The God of Coding, Becoming an IT Conglomerate

30. Dell’s offer

“But what the hell are you doing? Like you said, there’s no way you came all the way here on vacation.”

“ha ha ha. Oops, I like Hoyoung because he’s so cool. I had the intention of visiting our company’s first Asian branch, but in the end, I came to see Hoyoung.”

“Me?”

“yes.”

Del saw Hoyoung pointing at him and continued with a grin.

“Please sit down.”

Hoyoung sat down on the opposite side of the sofa where Del was sitting.

We kept chatting about things such as the current situation and the current company situation, and when the female employee served hot coffee, Del looked at Hoyoung and said,

“Then shall we get to the point now? Time is money.”

“I see.”

“Do you remember what I said about the Kronos operating system when we met last time in Austin?”

“What do you mean?”

“If it is an operating system that surpasses DOS, I said that I would ask for delivery first.”

Hoyoung nodded, remembering that time.

Del leaned over to Hoyoung and moved a little closer before continuing.

“To be honest, I was blown away by H&H’s Kronos. When I checked the computers with DOS installed that are currently being sold in the US and the computers that are going to be used in Korea, there was a clear difference.”

“Thank you for a good look. Did I tell you before? They say that Kronos can definitely surpass Dos.”

Kronos overpowered DOS in all respects, except for the current software compatibility.

In particular, the most innovative thing is that even people who have no knowledge of computers can intuitively operate the GUI interface, desktop, and explorer.

“So I have a suggestion for you.”

“What is?”

“From now on, Dell Computer will select Kronos as its official operating system and install Kronos on all computers sold.”

Hoyoung was a little surprised by Del’s words, but he didn’t bother to show it.

I just quietly waited for Dell’s next words.

“Instead, I want Cronos to be the exclusive supplier for our Dell computers from now on.”

“monopoly···?”

Hoyoung recalled a bad memory and unconsciously wrinkled his face.

It reminded me of Cho Nam-sik, who demanded monopoly of Gaia OS in his previous life.

Hoyoung said without even thinking.

“There is no monopoly.”

“Hoyoung! Think about it first.”

“It’s nothing to think about. Monopolies are the main culprits that ruin the market economy.”

Del looked dumbfounded as if he had never dreamed that Hoyoung would come out like this.

“Currently, the biggest problem with Kronos is compatibility. So far, many good operating systems have been released, but the reason why they disappeared without shining through is compatibility. Unless Kronos is mainstream, software companies will not develop programs for Kronos. “

“I am well aware of that.”

“The most fundamental way to solve the compatibility problem is to increase the market share. Currently, hundreds of Dell computers are being sold. “

Hoyoung silently nodded at Del’s words.

Del looked at Ho-yeong and continued talking.

“If such a Dell computer installs and sells an operating system on all PCs it manufactures, there may be some resistance at first, but in the end everyone will be satisfied. I can’t help but make a program for it.”

“Del.”

Hoyeong called out to Del firmly.

Del had a hunch from Hoyoung’s eyes that he was unlikely to change his mind.

“Everything Dell says is true, but you’re missing the most important thing.”

“Is it important?”

“That’s what Dell said to me. I was very impressed with what Dell said at the time, but it’s disappointing that Dell has forgotten about it.”

Dell had an expression of realization.

“Is quality rather than reasonable price…?”

“That’s right. That’s it.”

At Hoyoung’s words, Del felt as if she had been hit in the head with a hammer.

“I suggested it with the consumer’s quality in mind. Cronos is much better than DOS so that all Dell users can use it…”

Dell was speechless.

Because he realized that what he was saying was a contradiction.

“No matter how good it is, if it looks like it’s forcing consumers, it can never be called a good thing.”

“Huh… Oh, you refuse even if I offer you money.”

“I like money too. But, I prefer bigger money in the future than small money right now.”

In fact, Hoyeong was not in such a hurry to get money.

It was clear that within the next few years, Hoyoung’s Dell stock would grow dozens or even hundreds of times.

“In fact, monopoly can sometimes be a powerful strategy. But it’s going to hurt Dell right now.”

“Is it a bad influence?”

“If there is a replacement for Dell, users who don’t want to use Kronos will leave Dell and buy PCs from other companies.”

At Hoyoung’s words, Del smiled dejectedly.

Then, after brushing his hair once as if brushing something off, he looked at Hoyoung.

It was Dell’s confident, gun-filled eyes that I had seen in America.

“I was briefly blinded by greed.”

“No. Thank you for your understanding.”

Hoyeong thought to herself, “As expected.”

With just a brief conversation, Del erased the greed in front of his eyes.

He was not the one who created a global company for nothing.

“I’m ashamed.”

“How about something like this instead?”

“How do you mean?”

“I understand that an electronics and electronic technology conference will be held in New York early next year.”

“You mean ECEC?”

“you’re right.”

ECEC was an exhibition open to the public that was held every year in January around the United States.

Numerous product previews are pouring in at this exhibition, and new products are unveiled.

Dell Computer also decided to unveil a new version of PC at this exhibition, so it was a conference Dell was familiar with.

“Please help us unveil our Kronos at the show. And we’re announcing Dell as an official partner of H&H.”

“Official partners?”

At Hoyoung’s words, Del thought for a moment.

“It seems like a pretty good method.”

“And add one more word to the introductory phrase.”

“If it’s a phrase, what phrase is it?”

“Kronos is optimized for systems on Dell computers.”

“ah!”

At Hoyoung’s words, Del clapped her hands and laughed wahahaha.

