Chapter 62: Blind Reactions
Chapter 62: Blind Reactions
< Blind Reactions >
After moving into the new mansion, a significant number of employees began working from home.
Given the tremendous risk of the coronavirus, I decided to accept any potential disruptions to our workflow.
- Eddie: The third cloud update is complete. Performance has improved by about 12%. The grid will be implemented starting next week.
- Allison: The shopping mall launch was a success. First-day sales reached 9.5 million dollars.
Even with everyone working from home, development proceeded according to schedule.
Was this proof not of my outstanding skills as a CEO, but of the exceptional employees the company possessed?
Oh Myeong-woo grinned slyly.
“Heh heh. Shin. Earth Resource's revenue is going to increase again soon.”
“Why?”
“The cloud. We're definitely cheaper than the competition.”
We were in the middle of negotiations with various IT companies.
There were a great many companies in Silicon Valley researching machine-learning-based artificial intelligence.
The response was positive because we offered competitive pricing and unrestricted access to our computing power.
Due to the nature of cloud services, once a contract is signed, we can expect stable revenue for quite a long time.
“Myeong-woo. Once the company's profits increase, let's raise the salary structure for our employees.”
“Oh. Okay. Are you raising my salary too?”
“Of course. We'll prioritize the treatment of our developers and give them plenty of gifts too.”
The success of Earth Resource was thanks to its employees, especially the developers.
It hadn't been long since we founded the company, but I figured a set of Korean electronics would be well-received.
Televisions, refrigerators, cordless vacuums, air purifiers, and so on.
*I remember wandering through department stores with Jo Soo-ah in Korea.*
This time, I planned to buy items from the Source Shopping Mall and send them to the employees.
And I had to keep my Source Coin promise to Eddie.
“Tell the employees to write down a list of the electronics they need.”
“Really?”
“It's a welfare policy. Since they're working from home, they're spending more time there.”
“That's true.”
“Electronics, or furniture like sofas. Let's send them whatever they need.”
Earth Resource had turned a profit, and the earnings were enormous. I had to be generous with the employees.
Mid-to-large-sized sedans or SUVs from Mirae Motors.
I had considered gifting them some decent vehicles, but I gave up on the idea.
Developer salaries in Silicon Valley reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, so they might be disappointed to receive a Mirae Motors car worth only a few tens of thousands.
* * *
I woke up early in my ten-million-dollar mansion.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
The sound of birds, something hard to hear in a high-rise apartment, came from the garden.
*Nice.*
I drank a warm instant coffee mix at the tea table in the garden.
Since I didn't have to go to the office, I could relax and enjoy my leisure time.
- Paul: We are discussing the first clinical trial. The response in the U.S. isn't as good as we thought.
- Kim Shin: Is that so?
There was a reason for the lukewarm response to the COVID vaccine we had developed.
- Paul: The submitted documents have quite a few blank spots. It seems unavoidable, given that we're a Korean company with no prior history of vaccine development.
I could roughly guess the situation.
Pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Europe with long histories, traditions, and diverse portfolios of new drugs had market caps exceeding 100 billion dollars.
Those were the companies scrambling to develop a COVID vaccine.
Then suddenly, an unknown pharmaceutical company from Korea—one with no development experience whatsoever—showed up with a vaccine.
*Even I wouldn't believe it.*
Even my own wealth wasn't that impressive when compared to the scale of those pharmaceutical giants.
- Paul: We are continuing our discussions. It looks like the clinical trials will begin next week.
- Kim Shin: I see.
I had been studying the vaccine developed by Biolife.
Spike protein.
You could think of it as the external shape of the virus.
Just as computers and cars have completely different appearances, the human body remembers the shape of the virus and mounts an immune response.
It was a method that formed immunity by injecting the coronavirus's spike protein as an antigen.
*It must be possible thanks to all the research and development up to this point.*
It was a stable method that had been used for decades, and if successful, we could expect a certain level of immunity.
- Kim Shin: I understand the number of trial participants isn't that large. Is it around 300 or 400 people?
- Paul: The first phase is usually like that.
- Kim Shin: I'll also help ensure the trials proceed smoothly.
I figured it was time to spend some money.
It was early morning on the U.S. East Coast, but there was someone who would be awake.
- Kim Shin: Ellie. Do you know any good lobbyists?
- Ellie: Yes. What's it about?
- Kim Shin: I think I need to do some lobbying with politicians.
Lobbying was legal in the United States.
I wanted to find out as quickly as possible whether Biolife had created something good or a dud.
It took only 30 minutes to hire a lobbyist from the Washington political scene.
They said he was a lobbyist who had been incredibly active in the anti-gun control field. At least I could trust his skills.
* * *
An employee of Earth Resource.
A large truck arrived at the home of Diane, a single mother.
Sturdily built men got out of the truck and knocked on the door.
“Is this the residence of Ms. Diane Acker?”
“Yes. What is it?”
Diane stepped outside and looked around.
Her neighbors were watching her.
She shot them a look, a silent plea to call for help quickly if anything happened.
“We're from Earth Resource.”
“Excuse me?”
“You haven't been answering our calls for the past few days.”
“My child was sick... Does this mean I'm fired?”
Right after she started working from home, she had called in to say her child was sick and hadn't answered her phone since.
Her assigned tasks had inevitably been falling slightly behind schedule.
“We've brought a gift from the CEO, Kim Shin.”
“What?”
“You didn't choose anything, so he told us to just send everything. You don't have to accept any items you don't need.”
