Chapter 152: Jealousy
Chapter 152: Jealousy
A year had passed since founding Earth Resource.
I knew next to nothing about running a company, so I established some basic principles.
"Don't just chase profits. Make it a cool place for people..."
Thanks to all the money I'd made from investments, my belly was full, but I wanted to run a business that provided awesome services.
"How much should we charge to distribute Hunminjeongeum?"
"Hmm. Tough question."
Rat-a-tat-tat!
"Grenade ahead!"
"Take cover!"
We were holding a meeting while playing Last Survivor at home with Oh Myeong-woo.
Lee Jong-yeop watched from the side with a pathetic look, but this was our true nature.
We put on a diligent, cool act at the office, but at home, lounging around in T-shirts and boxer shorts felt best.
Oh Myeong-woo manipulated his keyboard and mouse as he spoke.
"But word processors, right? They actually came out in the 1980s when computers were just starting to go mainstream. Sure, they've added security features, formatting, and all sorts of stuff, but not a ton of people use them."
"True."
Over time, business features kept getting added.
They started supporting various fonts, editing tools, and more. But like Photoshop or other graphic tools, it was just incremental improvements compared to the old days.
Oh Myeong-woo made a suggestion.
"Why not just release Hunminjeongeum for free?"
"It's valuable software. You want to give it away?"
"Even Google Office is free. It runs in the web, sure, but computer hardware prices have dropped a lot over the years. Software prices should come down too."
I didn't brush off Oh Myeong-woo's words.
Distributing Hunminjeongeum through Earth Channel would make some money, sure.
"I was planning to charge about two bucks per package anyway."
Google offered various office suites for free, and Figma's graphic tools were free for individuals.
People and companies spent money on familiar, well-known software.
"It's a timing issue. If others are giving away office suites for free, that trend will continue."
"Hmm. Yeah."
It would be good for users, and a great event to boost Earth Channel's app store.
"Yeah. Let's make it free."
"As expected from my friend."
"Not just web-only—fully open-source the software itself. Let's make real Hunminjeongeum available worldwide and use it to put Korea's word processor on the map."
We decided to start translation and improvement work to make Hunminjeongeum usable in every country.
Earth Channel already had five hundred million subscribers and was adding millions more every day.
We'd formed our own massive market, so R&D and investment costs weren't a worry at all.
The only concern was...
"I feel kinda bad for Hancom. What if a perfectly fine company goes bankrupt because of this? Would that be on me?"
Running a company had made me feel the weight of a CEO's responsibility.
Even if Earth Channel tanked, users would just enjoy content elsewhere. But thousands of employees would lose their jobs.
That's when Oh Myeong-woo dropped a bone-chilling remark.
"The world's changing, and they've sucked honey for years. Raking in billions annually without building other businesses to fall back on? They deserve to fail."
"Is that so?"
It sounded like criticism of Hancom, but it felt like a warning to me too.
Earth Channel was killing it now, but competition never sleeps.
How many people saw Yahoo, once the world's search king, crushed by Google?
"Even in Korea, who thought Daum or Cyworld would fade so quietly?"
If Earth Channel fell, something newer and more fun would rise.
I wasn't scared, but I didn't want to stagnate and get left behind.
"Myeong-woo. Let's build a truly awesome company."
Rat-a-tat-tat!
"Two in the warehouse."
"One headed to the rooftop, I think."
Oh Myeong-woo lobbed a grenade onto the roof in Last Survivor as he said,
"Yeah. Earth Channel has a long way to go."
One by one, two by two. Our competitors dwindled.
Finally, Kim Shin and Oh Myeong-woo's characters survived.
* * *
Google's headquarters was in California.
Its chief executive was Sundar Pichai, an Indian-born American.
He'd been hearing the name Earth Resource nonstop since last year.
"Source Coin? Seems like a cheap ploy to make money off the internet."
At first, he didn't think much of it.
Countless companies were born and died in San Francisco.
"Entering the cloud market off Source Coin's popularity? Haha. They must think business is easy."
Some fluke-money company—no need for Google to care about their cloud push.
Their real competitors were Amazon and Microsoft.
"Their Source Coin maker's cloud is doing well? Insane growth?"
Two months later, he heard the name again and learned about the CEO, Kim Shin.
A Wall Street legend with put options, who'd made a fortune in coins before that.
"He even developed the K-Vaccine?"
Sundar Pichai had studied metallurgical engineering and materials science in India, discovering computer science along the way.
