Pierre Omidyar, who came to the address Jaesung had given, was pacing in front of the house, troubled.
“That’s strange. The address is correct, but… it’s not an office, it’s a home?”
“Haha. This is the right place. You found it well.”
Since Jaesung was attending school, he had asked Pierre to visit on the weekend.
It was Sunday, so Jefferson was home too, and he greeted the pacing Pierre first.
“My goodness. It’s really Jefferson Bezos of Amazon.com. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m flattered you’re recognizing me already, but it still feels awkward.”
Having successfully grown Amazon.com, Jefferson had become a star among IT professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Pierre, who had just created an auction site and, as Jaesung suggested, sold a broken laser pointer, was still pondering starting a business, but seeing Jefferson appear in person convinced him it wasn’t a scam.
“I heard the growth rate is steep right from the start of the service.”
“The online market is expanding day by day. With the recent Windows 95 making computers easy for ordinary people to use, customers have definitely increased.”
“Microsoft’s Windows 95 is indeed impressive.”
“This is a secret, but James made the core features of the newly released Windows 95. I, a Princeton computer science summa cum laude, taught him coding, but now he definitely codes better than me.”
Entering Jaesung’s garage while talking with Jefferson, Pierre was amazed by the expensive computers and perfect setup not seen in ordinary homes.
“I thought you were just an investor, but you code directly too.”
“You’ve come a long way—thank you for your trouble. I’m James Yoo, who called you.”
Imagining a white nerd similar to Jefferson, Pierre was startled when a handsome, aristocratic-looking Asian kid appeared.
“Haha. It’s understandable to be surprised knowing James’s true identity. Looks aside, he’s the most capable second-year middle schooler in the world.”
Cognitive dissonance hit seeing Jaesung’s appearance, but fortunately Jefferson helped, and he quickly regained composure and accepted reality.
“So you’re… I mean, you are the one who called saying you want to invest after seeing my site? Come to think of it, the voice is the same.”
“I do get misunderstood because of my young appearance, but my desire to invest in the auction site you, Pierre, created is genuine.”
Pierre, still debating whether to start the business seriously, lost his entrepreneurial will upon hearing an Asian middle schooler would invest.
Noticing Pierre’s thoughts, the clever Smurf Jefferson added the right interjection at the perfect timing.
“Congratulations on being chosen by James. Actually, I checked it too, but I couldn’t quite understand.”
“I’m still pondering starting a business. Does online auction have market potential?”
“One thing for sure is that companies this guy chooses definitely succeed. Though neighbors, he invested early in Amazon.com and helped with development, and invested in the hottest Yahoo these days before registering as a major shareholder.”
He also mentioned investing in Netscape, which is dominating the market with its internet browser recently.
Pierre was surprised hearing Jaesung had invested in most hot IT startups and asked if it was true.
“You seem still pondering starting a business. My proposed terms are $1 million initial investment for 30% equity. I won’t interfere in management at all, but I can advise as a technical consultant.”
“You invested only $500,000 in Amazon, but you must have made a lot from Microsoft.”
While Pierre, with no startup experience, was confused if $1 million was much or little, the sly Jefferson added spice again.
“If I had money, I’d want to invest too, but unfortunately, I have no spare funds since money keeps going into Amazon.com.”
“No. Thank you for viewing my site positively. Can we sign the contract right here?”
As the relatively kind-looking Pierre tried to sign the contract immediately at the mention of $1 million, Jaesung handed him a copy and said.
“Read the contract slowly, consult a lawyer, and contact me. But if you drag it too long, someone else might create a competing site for Auction Web. Don’t forget that in the online market, the first mover has the advantage.”
Though a middle schooler, spending time daily with Amazon.com CEO Jefferson, and dealing with the famously eccentric Steven Jobs and the smiling but ruthless William Gates, persuading the innocent Pierre Omidyar wasn’t difficult.
“Understood. I’ll reply as soon as possible.”
“As you see, I can’t move freely, so it might be inconvenient, but when signing the contract, I’d appreciate if you, Pierre, visit again. I’ll write the check on the spot.”
Pierre received the contract, asked a few questions, and once somewhat settled, asked Jefferson curious things too.
After talking that way until he returned to San Jose, Jefferson asked.
“James, honestly, that site called Auction Web is crudely made, and traffic is almost none— isn’t $1 million too much investment?”
“Instead, I asked for a lot of equity. In my view, auction sites will definitely succeed. It’s basically auctions, but it can expand to online sales sites.”
