The Bid for Koreasat 5
Taesik continued to hire personnel to build out his team, tasking five part-timers with daily programming duties while simultaneously recruiting individuals to construct electronic maps for his navigation software. By offering a salary 10% higher than their previous employers, he easily attracted skilled professionals. As luck would have it, an entire team of experienced developers applied, prompting CEO Ryu Gwang-su to request that Taesik conduct the interviews.
When Taesik entered the interview room, the representative of the departing team, Deputy General Manager Son Gyeong-chan, was waiting in the conference room. Son looked at Taesik with a surprised expression, clearly taken aback that such a young man had come to interview him.
"I heard that your entire team applied at once. May I ask the reason for your departure?"
"There was a minor dispute at my previous company regarding navigation development. The company intended to lower production costs without upgrading the current maps, hoping to compete with other firms solely on price. They planned to cut wages for partners and employees, and I clashed with them because I believed we should compete based on map quality."
"Hmm... what do you define as 'map quality'?"
"I believe quality means upgrading our current 2D maps to 3D and providing real-time traffic feedback to users. In other words, even if you're traveling the same route, the system should be able to analyze real-time traffic and suggest detours."
Since Taesik shared the exact same vision as Deputy General Manager Son, he decided to pose a difficult question.
"If your opinions didn't align, didn't you consider resolving it within the company rather than leaving?"
"I’ll be honest. When the cost-cutting measures for navigation production became insufficient, they ordered me to fire two of my team members. Instead of firing them, I wanted to take revenge on a company that thought so lightly of laying off employees by leaving as a group."
Deputy General Manager Son expressed his frustration as if he were angry, then nervously gauged Taesik’s reaction. Taesik, showing no emotion, asked the next question.
"How many team members are moving with you?"
"Ten, including myself."
"What kind of work did you do at your previous company?"
"Is there such a thing as a clear division of labor in a small-to-medium enterprise? We participated in everything from design to programming."
"Then let me ask a few technical questions. What kind of shortest-path algorithm did you use? Was it based on distance or time?"
When faced with a professional question, Son straightened his posture and drew on his experience. "Because we couldn't collect traffic data, we used an algorithm that distinguished between physical distance and cost distance."
"Then, how would you implement an algorithm based on time distance?"
"Navigation systems send the user's location and speed to the server every 3 to 4 seconds. We can utilize this information to create a time-distance algorithm."
"Then, assuming a highway is congested, how would you program it to implement a time-distance algorithm?"
"......."
"You have to use Dijkstra's algorithm. When there are multiple paths, you perform a new calculation at the passing points and feed that information back to the user."
"I was still in the conceptual stage, so I hadn't thought about the specifics yet."
"I will hire all ten of you. Let's worry about the specifics after you join. When can you start?"
"Yes...? All ten of us? As soon as our resignations are processed, we will report to work."
"We are currently writing a new navigation program, and once that is developed, I plan to put you to work on electronic map production."
"Aren't you planning to use the maps from the National Geographic Information Institute?"
"Hahaha. If we do that, we won't have any differentiation from existing navigation companies. I plan to install GPS receivers and cameras capable of shooting two frames per second on the front and rear of vehicles to collect road information and place names. And we need to implement 3D maps instead of the existing 2D ones."
"Ah! CEO, if we move as a group, we might get sued by our previous company. Will that be okay?"
"We are developing this using Dijkstra's algorithm, not the program you developed in the past. You don't need to worry about that. And your salaries will be matched to the Starlink Communication pay scale. CEO Ryu Gwang-su, how does our salary compare to the company Deputy General Manager Son worked for?"
CEO Ryu Gwang-su, who was reviewing the job applications, smiled and replied, "Fortunately, our salary is about 10% higher."
"Then, your rank will be the same as before you left, and your salary by rank will be adjusted to the Starlink Communication standard."
"Th-thank you."
After discussing specific plans for the navigation design with Deputy General Manager Son, who was moving over as a team, Taesik asked CEO Ryu about the satellite project.
"CEO, how are the bid preparations going?"
"We have submitted the bid documents to Korea Telecom, and the proposal evaluation is scheduled for next week."
"Then you and I should go to the proposal presentation together. I will explain it myself."
"CEO, but it seems Korea Telecom has plans to use foreign satellites."
"They probably think Korea doesn't have satellite manufacturing technology yet. More importantly, how is the satellite communication terminal coming along?"
"The prototype is out, and everyone is amazed. The designers are impressed not only by the design but also by the battery performance and the weight of the finished product. The prototype weighs only 200g. How did you design it?"
Since he couldn't say he had regressed, Taesik smiled. "I referred to the type of mobile phone that is currently popular overseas. Since the prototype is out, I'll have to go on a business trip to the Middle East soon."
