Lee Hyun-woo had a connection with MP3 players.
Back in 1998, when he was in his third year at 【Deokseong Trading Company】, he received a request from a venture company to distribute MP3 players.
Why did that company approach Lee Hyun-woo?
It was a company where a senior from his university worked, and they asked Lee Hyun-woo to create an opportunity for them somehow. Unfortunately, he was still a low-ranking employee, and his suggestions were ignored by the higher-ups.
“Should I drop by since I remember it now?”
The name of the university senior was Jung Ji-hoon.
They weren’t close, but he could contact his classmates to find out.
With this thought, Lee Hyun-woo went home and took out an old notebook he had used before.
Then, he called a university friend, and after enduring some teasing about how long it had been and whether he had forgotten them after becoming successful, he promised to treat them to a big meal later and obtained Jung Ji-hoon’s pager number.
When he left his number on the pager, he received a call immediately.
(Hello?)
“Hyung, it’s me, Lee Hyun-woo.”
(Lee Hyun-woo…? Oh? Could it be Lee Hyun-woo from Jungle?)
“Yes, that’s right. Haha. It’s your junior, Lee Hyun-woo.”
(Hey, it’s been a long time. And I heard you’ve become quite famous these days?)
As they chatted, Lee Hyun-woo remembered Jung Ji-hoon’s way of speaking.
Jung Ji-hoon often used the word “really.”
“Is he still chubby?”
His nickname was “99.”
He was short but wide, and when someone asked about his weight, he honestly said 99kg, which became his nickname.
Of course, he didn’t like it much.
“I suddenly thought of you while working today. Was it early this year? I heard you got a job.”
(I did. I should have started my own business like you, but I wasted a year just being picky and ended up in a small company. I don’t know why I settled here.)
“You probably have a similar reason to mine. I suddenly wanted to start a business instead of getting a job.”
(But you succeeded, and look at me now.)
“Hey, don’t be like that, hyung. I just got ahead, and you’ll make it later.”
(Thanks for saying that. Anyway, we should meet up sometime.)
“Right. Since we’re talking about it, I’ll come visit you.”
(You’re coming to see me?)
“Yes, when would be a good time?”
(How about lunch tomorrow… Oh, are you not busy?)
“Even if I’m busy, I’ll make time to see you. I’ll come by for lunch. Give me the address.”
After getting the address, Lee Hyun-woo went to his company the next day and then visited Jung Ji-hoon.
More precisely, he went to 【Alpha Cast】, where Jung Ji-hoon worked.
He arrived a bit early on purpose, parked in the building, and called Jung Ji-hoon, who contacted him right away.
(You’re here early.)
“There wasn’t much traffic. I’ll wait in the parking lot.”
(No, it’s fine. Come up.)
“Really? Alright, hyung.”
He half-expected it.
Since the place wasn’t fully organized yet, it seemed like friends of employees could come and go freely.
When he went up, as expected, the office was a bit messy.
It looked cleaned but not properly organized.
Jung Ji-hoon greeted him, and a few employees glanced at him.
“Welcome. Hold on a second.”
Jung Ji-hoon led Lee Hyun-woo to someone who seemed to be the representative.
He introduced him to a person who was already standing with his hands gathered.
“Sir, this is the junior I mentioned, Lee Hyun-woo, the founder of 【Jungle】.”
“Nice to meet you. I never imagined I’d meet the CEO of 【Jungle】.”
“Nice to meet you too. By the way, what is your name?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was so excited to meet such a famous person that I forgot to introduce myself. Here’s my business card. I’m Jung Sung-woo.”
“We have the same last name, but there’s no relation.”
Jung Ji-hoon laughed and added, making Lee Hyun-woo smile and nod.
“But I feel like I’m interrupting your work by coming early.”
“No, no. It’s fine. Go ahead and have lunch with Assistant Manager Jung.”
“What? It’s not even lunchtime yet.”
“It’s okay, Assistant Manager Jung doesn’t have much to do anyway.”
It was indeed a makeshift arrangement.
It was typical of small companies, but it was different from the orderly yet free atmosphere of 【Jungle】.
So Lee Hyun-woo slightly shook his head.
“I feel like I’m causing trouble, so I’ll wait a bit. How about you join us for lunch, sir?”
“Me? Oh, is that okay?”
“Of course. It might be better to have a conversation between representatives.”
“Right? It might be frustrating to talk with just an assistant manager. Hahaha.”
“Hey, that’s my junior. Are you already recruiting him to your side? And I do important work in our company, so don’t say things that would make me look bad.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. But I’ll treat you to a nice lunch. Is that okay, CEO Lee?”
“I should be treating you.”
“No, you’re our guest, so I’ll treat you.”
“Then I’ll accept today, and I’ll treat next time.”
“Sounds good.”
Usually, the smaller the company, the more the representative cares about appearances.
So they postponed the treat and moved to a nearby sundae soup place that wasn’t too expensive.
Of course, it was because Lee Hyun-woo said he wanted to eat sundae soup.
All three of them ordered spicy sundae soup, and Lee Hyun-woo started the conversation.
“Is your work going well?”
