was only a college student who’d just started his first company!
But Kim Siwon was already far ahead of them.
More accurately, Kim Siwon and Badugi were far ahead.
[Who do you think the idiots trying to eat our company are?]
[I can’t predict that.]
[Then how should I prepare? I’d know more if I’d ruined a company before I had to worry about this, but I didn’t, so I can’t say for sure.]
[First, talk to Professor Shin Dongjin.]
At the unexpectedly named suggestion, Kim Siwon tilted his head.
[As both an investor in TA Medical and someone who’s invested in a number of startups, and as an authority in his own field, he also has deep connections with major companies in veterinary medicine.]
[It’d be good to talk to him somehow.]
[Exactly. Just think of it as dropping by to say hello and go comfortably.]
As soon as Badugi finished speaking, Kim Siwon arranged a meeting with Professor Shin Dongjin.
Fortunately, when he said it was urgent, Professor Shin offered to meet that same day.
"Hello, Professor. I came by in a hurry because I had something to discuss."
"Ah, yes. You said you absolutely had something to talk about in person?"
"Yes. Thank you for making time for me."
Professor Shin let out a small laugh as he watched Kim Siwon, who looked as though he had a great deal he wanted to say.
"What’s going on? You look like you’re about to talk about something serious."
In truth, Professor Shin had invested the smallest amount among TA Medical’s investors.
He wasn’t the one who would dramatically change the outcome of an M&A deal.
But at the same time, he was the most favorable to Kim Siwon among the investors.
"I have something I’m worrying about, but I don’t know the business ecosystem very well yet, so I need your advice."
That’s why Kim Siwon could speak so directly about his concern.
"Oh. You always act like someone who’s been in business for years, so this is a little different. Go on."
Throughout Kim Siwon’s explanation, Professor Shin watched him with bright, interested eyes.
There weren’t many companies among the ones he’d invested in that had grown enough to worry about this stage of things, so hearing about it was genuinely entertaining.
"Hmm. So there’s no doubt your employees really are loyal to the company?"
"Yes."
"Then the defense should be pretty simple."
Feeling oddly proud, Professor Shin suggested a detailed set of countermeasures for Kim Siwon.
He also made sure to reassure him that there was no need to worry so much.
"I’ll give it a try, as you suggested. Thank you for helping me despite how busy you are."
"Not at all. If anything else comes up, call me. I’m part of TA Medical too, after all."
"Yes. Thank you."
By then, the easy calm had returned to Kim Siwon’s face.