"I've already made an appointment with Thuraya. The UAE satellite is going up soon, and they seem to be welcoming us, saying they are looking for terminals to use their satellites."
"Then, CEO, please have them redesign our satellite terminal to allow for FM/AM communication."
"Yes...? Isn't FM/AM communication for military supplies?"
"That's right. I'd like to enter the mobile phone market, but our capabilities are lacking. I plan to enter the military radio market first and look for opportunities."
"Understood. If it's for military use, I'll have to add a secure communication function."
"It's for small units, so it should also have a headset and microphone."
"Understood, CEO. And they say the environmental testing equipment for the satellite will be shipped in two months."
"That's good. We can start by manufacturing the satellite structure in the meantime."
A week later, Taesik visited Korea Telecom with CEO Ryu for the satellite manufacturing proposal evaluation. Korea Telecom guided Taesik's party to the waiting room and informed them to wait as it was the final presentation. Taesik sat at the table and waited for his turn.
When he entered the conference room for the proposal presentation, Korea Telecom executives and government officials were seated to greet him. After a brief introduction, Taesik presented the technical details and future plans for satellite manufacturing, followed by a Q&A session.
The proposal evaluators exchanged glances, and a Korea Telecom executive asked the first question.
"I understand that Starlink Communication has no experience in satellite design and manufacturing, so isn't the risk of failure too high?"
"As you can see from the materials we provided, the design reliability is high. Is there any problem with the design we proposed?"
When Taesik answered with a counter-question, the Korea Telecom executives were flustered and looked at each other, and a government official took the microphone.
"I'll be honest. There isn't even anyone in Korea with the skills to find problems in the satellite design proposed by Starlink Communication. This Koreasat 5 satellite is a dual-use civil-military satellite, so there must be no failure. The main issue is whether it is right to select a company with no experience in satellite design and manufacturing for such an important satellite."
Taesik smiled at the government official's words and replied.
"Where is there any field with experience for the first project in the Republic of Korea? If there is a problem with the satellite we manufacture, we will compensate for it."
"Are you saying that Starlink Communication will take full responsibility if the design requirements are not met?"
"Yes. The manufacturer will take full responsibility."
"Hmm... please wait, as I need to discuss this with the other committee members."
Taesik left the conference room with CEO Ryu, and when they returned to the waiting room, a foreigner was waiting there.
"I guess you're the company that submitted a proposal for this satellite manufacturing. I'm Clément, Sales Director at Alcatel."
After exchanging business cards, Taesik said, "Alcatel, so you're a French telecommunications company."
"I just found out today that there is a company in Korea that manufactures satellites. It's already been discussed with Korea Telecom that we will proceed with this bid, so you're just going through unnecessary trouble."
"We'll know the outcome when the conclusion is reached."
The two men watched each other, maintaining a sense of wariness. A moment later, a Korea Telecom official entered and announced that they should come to the conference room to hear the results of the proposal evaluation.
As they headed to the place where they had presented earlier, the evaluators and working-level staff stopped talking and watched Taesik's party and the Alcatel executives. The working-level staff started the announcement as soon as both parties were seated.
"Today's proposal evaluation results will be evaluated by adding the price and technical parts. First, the price part. Starlink Communication 99 points, Alcatel 90 points."
CEO Ryu Gwang-su was happy to have beaten Alcatel in the price part and clasped his hands together.
"CEO Ryu, there's no need to be happy. We submitted the price at 80% of the bid price, so it's a natural result. The important thing is the technical part."
Taesik restrained CEO Ryu and waited for the next announcement.
"Next is the technical part. Starlink Communication 80 points, Alcatel 99 points. The total for both companies is Starlink 179 points, Alcatel 189 points, so the final successful bidder is Alcatel. Congratulations."
The Koreasat 5 satellite manufacturing went to Alcatel, and CEO Ryu Gwang-su immediately protested to Korea Telecom upon hearing the large gap in the technical part.
"Isn't this too much? Why is our score 80 points? We submitted design materials that reflected all the requirements for the satellite's structure, thermal control, power, communication, attitude control, and data processing systems, so why is there such a difference?"
The staff member who conducted the presentation answered CEO Ryu's question as if it were obvious.
"Starlink Communication's proposal had no particular problems in terms of design. However, compared to the competing company, you received a low score because you have no track record."
Taesik sat CEO Ryu, whose face had turned red, back in his seat and said, "I will accept the results evaluated by Korea Telecom. Instead, may I speak with the government official here for a moment?"
As soon as Starlink Communication said they would accept the evaluation results, the evaluators all looked at one person's face, and a person who appeared to be a government official smiled and replied.
"You want to see me separately? Since the evaluation is over, let's move to another place and talk."
A Korea Telecom employee guided the government official and Taesik to a quiet conference room, and as soon as they sat down, a person who appeared to be an aide to the government official shouted at them.