He graduated from Stanford Grad School and Wharton with an MBA.
He had worked at the consulting firm McKinsey before joining Google.
Having risen to senior vice president in twelve years, he considered himself a first-rate genius.
He rarely acknowledged others, but knew the world was full of real geniuses.
"Investment talent, business and management skills. And he made the K-Vaccine? This guy's no slouch."
He firmly memorized the name Earth Resource too.
"Over $100 billion in profits from Wall Street investments?"
Soon after, news of Kim Shin's investment jackpot hit.
Google's revenue last year: $182.5 billion. Net profit: $40.2 billion.
They dominated global search, hit a trillion-dollar dream market cap on growth hype.
"Earning more than Google's two-year net profit through investments? Impressive."
Not long after, another update: Earth Channel launched, hit 100 million subscribers in a week, opened Channel 7 as YouTube's rival.
That's when the threat to Earth Resource's growth hit home.
"Kim Shin. Just who is this guy?"
Google had over 130,000 employees.
Leading a giant company, yet fixated on one person.
He sensed a potential rival—and his hunch was right.
"Earth Resource's cloud business is expanding noticeably."
"They're investing over $25 billion in data centers this year."
"More than us, even more than cloud leader Amazon."
"Earth Channel's generating massive traffic. Companies are signing ad deals, and lots of cloud collaborations too."
Google and Earth Resource overlapped in cloud and video markets.
Sundar Pichai thought Google's dominance could shake.
"People love cool stuff. Earth Channel has advantages Google lacks."
YouTube's direct rival: Channel 7.
But paired perfectly with TV and movie content.
Secured popular Korean shows and unreleased US films.
Professional streamers around the world also provided a steady flow of new videos.
Hits can be flukes, but need planning, effort, fame, investment.
"Pays streamers 10% ad revenue in Source Coin. Super attractive terms."
Not just smart business—better positioned for market growth than Google.
Google lacked China access; Earth Channel snuck in via loopholes.
Google slumbered on missed markets; Earth Channel exploited gaps shrewdly.
CEO Kim Shin's fame gave Earth Resource rock-solid trust.
Google had ideas too.
"What if we make Google Coin?"
"Would be powerful. Huge money potential. But coin market's tough for Google."
It was an intensely speculative market.
Google Coin would pump 100x on launch?
"Just pump the price actively."
"Government won't allow it, regardless of our efforts."
Two years ago, Facebook tried Libra stablecoin with PayPal, eBay, Visa, Mastercard, Uber.
Libra would have been tied to dollars, euros, and yen and used for payments and financial services.
US Congress saw it as dollar threat—hearings and regs killed it.
"If Google announces a coin, heavy regs incoming."
"And Earth Resource?"
"They started small. Hard to kill what's already rolling."
Earth Channel had moved before the regulators could react and had even taken advantage of America’s rivalry with China.
"US gov wants to contain China ongoing. Won't check Earth Channel's cultural infiltration now."
Unless direct dollar threat, US would cheer Earth Channel's growth.
What happens when over 200 billion Source Coins flood out?
The backlash from investors and coin holders would be enormous, and vote-conscious politicians would hesitate to regulate it.
"Kim Shin's a genius factoring politics. Earth Channel bought time with giant foe and strong allies."
Earth Resource's numbers forced even Google to feel threatened.
So they watched every move.
[Earth Resource to Freely Release Korean Word Processor]
[What is Korea's Office Program Hunminjeongeum?]
The news concerned the free distribution of office software through Earth Channel.
Sundar Pichai grasped the intent instantly.
Earth Channel was taking one more step forward.
"Not just games—aiming for the whole app store market."
Earth Resource wedging into Google's app store dominance.
Top execs met immediately.
"Hunminjeongeum. Developed by Isung Group, reportedly."
"Powerful office suite. Korea leads world in word processing."
"Is Isung Group backing Earth Resource?"
"Doubt it. CEO Kim Shin's way richer than Isung's CEO."
"Ah, right."
"Starts free, but will sell paid software eventually."
"Apply Channel 7 model? Low prices, distribution fees—very threatening."
"Earth Channel's real danger: subscribers exploding."
"Delete their app from the store to stop spread?"
"Possible?"
"They support subscriptions, video donations to streamers. Bypasses Google's payments."
Sundar Pichai had few choices. He had to protect Google’s share of the market somehow.
"Can't nurture rivals in our turf. Delete the Earth Channel app."