“That’s right. In fact, Kronos is designed to be optimized for our PC. No, isn’t this phrase also forcing consumers to make a choice?”

Del asked with mischievous eyes.

I’m sure he wasn’t asking because he didn’t know, but Hoyoung answered kindly.

“Isn’t it just that it is optimized for Dell computers? It is up to the individual whether a person who wants to use Kronos uses a Dell computer or an IBM PC. In addition, Dell computers are said to be optimized for Kronos, and so far Dell computers have been Consumers who used to run DOS on their computers would object, saying that the Kronos is optimized for Dell computers is an apt phrase.”

“Then I’ll contact the management of ECEC to see if we can get a booth right next to us.”

“If it’s right next to you, the effect will be even better.”

“We need to make sure that the announcements do not differ too much from our order.”

“Have you heard that getting the presentation itself isn’t easy?”

Del smiled at Hoyoung.

The smile was full of confidence.

“Don’t worry. I can win it by any means. I can’t guarantee how much time is given, but I promise I can put it on stage.”

Hoyoung nodded.

Standing on the stage of ECEC, it was only natural that it would be of great help in promoting Kronos to the world market.

“Until then, we will update Chronos so that it can shine at the conference.”

“Enough for now. Haha.”

The conversation ended amicably.

However, Hoyoung noticed that Del still had something to say.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

At Hoyoung’s question, Del nodded and said.

“We are thinking of going public and going public early next year.”

Hoyoung nodded at Del’s words.

In a previous life, Dell Computer went public in 1990.

“okay. Well done. How much do you think the listing price will be?”

“For now, we are thinking about 70 cents per share.”

Hoyeong thought to herself, “As expected.”

In the meantime, continuing to invest in Dell computers has been worthwhile.

Dell’s starting price of 30 cents a share in the previous life was blown up to 70 cents a share this time.

“70 cents, great.”

“Thanks to that, we were able to achieve explosive growth.”

Hoyeong had a hard time hiding her joy.

This is because the shares of Dell Computer, which successfully went public in 1990, grow 100 times in one year and 300 times in 5 years.

“I came all the way here to offer you a suggestion in that regard.”

“A suggestion?”

“Yes. In fact, this is the main topic rather than the exclusive contract with Chronos.”

“Isn’t this a bit scary to say this is the main topic?”

Del laughed at Hoyoung’s joke.

“Would you like another cup of coffee before that?”

Upon hearing Dell’s question, I looked at my coffee cup and saw that the coffee had cooled down while we were talking about the Kronos monopoly.

“I’d like another cup of something warm, please.”

While the secretary served coffee, Hoyoung looked at Del.

A confident look.

He was thinking that Hoyeong would have no choice but to accept the condition he was trying to make.

When Hoyoung was quenching her thirst with hot coffee, Del handed her a stack of documents.

“This is a proposal I would like to give to Hoyoung before the stock listing.”

“Proposal for repurchase?”

“Yes. I want to buy some of Hoyeong’s shares now.”

“If it’s some purchase, how much do you think?”

“It’s 11.9 percent.”

“Isn’t that a small amount?”

Dell nodded.

Rather, Hoyoung calmed down after hearing Dell’s suggestion.

“Speaking of an offer, you must have prepared a price at which I would be willing to sell my stake, right?”

“of course.”

“How much do you think?”

“Twenty-five million dollars.”

If it was 25 million dollars, it was the entire amount Hoyoung had invested in Dell.

Of Hoyoung’s 49.9% stake, only his 11.9% stake was enough to recover the principal of the amount invested in Dell.

“Hmm… that’s an ambiguous price.”

However, Hoyoung was not too surprised by the amount.

This is because an 11.9% stake will be worth tens of millions of dollars after a few years and tens of millions of dollars after a few years.

“As expected. I thought you wouldn’t accept it at once.”

Dell was rejected, but he looked happy.

Hoyoung’s refusal did not mean that he valued Dell’s stake that much.

“So we prepared some additional conditions.”

“Additional conditions?”

“Yes. I checked the English version of Hangeul 2.0 through Francis a few days ago. It is definitely a better program than Microsoft’s Word. In particular, it has incomparable convenience in drawing tables and working with figures.”

“thank you.”

Hoyoung slightly lowered his head, and Del looked at Hoyoung and continued talking.

“Dell Computer gives a Microsoft Word diskette as a free gift to consumers who purchase a computer as a promotion in the US market. If Hoyoung agrees to repurchase, I will immediately replace the free gift with Hangul 2.0 from next month.”

Hoyoung’s eyes widened when he heard Del’s story.

“This is the first condition. The second condition is, I heard a rumor that Hoyoung is looking for a keyboard manufacturer these days. Is that correct?”

“you’re right.”

Ho-young was looking for a factory that could produce three-way keyboards to keep his promise to Dr. Gong Byeong-ju.

I received the blueprint from the engineer, but since it was an unfamiliar keyboard, there were no factories that would easily make it.

“We are manufacturing keyboards and mice at our Louisiana plant. However, there is currently one production line left. We will make the keyboard Hoyoung wants there.”

Hoyoung felt like Del was scratching his itch.

“And the last third.”

Del paused for a moment.

And Hoyoung, who heard the last words, had no choice but to let go of the poker face he had maintained for a while.

“The first two are for Hoyoung’s company. There must be a condition for Hoyoung, right? The 25 million dollars paid for the stake will be paid to Hoyoung in full in cash. I’ll put it in. How is it?”

Hoyoung looked at Dell with a smiling face.

Also Dell. It’s not easy.