Whoooosh!
The side of the five-ton truck opened up like a wing.
The cargo space was filled with everything from sofas to large televisions, appliances like refrigerators, and children's items.
Diane's jaw dropped.
“All of this... is a gift from the CEO to me?”
A suspicion crossed her mind.
She was a single mother, but she was in her early thirties. If this was a bribe because he was interested in her... she should probably take it anyway, right?
“It's being sent to all employees of Earth Resource.”
“Oh.”
A strange sense of disappointment washed over her.
As the burly men carried the items into her house, her neighbors approached.
“Diane. What's going on?”
“My company sent me a gift.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Didn't you just start working there?”
“I know. It's only been a month.”
The gifts included dolls, toys, and snacks that her child would love. There were even Korean-made masks.
* * *
Blind.
It was an application where professionals could anonymously review their companies.
Earth Resource
- Recently founded company.
- The programmers' skills are insane.
- It's crawling with a bunch of people who make you wonder why the hell they're even here.
- What's the salary?
-> Marketing seems to be a little over $90k?
-> Software development is $120k to $250k. You can get more depending on your skills.
-> They say the incentives are better than the salary.
-> The CEO is a super-rich guy from Korea.
- The CEO is more famous than the company.
- Hit the jackpot right after creating Source Coin. The CEO seems to have a knack for building business models.
- I joined because I like the CEO.
- Huh? Me too.
- Heard the CEO got divorced in Korea. Saw it on YouTube.
- Really? That's great news!
- Why is that great news?
- It means he's not married right now!
Reading this on my phone in the garden, a shiver ran down my spine.
*I feel like I'm being targeted.*
The Blind app.
I was looking at it not as an employee, but as the CEO.
Even when I worked at Arcor, I checked Blind every day.
Back then, there were so many posts cursing out doctors...
There were many posts about Earth Resource on the Blind app today.
- The gift arrived.
- Me too!
- The company sent a gift. But how many things did they send?
- I think they sent everything I picked.
- They asked what I wanted, so I marked a few things. Wasn't it supposed to be just one?
- What did you guys get?
- An 86-inch TV, a new computer, a refrigerator, a home theater system, four game consoles, a robot vacuum, a washing machine, a clothing care system, and an air purifier.
- Similar to mine.
- Got a bed, a sofa, and a large tent.
It was the company's first gift; how could I give just one thing?
Earth Resource was growing unexpectedly fast, turning a profit of over 200,000 dollars per hour.
The company's assets, for now, were only its business model, its reputation, and its outstanding employees.
The most important thing to focus on here was the employees.
As a startup, I believed that treating employees well was essential for growth.
I had set a budget of 50,000 dollars per person for the gifts.
Even though the employees earned high salaries, this was so they could rejoice in the company's growth and success together.
Receiving a gift like this would surely make them feel good.
- In the section for other requests, I wrote down a luxury hotel in Las Vegas. Got a call saying they'd book a suite for me on my desired dates.
- There's a letter.
- Yup. A handwritten letter from the CEO.
- It says thanks for working hard, be careful of COVID, and have a great day.
- Mine is similar, but he wrote my daughter's name specifically.
- ????
- Are you guys for real? What kind of company is this?
- A good company. They treat their employees this well. I plan on dedicating my career to this company.
- I'm going to apply right now.
I was happy to see the employees' positive reactions.
But the Blind app also pointed out some of the company's problems.
- But the number of employees has grown so much that I don't know who is who.
- The number of desks is increasing rapidly.
- It's because we're a new startup. You have to understand that things are chaotic.
The increase in employees was unavoidable, but the office space was a persistent problem.
Even though we were using two entire floors, it was starting to feel a bit cramped.
*So this is why companies try to get their own buildings.*
The fortunate thing was that, partly due to COVID, working from home was the current trend.
I called out to Oh Myeong-woo, who was feeding the koi in the garden.
“Myeong-woo. Once the COVID situation stabilizes, let's buy a company building and move.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Let's give them a cool building to work in. We'll hire chefs and provide meals all the time, too.”
“Hmm. Good idea. What about the break room?”
“We'll have to make it bigger. So they can relax when they want to relax.”
I resolved to prepare everything properly so the employees could work with satisfaction.
* * *
- New York State, 80,000 COVID cases
- U.S. COVID deaths surpass 3,000
- 'Help Us': Ambulances and medical personnel from across the U.S. head to New York
- New York Economy Hit Hard by COVID
- COVID-19 Fears, Dow Plummets 4.44%
The coronavirus continued to spread, with New York as its epicenter.
- Ellie: I've been stuck at home for a week.
- Ellie: I can't go anywhere.
As I was talking with Ellie, I felt I should go to New York and stay with her for at least a few days.
Unlike in Korea, the number of COVID deaths in the U.S. was rising rapidly.
I knew from Dr. Lee Ho-yeon that it wasn't a fatal disease.
A disease that, for most healthy and young people, wouldn't reach a dangerous level.
*It's not like New York is going to collapse.*
Nevertheless, the surge of patients all at once meant the damage was severe for those who couldn't receive basic medical care.
“Jason. Can you get me a private jet to New York?”
“I can look into it right away, Boss.”
A bodyguard formerly of the SAS.
I decided to book a private jet through Jason and fly there.
This was because I felt a commercial flight would be too vulnerable to infection.
“Jason. New York will be dangerous. Are you still coming with me?”
“Protecting you in dangerous places is my job.”