Chapter 73: A New Platform
Chapter 73: A New Platform
< Netflitube >
A video about the investment in Biolife’s COVID-19 vaccine was uploaded to the YouTube channel. And as expected, the internet went wild.
- This is insane.
- So the COVID vaccine didn't just appear out of nowhere. It was thanks to Kim Shin's consistent investments.
- Developing a medical AI... damn.
- Wait, so Earth Resource, the most promising company in Silicon Valley, was established solely to support Biolife?
- GoldGod, the king of investing.
- I thought he was an investing genius, but looking at Earth Resource, he's an even bigger genius at management. I'm only now realizing his true talent.
- The speed of his business expansion is crazy.
- Investing in Source Coin is the trend these days. Holding 1,000 Source Coins makes you feel secure.
The YouTube video’s views and comments were exploding.
- The 8 o’clock news begins now. Our top story tonight is that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Biolife, a company invested in by Mr. Kim Shin, has passed its first phase of clinical trials in the United States.
I was told I was the lead story on the national news.
Countless videos popped up, thanks to the YouTube algorithm.
- Kim Shin Draws His Sword to Fight COVID-19.
- The World Envies the Nation That Has Kim Shin.
- From IT to Medicine: A Comprehensive Look at the Life of the Genius Everyone Admires, Kim Shin.
- Wall Street Blown Away by Kim Shin's Investments.
- Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies Stunned by Biolife!
“Hmm.”
Videos with sensational titles meant to attract views were being uploaded to YouTube left and right.
It was embarrassing, yet enjoyable.
‘At this rate, I won't even be able to enjoy a beer on the beach in peace.’
It made me think I’d made a good decision buying the yacht.
Just then, Oh Myeong-woo came running over in a state of excitement. It was the first time I’d ever seen him in such a rush, including our college days.
“Did you check?”
“Check what?”
“The GoldGod Game Tournament. The list of participants.”
“...”
This guy was always serious when it came to games.
StarCraft, League of Legends, Battlegrounds.
Legendary players were confirmed to be participating in all of them.
The total prize pool for each game was one billion won.
As an additional prize, the top ten players would each receive 10,000 Source Coins, and its popularity had skyrocketed.
“Ahh. This is going to be a tournament for the history books.”
The GoldGod Game Tournament was being held in Korea, but we planned to broadcast it worldwide using Earth Resource’s cloud system.
Eddie had pulled two all-nighters for this.
“You built a live-streaming system just for a game tournament?”
“It was actually quite simple. The grid network system freed up a lot of capacity on the cloud. We’re just using that to live-stream.”
The tournament was made available for live viewing on the Earth Resource website.
Oh Myeong-woo had even hired top-tier commentators.
It wasn't just about picking the top three players for each game; various event matches were also held.
There were matches for the strongest amateurs, female gamers, and even ones where streamers participated.
“Can you do all that with three billion won?”
“Hehe. I dipped into my own savings a bit.”
“Your own money?”
He had his salary from Google and earnings from various startup side-gigs.
Earth Resource was temporarily paying Oh Myeong-woo a salary of $200,000.
We hadn't even been able to properly set his official salary yet.
The company's growth was just too fast, and from the very beginning, when he gathered the initial programmers, the business would have been impossible to start without him.
With the success of the cloud service, Earth Resource’s value was estimated to have grown to several billion dollars.
Even though we were friends, I intended to compensate him properly.
“Myeong-woo. The company will increase its support for the game tournament.”
“Really?”
“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right.”
And so, the GoldGod Game Tournament began.
The number of viewers from Korea surpassed one million, but it also gained popularity in the US and Europe, with millions more tuning in.
* * *
Han Chae-won started seeing a psychiatrist.
“I was Kim Shin’s wife.”
“Pardon?”
“The richest man in Korea. Everywhere I look these days, I hear news about him. It’s driving me crazy with stress.”
Han Chae-won complained that the severe stress had caused her to develop otitis media and a skin condition.
The psychiatrist listened to her concerns for a while before asking.
“Does seeing your ex-husband make you angry?”
“Yes.”
“I understand. After a divorce, hearing news about an ex-husband can bring back unpleasant memories from the marriage.”
“No. It’s because I feel like I shouldn’t have divorced him.”
“Excuse me?”
“If I had known he’d become this wealthy, I would have treated him well. I would have made him a hearty breakfast, washed and ironed his shirts perfectly, not made him do the dishes, and taken out the recycling myself. Then I would have been treated well wherever I went, too. I could have been a VVIP at department stores. What’s so special about life? If you have enough money, you can live happily.”
“While material wealth is certainly important for happiness, there’s also a sense of self-satisfaction that comes from within.”
“What are you talking about? Money is what’s important. Doctor, would you be happy if your salary was cut in half?”
“Ah…”
The psychiatrist had to suppress a string of curses welling up inside him.
Among the many professions, being a psychiatrist was one that came with a great deal of stress.
Especially when dealing with difficult patients with whom communication was impossible.
“Kim Shin. He bought a yacht.”
“A yacht. I believe I saw that on YouTube.”
“Yes. With its sails unfurled against the blue sea, it looked magnificent. When he was with me, he barely drove a small car, complaining about the cost of gas. And do you know how nice his house is now? It has a swimming pool and a gym. A chef and a housekeeper do all the chores. It’s a mansion, completely different from the drafty villa we lived in as newlyweds.”
“Ms. Han. You’re doing well as a team leader at your company, aren’t you? How about focusing on your current life?”
“How can I? That was all an opportunity I could have had if I had just held onto that man.”
After his session with Han Chae-won, the psychiatrist thought to himself.
