The meaning that not just anyone can be successful is equivalent to saying that there is no place that can catch up to Jungle.
Is Lee Hyun-woo’s bold declaration just excessive confidence, or is it arrogance?
The next words from his opponent, Tim Connor, provide the answer.
“That’s right. Anyone can jump in, but for now, it seems like it’s something easy to do in Korea.”
The reason was simple.
“Looking at the improvement in Korea’s internet speed from last year to this year, it’s enviable.”
Speed was crucial to properly connect internet content such as SNS.
Of course, even if the speed was supported, it couldn’t compete with Korean companies.
Tim Connor, who knows this, had no choice but to admit it.
“Maybe that’s why there are so many investors thoroughly scouting Korean companies these days. There seems to be a well-established online business environment through the network, which might be why Korean tech companies keep emerging.”
“That’s right. Where people gather, money gathers. That’s why I’m already investing.”
“I see.”
“However, there is no place in the world that can catch up to the network technology environment of the United States. This is also why I will have to visit often in the future.”
The United States is a country that is well-equipped with not just technology but other enviable things as well.
Explaining it all would be exhausting and boring.
The hopeful thing is that there are many companies in the United States.
‘I should take this opportunity to sell a lot of search engines.’
Although it was a business collaboration, the immediate person in front of him, Tim Connor, was the first batter.
“Shall we sign first and then continue our conversation?”
“Oh, yes. Let’s do that. Just a moment. James! James!”
As soon as someone who seemed to be his secretary came in, Tim Connor asked him.
“The reporters?”
“Everyone is ready. Quite a lot have come.”
Hearing the report, he smiled and turned back to Lee Hyun-woo.
“Thanks to you, the reporters are gathering.”
He couldn’t help but be pleased.
The more Altavista was mentioned in the media, the more it meant free advertising.
Especially to people who consume IT-related news, just the fact that they were doing something with Jungle, a new innovative company, was something that had to be deliberately promoted to frequently make the news.
Thanks to Lee Hyun-woo attracting the interest of reporters the previous day, it seemed more had attended.
“Shall we go?”
Lee Hyun-woo also nodded with a smile on his face.
And a moment later.
The two were smiling in front of the reporters who greeted them.
As the meaningful business collaboration signing ceremony proceeded, the sound of camera shutters continued nonstop.
Click, click, click.
Following the previous day, the reporters seemed ready to ask enormous questions.
Among them, Lee Hyun-woo remembered one face and pointed at Johnson Oh.
‘This press conference is the starting point of a new negotiation.’
As soon as he smiled and opened his ears, Johnson Oh asked specifically what kind of business Altavista and Jungle would be doing.
“I heard that the two companies have been preparing for business collaboration since last year. I would like to know mainly what parts the MOU covers.”
“It’s very simple. To enter the U.S. market, Jungle will borrow Altavista’s vast database. Oh, I have a question for the reporters. Which search engine does each media outlet use?”
“Let me start. We used Altavista’s search engine.”
Lee Hyun-woo already knew this.
The reason he asked the question was simple.
It meant that it was time to change, and Tim Connor immediately explained to the reporters.
“Unfortunately, that search engine has now become an old version. The contents of today’s business collaboration document include Altavista using a new search engine.”
Specifically, they had started installing Jungle’s search engine since the beginning of this year.
Now, it was perfectly about discarding the old and adopting the new.
Tim Connor officially declared that.
Although it was publicly known, the reporters asked additional questions.
“Then the existing search engine…”
“We plan to continue servicing it for those who want it.”
Altavista had operated by selling search engines.
However, the ambitious Tim Connor realized that they had to change their business model with the emergence of an innovative search engine to survive.
Since last year until recently, he had been constantly exchanging emails with Lee Hyun-woo, and earlier this year, core personnel from Jungle, Oh Min-woo and Lee Jung-woo, had visited. Both sides’ core technical teams had exchanged between Korea and the U.S., replacing the old search engine with a new one.
This process would show how Silicon Valley IT companies survive.
- Change boldly!
“But I dare say, Jungle’s search engine is the best in the world.”
It meant that they should change if possible.
Although he didn’t say it explicitly, the reporters couldn’t miss the hidden context.
They had now become consumers rather than interviewers.
Still, to fulfill their role, another reporter mixed curiosity and asked Tim a question.
“Then what will Altavista’s future business model be?”
“Now, I can tell you the main content of our business collaboration. In the future, Jungle will share Altavista’s vast database. We will receive Jungle’s sophisticated web page collection technology. In other words, we will profit by providing the database we have collected to necessary places, and Jungle’s search engine will become a revenue model.”