Deciding to grow the business seriously, Pierre changes the site from Auction Web to eBay.
Steadily growing eBay becomes one of the most watched companies alongside Amazon.com during the dot-com bubble.
Showing very steep growth, it successfully goes public on Nasdaq in September 1998, inflating assets massively.
In Korea, where native open markets took root, eBay Korea fails to establish its site, but instead acquires the entire conglomerate.
Acquiring both Korean auction sites and Gmarket simultaneously, open market 1st and 2nd places merge, creating a monopoly operator.
Dominating the open market in Korea for a while, but with the emergence of absolute powerhouse Coupang, online shopping malls bid farewell to their heyday.
eBay isn’t famous in Korea, but in the 2000s, eBay holds value far exceeding Amazon.com’s market cap as the absolute leader in online open markets.
In the far future, Amazon becomes the absolute leader, but Jefferson, unable to imagine his created Amazon.com being outperformed by eBay for a long time, said.
“If your instinct is right, it’ll succeed, but I still don’t quite get it.”
“The key is not me listing items for sale directly, but individual sellers registering themselves. As a true platform business, we can just take commissions.”
“Hearing that makes it tempting. I’m always busy listing books and packing shipments—if someone else does it even if revenue decreases, it’d be good.”
“Jefferson doesn’t pack shipments directly anymore.”
“Still, managing inventory is no joke. Come to think of it, you were the real logistics system expert?”
Recalling Jaesung creating and selling management systems to Costco and Walmart, Jefferson thought eBay could really succeed.
“Should I have invested if I had spare money?”
“Jefferson should focus on Amazon.com. It’s in full growth—don’t get distracted.”
“That’s true. But meeting someone preparing online startup is fun. Call me if something like this happens again.”
Thanks to Jefferson’s help, Pierre Omidyar decided quickly, and a week later visited home to sign the contract.
“My son was quiet for a while, then found another company he likes.”
“I heard you invested in Yahoo and Netscape—must be true.”
“Did he only do those two? It’s his own earned money, not spent badly, so I let him do as he wants, but as a father, I’m worried.”
“I’ll make a good company with your precious son’s money. Don’t worry too much.”
Dad, the legal representative, finished signing and handed his business card.
Seeing Dad’s title, Pierre’s trust in Jaesung rose further, and he promised to build an excellent company.
“Isn’t this enough now? How long do you plan to keep investing?”
“I’ll stop if a company I invested in fails. The more companies, the higher the chance of failure.”
“Seeing Yahoo and Amazon.com growing scarily, you might be right. By the way, going to Stanford next week—coming along?”
“No Yahoo, but have to go to Pixar, so I’ll follow.”
Spent time in Yahoo’s lab at Stanford University in San Francisco while Dad attended a conference, but with the company externalized, nothing to do.
Still, having attended in previous life and visited Stanford multiple times, no issue.
Should I call Allen Musk? No. Phone calls alone are tiring—meeting in person would be exhausting.
Often phoned with Allen Musk preparing online startup with his sister in San Francisco.
Helped a bit with coding he was curious or struggling with, but he kept bothering, so meeting in person didn’t seem good.
Jeremy and Dave from Yahoo said to contact when coming to Stanford to pick up, but with huge success, too busy to call them.
Wandering the school after a long time is fun.
In the end, while Dad attended the conference, Jaesung wandered the wide campus and headed to the pretty building of the business school.
“As expected, the business school with many female students is better than the dull engineering school full of men.”
Seeing fresh college sisters after hanging with kids at school, Jaesung’s growth hormones seemed to surge.
“Right? I thought a prestigious university would only have ugly people, but the quality is better than expected. Look at those legs—wait, you’re a guy too.”
Jaesung sat on a bench muttering to himself, but the man across agreed and spoke.
Startled, Jaesung looked beside him—a black man with a slight Asian feel was sitting.
“Huh? You are?”
“You know me? Old white uncles barely recognize me, but a young friend knowing feels good?”
“I’m a fan. How did you come here?”
“I enrolled in the economics department here. I don’t attend school well, but it’s my first semester this time, so I stopped by after a long absence.”
Surprised seeing the man, Jaesung took out paper and asked for an autograph.
The man gladly signed and asked.
“You’re my first young fan. If you know me, you must compete in tournaments too. What brings you here?”
“My dad is a medical school professor, followed for his conference. Not competing level, but I’ve been watching you as a promising player.”
“I swept all teen and amateur tournament new records. Enough boring talk—shall we appreciate the beauty of female college students together?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.