RR 26
[026] A Miraculous Investment Company 2.
I carefully observed the expressions of all five people, including Oh Se-hyun.
Oh Se-hyun had a bewildered look.
Uncle is out. He knows too little about American affairs. He must have lived in Korea for too long.
The reactions of the three men were varied: one shook his head, one began to ponder deeply, and one looked surprised.
The most immediate reaction came from the woman.
“How… how do you know…?”
Stammering as she looked at me, she then shifted her gaze to Oh Se-hyun. She belatedly realized she had spoken in English to a child who couldn’t understand it.
Oh Se-hyun, who already knew what they were about to ask, said urgently,
“Do-jun. How… how did you know about Dell Computer?”
How did I know? Because I’d used it, of course.
Naturally, different words came out of my mouth than what I was thinking.
“Didn’t I tell you? The person who earned two thousand dollars selling stamps at 12 and made a lot of money selling newspaper subscriptions in high school. That person is Michael Dell.”
“Ah…!”
Oh Se-hyun snapped his fingers, as if recalling our previous conversation.
Michael Dell, born in 1965, is a figure who truly exemplifies natural talent when it comes to making money.
His friend’s father was a stamp collector, and Dell discovered that stamp transactions were done through auctions and that auction brokers’ commissions were high.
From then on, Dell visited stamp collectors, listed the stamps they wanted to buy and sell, and even placed advertisements in magazines with the money he earned from serving at a Chinese restaurant.
By eliminating the inflated auction fees and directly connecting sellers and buyers, he became a stamp dealer. This was at the tender age of 12.
In high school, he delivered newspapers, and when he learned he received an incentive per subscriber, he set out to find more.
Typically, once people subscribe to a newspaper, they tend to stick with it. However, if they move, they usually re-subscribe to a newspaper.
Dell paid attention to this phenomenon.
He went around courthouses in Houston, Texas, obtained lists of recently married people, and targeted them specifically.
That year, Dell received a whopping eighteen thousand dollars in incentives.
It was more than a high school teacher’s annual salary, and Dell used this money to buy a BMW.
Simplification of distribution processes, focused marketing.
These tactics aligned with Dell Computer’s future sales strategies.
These facts, of course, were not known at the time. They would only become known after Michael Dell became a magnate.
“So you’re saying you’re going to pour a large sum of money into this, based solely on his childhood story?”
“He’s someone who was already making money at my age. And he didn’t have a rich grandfather like me. Wouldn’t someone like that naturally make a lot of money?”
Oh Se-hyun stared at me intently for a moment, then turned to his employees and said,
“Get all the information on Dell Computer and Michael Dell. Right now.”
Everyone was professional.
As soon as their boss, Oh Se-hyun, gave the order, they quickly sat down in front of an IBM PC AT and inserted a 2-megabyte floppy disk.
When they made a decision, they followed through. They simply did their best, without complaint or doubt.
I felt a surge of pride once again.
My previous life had ended as nothing but a salaryman.
Now, I had four soldiers, of different races and skin colors, who received their salaries from me.
They even forgot my presence, focusing solely on finding information.
My satisfaction lasted only a moment; I couldn’t just sit still.
I went into the pantry in one corner of the office and brewed some coffee beans. The aroma of coffee filled the office.
I carried five cups of coffee on a tray and placed them on each of their desks.
“Oh, thanks.”
They stroked my head, as if my actions were cute, and thanked me.
They still didn’t recognize me as the major shareholder and owner of this company. Well, they would know soon enough, in a few years.
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A Meeting with Michael Dell
When I returned to the hotel, my mother and brother were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had gone out into the city with the guide.
Feeling a bit tired, I was about to lie down on the bed when Oh Se-hyun tossed a stack of documents onto it first.
Even after a thorough discussion in the office, he was reviewing them one last time.
I felt a little ashamed. I still had a long way to go.
“Uncle. You still don’t seem convinced, do you? The people working earlier all seemed positive…”
“How would you know that? Do you understand English?”
Oops.
“Oh, no. It’s just their expressions… everyone was smiling…”
“Hmm… I’ve never been completely convinced of anything in my life. I only ever doubt.”
He spoke without taking his eyes off the documents.
Always doubting. That was an unexpected remark.
“Whether it’s a business, a project, or an investment, there’s no such thing as 100% certainty. Don’t trust anyone who says that. They’re irresponsible. Minimizing doubt and anxiety. That’s what work is all about.”
This uncle, he’s clearly saying this for me to hear… Did he change his mind? Does this mean he won’t treat me like a child anymore?
Anyway, dealing with top-tier professionals, I realized something.
I hadn’t learned anything.
All I knew was what I had picked up through experience and effort.
Higher-level information was shared only within their world and never leaked outside.
I had only run forward, trying to do well what they told me to do. Not knowing the real reason, the true purpose, behind what they instructed meant I hadn’t learned anything.
“Think of a scale. You put good outcomes and bad outcomes on the scale and measure the difference. I only start when the good outcome is at least nine times heavier than the bad outcome. You set your own standard. How many times heavier you want it to be.”
This meant a 90% success rate. Quite high.
It was the natural stance of an asset manager investing with client money, not their own.
How should I set my own standard?