“It’s going okay.”
“Do you know what we make?”
“I heard from the guys. Something about CD players.”
“Specifically, we supply CD players installed in car stereos.”
“Oh… that sounds good. Stable?”
“We manage to make a living.”
Jung Sung-woo and Jung Ji-hoon took turns answering Lee Hyun-woo’s questions.
However, Jung Sung-woo, the representative, had bigger ambitions, so he looked at Lee Hyun-woo enviously and spoke.
“But compared to 【Jungle】, it’s nothing. I hear from the industry that you guys are really taking off.”
“We were lucky. I don’t intend to live well by myself. These days, I’m taking care of those who helped me initially. Ah, you know 【One Computer】, right?”
“Huh?”
“Oh? Yeah.”
Both of them expressed curiosity.
Lee Hyun-woo continued looking at Jung Ji-hoon.
“The president there is from Yongsan Electronics Market. 【Jungle】 needed to auction off computers urgently, so I coaxed him. Thankfully, he helped, and we’ve been close since. I pushed him to start his own business, and now it’s 【One Computer】.”
“That’s how it happened. I was a bit curious. 【Jungle】 always featured One Computer products at events.”
“It started as a small shop, but they expanded their factory and grew tremendously by supplying to 【Sejun Computer Land】.”
“I heard about that too. I’m envious. I should’ve gotten into computers.”
Jung Sung-woo showed his envy.
Then Jung Ji-hoon casually suggested,
“Sir, should we try making our own CD players? Then we can supply them to his company, 【Jungle】.”
“That’s easier said than done. Where would we manufacture them? Should we stop all our current operations to make CD players? Stop supplying?”
“Is that so?”
“It costs a lot of money to start something new.”
“I know, I was just thinking of leveraging some connections.”
“Then keep leveraging them, hyung.”
“Are you kidding? The CEO just said we lack funds.”
“Money is something that can be there or not. If you have the will, I’ll invest.”
“……?”
“……?”
Lee Hyun-woo’s serious offer of investment during their light conversation drew question marks on both their faces.
If the spicy sundae soup hadn’t arrived at that moment, they might have turned to stone.
So after taking a bite of the sundae soup,
“Assistant Manager Jung, eat up. CEO Lee, you too.”
Jung Sung-woo resumed the conversation.
Jung Ji-hoon, while eating, started to speak,
“Don’t make such heart-stopping jokes.”
“I’m not joking. I told you, I don’t intend to live well by myself.”
“…….”
“…….”
“If you’re supplying to a car stereo company, you must have the technology, right? I’ve heard not just anyone can do that.”
“Of course. That company initially didn’t want to outsource, but we made such good products that they did. Right, sir?”
“Absolutely. The problem is they give us so little that we can barely make a living.”
“It seems like they’re doing it on purpose because they’re afraid we’ll grow too fast and enter the overseas market. Oh, what I mean is…”
Jung Ji-hoon explained, worried that Lee Hyun-woo might not understand.
“There’s a monopoly on car stereo manufacturing in our country. We have no other place to supply to. If we want to, we need to find overseas markets, which also requires money.”
Deep down, there was a genuine desire for investment.
“I know. To export, you need to entrust it to a trade company, handle customs procedures, open a letter of credit, and go through the shipping process. You can’t hire specialized personnel for that.”
“Wow, CEO Lee, you know a lot. You even know the trade process.”
“I learned it in school.”
“I learned it too, but why don’t I remember anything?”
Was it because of the difference in memory between the economics senior and junior?
Or was it because Lee Hyun-woo, who had gone through this process extensively in his past life, remembered it better?
The latter was more likely.
“Anyway, if you can do it but are hesitant due to lack of funds, I’m always willing to invest.”
“Sir, he seems serious. But why does it scare me?”
“It’s natural. What’s the point of making CD players? Unless it’s 【Guseong】 or 【GB】 brand, consumers won’t touch it. CEO Lee, we were just joking. We’d appreciate the investment, but making CD players involves a tough process afterward. We can’t do it.”
“Can you make something else for me?”
“Something else?”
“I can’t tell you now, but if you visit our company later, I have a special request. Actually, that’s why I wanted to meet you today, senior.”
Lee Hyun-woo finally revealed his purpose.
He couldn’t ask them to make an MP3 player right away, so he wanted to start a relationship somehow.
By having lunch with CEO Jung Sung-woo, he approached it from a business perspective.
“When should I visit?”
The other party took the bait immediately.
Lee Hyun-woo smiled confidently and said,
“I’ll contact you when we’re ready.”
At that time, MP3 files were still in the planning stage.
If Jang Yoo-chul and Woo Sang-won hurried their development, Lee Hyun-woo would contact Jung Sung-woo right away.
“Then we won’t lose the original technology worth trillions of won to overseas.”
Incidentally, the technology for the first MP3 player created in Korea later went abroad.
Even though he wasn’t a patriot, Lee Hyun-woo felt the desire to prevent that.
Today, he met the people who would sow the seeds for a pleasant start.
Maybe because he was in a good mood, the spicy sundae soup tasted exceptionally good.