‘Kim Shin is a very lucky man.’
He had suffered the misfortune of marrying a woman like her, but he had divorced her.
He was free to spread his wings and fly.
* * *
My conversation with the Minister of Health and Welfare had been bothering me for a few days, so I decided to contact him first.
- Kim Shin: What are you working on these days?
- Lee Ho-yeon: We’re conducting internal tests on the vaccine and developing Vaccine 2 and a treatment.
- Kim Shin: The government isn’t bothering you or getting in your way, are they?
- Lee Ho-yeon: There are five civil servants from the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the lab.
- Kim Shin: At the lab?
- Lee Ho-yeon: Yes. They said they’re here to check for any illegalities in our research and development so far, and to see what support the government can provide.
- Kim Shin: Are they there to obstruct you?
- Lee Ho-yeon: I’m not sure. They’re not a major hindrance, but they aren’t helping either.
It seemed that because I had rejected the minister’s proposal, he was starting to make things a little difficult.
I turned to Lee Jong-yeop, who was beside me.
“It looks like running a pharmaceutical company in Korea is out of the question from now on.”
“I suppose so.”
The Minister of Health and Welfare held absolute authority in his field.
I considered using my popularity in Korea to give an unfavorable interview about the minister.
If he were cornered politically, the minister might have to issue a clarification or an apology, or in the worst-case scenario, resign.
However, the current minister was promoted from within.
The high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, feeling insulted, would likely resort to more subtle and persistent obstruction.
That was the nature of the organization, and how high-ranking officials protected their power.
“Even if we develop new drugs, other than the COVID vaccine, most of them probably won’t get approved.”
“You should assume things like factory construction will also be blocked.”
Matters requiring approval or reporting to the Ministry of Health and Welfare would likely become quite difficult.
Phase 1 clinical trials.
The probability of the vaccine failing to be commercialized was still high.
The Minister of Health and Welfare might have underestimated us for that very reason.
‘If we had actually created the COVID vaccine, he wouldn't dare pull a stunt like this.’
I decided to just wait for it to pass phases 2 and 3.
* * *
The Earth Resource business had started almost by accident, but it was continuously expanding.
“You want to create a live-streaming platform?”
“Yes. The game tournament was so much fun!”
As soon as the tournament ended, the request came from none other than Eddie.
I had already been thinking it was a waste to use the broadcasting program we’d made for just a one-time event.
It supported up to 4K resolution, and there was no limit to the number of concurrent viewers.
The grid network system was decried as a devil’s technology and drew a lot of flak from users, but it was incredibly effective.
Eddie spoke cautiously.
“But for a broadcasting platform to work, it needs to be profitable. That would be difficult, right?”
“Let’s think about that part.”
It was the owner’s role to turn an employee’s suggestion into a business.
Eddie had created the very business structure of Earth Resource.
Besides, there was something appealing about a broadcasting platform.
When Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, many people were skeptical.
Now, that amount was considered pocket change compared to the massive profits it generated.
‘YouTube is like a black hole for video platforms.’
The more viewers a platform has, the more competitive it becomes.
Giving out Source Coins as rewards to attract viewers had its numerical limits.
We couldn't just hand out Source Coins to millions of viewers every day.
Pouring money into promotion would only lead to endless losses.
Then, an idea came to me.
‘How powerful would it be if Netflix and YouTube became one?’
A platform where you could watch Netflix’s original programs, movies, variety shows, and dramas.
What if that was combined with a system where countless individuals could freely upload videos or live-stream?
Couldn't we turn that into a global business?
Combined with Earth Resource’s low-cost cloud system, it would be an incredibly powerful business model.
‘That won't be easy... or wait. Could it be?’
Come to think of it, we had Dream Art Rainbow, a Korean production and investment company.
It was investing in movies, broadcast shows, and variety programs indiscriminately.
What would happen if the Korean content from Dream Art Rainbow was supplied to the world through a video platform?
And at a much cheaper price than Netflix.
‘Korean gamers are a great asset, too.’
StarCraft, League of Legends, Battlegrounds.
In these globally popular games, it was the Korean gamers who were famous.
Investing in Korean pro-gamers could be quite efficient.
Although the number of StarCraft users had decreased, it was still a game enjoyed by many.
If we operated a professional League of Legends team and broadcasted our gamers’ matches, many people would want to watch.
‘I’ll decide how much to invest after seeing tomorrow’s stock market returns.’
For a video platform, wouldn't we need to invest at least $300 million to make it viable?
I decided to consider $300 million as the minimum and leave the rest to the next day’s stock market performance.
It might seem like I was deciding on investments and business ventures based on luck, but success always required the right timing and fortune.
I could always make additional investments as the business progressed.
And then…
- New York Stock Exchange Rebounds Sharply, Financial and Energy Stocks Soar
- Biolife Vaccine Shows 100% COVID Antibody Formation in Phase 1 Clinical Trials
- Dow Jumps 3.8% on Vaccine News and Easing of Lockdowns
- Individual Investors Rake in Huge Profits
The start of the vaccine rally.
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 900 points, the Nasdaq also climbed 2.44%.
The prices of stocks like Tesla and Amazon jumped by double that amount in comparison.
As corporate earnings were poor, the stock market fluctuated between crashes and surges.
Despite that, the overall trend was a steady rise.
‘It feels like I'm using a personal vault where the assets just keep growing on their own.’
Thanks to investing in good companies, I made over a billion dollars in a single day.
Normally, you only realize a profit when you sell a stock, and my father always said you only make money when you cash out.
But this wasn't about spending money; it was an investment in a new field.