Chapter 125: Silicon Valley Dreams: A Hundred Million Dollar Bet

Bursting out of the library, I was met with the sprawling campus.

Damn it, there’s that urge to swear again.

What kind of university is ridiculously huge like this?

It feels like finding the Computer Science department office is taking longer than searching for the actual paper.

I later learned that Stanford’s 3,310-hectare campus is about the same size as Songpa District, which is 3,388 hectares. It’s like trying to find an office in Songpa District relying solely on one signpost.

With so many buildings named after donors, you sometimes find a dozen buildings with the same name, and every student you ask points you in a different direction.

The moment I see those two guys, I need to push them to create Google Maps as soon as possible.

When I finally found the Computer Science department office and asked about the two, it felt like the sky was falling.

“They were living in the dorms until recently, but they moved to Silicon Valley.”

Am I too late? Did they already get investment and start a company?

I really need Google right now.

If I could just search, I’d know the situation. It made me realize how amazing the Google they created really is.

“Could you possibly give me their address?”

I quickly pulled out a business card before the office worker looked at me too suspiciously.

Isn’t Stanford a place where investment firms are always welcome?

The staff member wrote down the address on a memo pad even faster than I produced my card.

Memo in hand, I dashed out like a bullet, hopped on the campus shuttle, and left the university.

I grabbed a taxi and sped towards Silicon Valley, twenty minutes away.

I let out a sigh of relief when I arrived at the address I was given. It was a quiet residential area.

Those guys.

They haven’t even gotten out of the garage yet.

Carefully approaching, I peeked into the garage.

Three or four desks and computers, soft drink cans and pizza boxes scattered everywhere.

I was relieved. Judging by their humble setup, they definitely haven’t received any major investments yet.

I crouched in front of the closed garage, waiting for the two to appear. If they’re starting in a garage, shouldn’t they be eating and sleeping in there? Where are they wandering off to?

As it started to get dark, a pickup truck pulled up in front of the garage.

Two young men spotted me and quickly approached.

“Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing in front of someone else’s office?”

“Larry Page? Sergey Brin?”

As I confirmed their names by looking back and forth between them, their expressions turned even harsher.

If I were an older middle-aged man in a suit, they would have immediately bowed. They would have instinctively known I was an investor coming to their rescue.

“Who are you? What’s your business here?”

“Can’t you see it yet? Both of you have bad eyes.”

“See what?”

“The wings spread wide on my back. They’re also known as angel wings.”

If they still can’t understand after this, they’re just stubborn engineers. But these two were a bit more perceptive than that.

“No, way?”

He dropped the pack of beer he was holding. The opportunity they had longed for had arrived, but it was hard to believe. They probably never imagined a younger Asian would be an angel investor.

“How long are you going to be surprised? Let’s go inside. I’ve been wandering around all day, and I’m thirsty. You’ll at least treat me to one of those beers, right?”

* * *

“This is a friend’s garage. He works at Intel.”

As I quenched my thirst with a sip of beer, the two carefully watched my reaction before speaking.

“But what’s your deal? Are you really an investor?”

To make this conversation easier, they need to trust me completely, without preconceived notions about my young age or the fact that I’m Asian.

As I brought the beer can to my lips, an easy solution popped into my head.

The best way to make them look at me with awe and respect.

“Hold on a second. Does that phone have a speaker function?”

They nodded, pointing to the phone on the desk.

“Then let me use the phone for a moment.”

I took out my phone, scanned my contacts, and found the name I was looking for.

I turned on the speaker and dialed the number. It rang for a while before the voice I was waiting for came on.

— This is Michael.

“Michael, how are you doing? It’s Howard. Howard Jin.”

— Wow! Howard. Long time no see? Are you in the States?

A joyful voice flowed through the speaker.

“Yes, I’m in California right now. I’ll look you up when I’m done with things here if I have time. But before that, I have a favor to ask….”

— Anything, just name it.

“There are two people listening to this call. They’re the ones I want to invest in. But they keep looking at me with suspicion.”

— Hahaha. Oh, really? If Howard found them, I want to invest right away!

I looked at the two men listening intently to the call and said,

“Say hello. This is Mr. Michael Dell.”

“Dell…? Dell! The Dell?”

I nodded and spoke into the speaker.

“Michael, feel free to talk comfortably. I’ll step out for a moment.”

I left the garage, leaving the two with bewildered expressions.

It was already dark outside.

I took out my cell phone and told Rachel and my father that I wouldn’t be able to return today.

Damn it.

To think I’m leaving that amazing Ritz-Carlton hotel suite to sleep in a Silicon Valley motel tonight. It feels like a waste of money.

About thirty minutes later, the two called me out.

They seemed to have gotten all the information they wanted. I spoke into the still-connected phone.

“Michael, I’ll be in the States for quite a while this time, so I’ll call you again.”

— Okay. Call anytime. If you don’t have time, I’ll fly to California.

When I ended the call, the expressions and gazes of the two were exactly what I wanted.