Although it had been roughly revealed through press releases and mentioned in today’s context, speaking so specifically, the reporters couldn’t help but be surprised.
It was because it perfectly acknowledged the qualitative superiority of the search engine.
For those who didn’t know IT, it might have just passed by, but for experts, it was shocking news.
They had just known that Altavista and Jungle were sharing technology together, but few predicted that the business direction would change 180 degrees like this.
However, from Tim Connor’s perspective, it was an unavoidable choice.
Recently, they had been losing to Yahoo in the search engine market.
When there is a technological gap, it naturally reduces profits.
Of course, now the search engine is a blue ocean, so profits were continually increasing, but the perceived profit rate was gradually stagnating.
Until deciding on all these things, there had been ‘email exchanges with Lee Hyun-woo’ and ‘mutual exchanges of core employees.’
Accepting the results of countless communications behind the scenes, Tim boldly made his choice.
‘May today’s choice be the path for Altavista.’
Interestingly, the content of today’s press conference spread here and there before it was even turned into articles.
Jamie Yang, the CEO of Yahoo, also received thorough reports on the contents.
“We just got the news that Altavista officially abandoned using its own search engine.”
“Good choice.”
“Sorry?”
“Each portal site now has to have a clear identity to survive. Personally, I don’t think the search engine is that important. Especially, Altavista’s strength lies in its vast data rather than the search engine. We even have to buy and use it.”
The secretary tilted his head.
Developers would feel very hurt if they heard this.
“For an IT company based on technology, if the search engine isn’t important, what is important?”
“Oh, I think there was a misunderstanding.”
Jamie Yang liked to explain kindly.
No matter who it was.
“I’m not saying that technology isn’t important. I mean, let’s not mistake technology for being synonymous with the search engine. Also, I’m not saying the search engine isn’t important. I believe that developing content based on an appropriate search engine is much more important.”
The secretary nodded.
The word Jamie Yang mentioned most recently was ‘content.’
He emphasized that in the future, the portal site battle would be absolutely about content and that Yahoo must continuously develop content to maintain its No. 1 market share.
Therefore, what Jamie Yang was wary of stood in Jungle’s position.
“In that sense, Jungle, which now looks to enter the U.S., can be seen as threatening. Looking at Jungle’s portal, it’s so diverse that it seems like one would be happily puzzled about what to do.”
“….”
“Of course, I don’t know Korean, so I can’t accurately grasp what is what, but it means that I can confirm there is a variety of content just by glancing over.”
“Didn’t you say last time that our Yahoo’s technology could also implement it?”
“Yes, that’s right. But there are more things we can’t do because of the internet environment. The fact that the page is diverse means that the graphics are supported, right? But graphics are something that can’t be dealt with by the current internet speed in the U.S.”
His voice was full of regret.
Also, he was envious of Korea.
Hadn’t they long expanded their base with fast internet?
“In the end, it seems we need to hurry up our entry into Korea.”
“Yes, understood.”
The secretary’s answer was curious.
So was Jamie Yang’s reaction.
“Then please work hard.”
In fact, there was a reason for explaining various contents so far.
Yahoo’s secretary acts as a bridge between the CEO and the developers.
The task is to perfectly read the CEO’s intentions and convey them accurately.
Since Jamie Yang was always busy and couldn’t meet each developer individually, he devised this method.
The important thing here was that the secretary had to be extremely quick-witted.
In addition to collecting information, IT knowledge also needed to be included.
Today’s emphasis was on content and entering Korea, not on letting them know that search engines were unnecessary, which would be a big problem.
That’s why he had added the words that it wasn’t that they weren’t important earlier.
“Oh, one more thing.”
“Yes, please tell me.”
“I heard that two core developers from Jungle visited Altavista last time.”
“Yes, that’s right. Min-woo Oh and Jung-woo Lee.”
“Among them, Jung-woo Lee is the younger brother of Hyun-woo Lee, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then try to contact Min-woo Oh.”
This time, the secretary’s eyes widened.
Jamie Yang’s words meant he intended to bring in a core talent from Jungle.
But this time, even more surprising content was heard.
“If necessary, I will meet him personally.”
“I’ll… I’ll contact him right away.”
The secretary knew the importance of the matter.
Jamie Yang wanted to meet Oh Min-woo in the U.S. to make a decision this time.
As he turned around, the secretary’s eyes twitched.
‘Actually, this is the right thing.’
Recently, the rising IT company Jungle was known as a competitor to Yahoo.
Inevitably, industry rivals collide.
And in this collision, surviving is the law of the jungle.
Judging that shaking the opponent just by taking away their core would be effective, Jamie Yang’s move this time was quite a good one.