As I pondered this, Oh Se-hyun began to organize the documents.
“Do-jun. You stay here with your mother for a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“I guess I’ll have to go to Texas.”
“You’re going to meet him in person?”
“I have to. Their performance is good, but their scale is small. Even if we throw a money bomb at them, this company might not be able to handle it.”
He wanted to throw all 15 million dollars at them, but it was impossible.
Last year, Dell Computer had already received a 30 million dollar investment. Of course, I don’t remember such specific details.
It was something I heard when people discussed the data at the office.
Perhaps I was a step too late?
Should I change direction to Microsoft stock, which would only rise by about 50 times?
When this thought crossed my mind, I slapped myself on the head.
Still so weak!
It was utterly shameful that I was looking for another path as soon as the possibility seemed distant, without even trying.
“I’ll go too.”
“What?”
“He’s someone I admire… I want to meet him in person.”
“Hmm… Let’s do that then. You buy a thousand-won snack only after seeing it in person. After seeing him in person, I’m curious about your thoughts too.”
Oh Se-hyun immediately booked tickets and a hotel to Texas, then contacted the company to arrange a meeting with Dell Computer.
“Uncle. Did you make an appointment already? So soon?”
Clearly, from the phone call, nothing was confirmed. But Oh Se-hyun was already packing.
“We can’t give up just because they refuse. If they don’t meet us, we’ll just have to storm their company. There’s nothing to lose, right?”
At times like this, he was like a typical Korean bulldozer.
Ultimately, one must adapt to the time, place, and situation.
Humans can possess various, unfathomable aspects.
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A Journey to Texas
The home of the Dallas Cowboys, the symbol of American football, and ranked number one by Forbes as the world’s most valuable sports franchise.
Land 25% larger than the territory of France.
This was Texas.
We arrived at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and headed to the car rental office.
Oh Se-hyun called his company from the car rental office to confirm the meeting appointment, then got into the car without a word.
I expected us to go to Dell Computer headquarters or a hotel, but the car took an unexpected turn.
“Uncle. Where are we going?”
“Mt. Bonnell.”
“Huh?”
“If you look down from Covert Park, the peak here, you can see all of Austin at a glance. Looking down at Lake Austin, a breathtaking view unfolds. You shouldn’t miss it. Especially today, the weather’s good, so you’re lucky.”
Texas weather is notoriously capricious. Some days the scorching sun beats down all day, only for it to rain again a few days later, and sometimes it even rains and clears up several times in a single day.
“Have you been there?”
“No. Just now at the airport. It was in the tourist guide book, you know?”
His expression was unreadable; I couldn’t tell if he was a meticulous person actively utilizing every spare moment or if he was trying to calm himself down because the meeting had fallen through.
I, too, leaned back in the seat and comfortably began to appreciate the scenery of Austin.
I wasn’t anxious about whether we would meet him or not.
Somehow, I trusted Oh Se-hyun. We would definitely meet him.
If the meeting fell through, I would stay here in Texas and demand that Oh Se-hyun and the Miracle Investment employees make the meeting happen.
Right now, I was the owner, not a servant. I had to shift from a servant’s mindset to an owner’s mindset.
But I also knew what absolutely had to be done. To become a dignified owner, my body also had to be strong.
“Huff, huff… Un-uncle. How many stairs are there?”
“Uh… well. It’s my first time too… Huff, huff.”
Starting from the parking lot midway up the mountain, climbing the steep limestone stairs that seemed to have no end, we both became exhausted.
It wasn’t bad; it allowed us to shed our anxiety for a moment.
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A Hamburger Meeting
Exhausted, we both checked into the Hyatt Regency, lay on the bed, and just waited for the phone to ring.
“Do-jun.”
“Yes.”
“The possibility of investing in Dell Computer is low.”
“Because they’ve already received 30 million dollars in investment?”
Investment is for those who are cold and hungry. Investing in someone who is already warm and full is no different from stubbornly insisting on giving them another bowl of gruel.
“Indeed, you understand well. If it had been last year, that Dell guy would have been anxiously waiting for us. This is timing. Capturing the right moment is all that investment is about. The time to enter, the time to exit.”
“So we’re late now.”
“That’s how it seems.”
Oh Se-hyun, lying with his arm under his head, had a very grim expression.
Just then, the phone rang.
Oh Se-hyun shot up and picked up the receiver.
Judging by him saying “Yes, U-hum, Good, All Right,” an appointment must have been made.
“What?”
Suddenly, Oh Se-hyun’s eyes widened, and he reconfirmed.
What was it? Did it fall through?
Oh Se-hyun hung up the receiver and shrugged.
“It’s done. He’ll meet us.”
I unconsciously clapped my hands!
“But… this, haha.”
“What’s wrong?”
“He can’t make separate time, but he’ll talk to us while having lunch tomorrow?”
“That’s great.”
“That is… we’re eating hamburgers. He said to come to Wendy’s.”
Oh Se-hyun tilted his head, looking at my dazed, dumbfounded expression.
“Why? Don’t you like hamburgers?”
There are old souls like me who don’t like hamburgers. Moreover, since business meetings were always confined to decent restaurants, I couldn’t wipe the blank expression off my face.
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