Now, whatever I say will be taken as truth.

“Wait, did you really invest nine million dollars in Dell Computer when you were ten years old?”

“Yeah.”

“Giving up all shareholder rights and entrusting everything to the founder? Even with nine million dollars?”

“You heard it, didn’t you? Do you think Michael lied?”

“Ah, no…. It’s just unbelievable.”

“Believe it, because it’s true.”

“You’re…. no. You said your name is Howard? Howard Jin.”

“That’s right.”

“Michael said you finding us is a sure sign our business will succeed. He even said he wants to invest too?”

The redness on their cheeks wasn’t from the beer; it was from excitement. Being able to start a business without worrying about money is luck and a blessing. If billionaire Michael Dell invests, doesn’t that mean they won’t have to worry about money in the future?

“Forget about Michael Dell. He’s already a successful billionaire. He’ll probably force his success secrets on you, right? Dell Computer is fundamentally different from Google. Dell only uses the internet; its core is distribution.”

“But….”

“Are you mistaken about something? Do you think I’m short on cash? I invested nine million dollars when I was ten. Do you think my assets are less than Michael Dell’s now?”

The two whistled loudly and shook their heads.

“Howard, uh, can I call you Howard?”

“Of course.”

“Let me ask you one thing first. Why us?”

“Huh?”

“There are countless ventures in Silicon Valley waiting for money like parched land waiting for rain. Why us?”

A knight in shining armor suddenly appearing is something out of a fairy tale. This suspicion, no, this curiosity, is natural. But I can’t exactly say I know your future ten years from now. I tossed the printed papers over to them.

“This looked pretty good.”

The two immediately recognized their paper, but they still hadn’t shaken off their doubt.

“And I hate Yahoo. Their search results are utter garbage.”

“You think we’ll surpass Yahoo?”

“Do you need to ask me? Isn’t that the goal? A search engine that shows users the optimal results they want? Isn’t it?”

I clapped once, watching them nod.

“Alright. Let’s talk specifics. What’s the most urgent thing you need right now? A decent office? Employees to work with you?”

“Servers!”

The two shouted in unison as soon as the question was finished.

“Our search engine is already open. People at Stanford and in Silicon Valley are using it. The index has grown quite a bit too. The servers we’re using now are those over there.”

They pointed to a couple of PCs in the corner of the garage.

“The internet connection is insufficient, and the specs aren’t good enough to produce optimized performance.”

“You’ve probably already calculated the cost of building satisfactory servers, haven’t you?”

“Of course.”

I stopped the two from rummaging through the cluttered desk and made them sit back down.

“Let’s do it all at once. Expand the servers, move to a respectable office, and hire the necessary staff. Oh, and get a new car. A Lexus should be good enough, right? If you get into an accident driving that rickety pickup truck, it’ll be impossible to recover my investment.”

Seeing their jaws drop made me feel good. That expression of having caught a lucky break. I am their angel.

I wanted to allow them to focus solely on development while living comfortably. These guys are different from some of the garbage venture companies in Korea. How many of those are just scammers who squander the investment money without generating any revenue?

But these guys have a different goal.

They dream of becoming the next Bill Gates and Jerry Yang. Their goal isn’t to drool over hundreds of millions in investment, but to build a new world from this garage, dreaming of becoming trillion-won stock tycoons.

“So, how much will it be?”

Aren’t they genius engineers? They calculated in their spinning minds and cautiously gave me a number.

“One hundred fifty thousand, no, two hundred thousand dollars should be enough.”

They blinked, carefully reading my expression.

Two hundred thousand dollars is the cost of my family staying at the Ritz-Carlton for a mere five days.

Thinking about it like that, I really am indulging in extravagant luxury. I feel like I’m wasting money again.

“Alright. I’ll invest one million dollars for now, so show me some results with that. The next investment will be in the tens of millions. Be prepared.”

The two young guys let out crazy screams and pounced on me.

They picked me up and carried me around the garage before putting me down.

The two enjoyed the excitement of this incredible luck before calming down with cans of beer. They know the path that many predecessors have taken to success.

They also know that the money I’m giving them isn’t free, and that they’re sharing the wealth they will accumulate in the future.

“So, Howard, what specific conditions do you have? Oh, of course, we’ve already heard from Michael Dell that you’re an unconventional investor. But we’ll need a contract.”

What conditions should I set?

It’s a rather meaningless conversation.

Imagining myself haggling over a share of a company worth hundreds of trillions right now is horrifying. I also need to abandon the idea of controlling the two people who will change the world just because I know a bit of the future.

I, clinging to personal desires and private goals, am far inferior to them.

They will change the world, and I just need to change the future of Soonyang Group.

If I get caught up in greater desires, the only weapon I have might disappear.

Let’s only move and be greedy as much as the future I know won’t change.

Just up to this point… no further.

I steadied my mind in front of the two young men who were still unaware of their own true value.

“Don’t be evil.”

I muttered my decision. I don’t know if the two understood my heart.