Chapter 54: <Seattle, New York, and Silicone Valley (End of Book 2)>

When Woosung came out, he sat down on a bench and studied the people around as they walked through their destinations.

Blondes.

Brunets.

Straight hair.

Curly hair.

People from all over the world walked by. Woosung thought to himself in prideful snide.

‘Look where I am now.’

He has been working nonstop for the last few months. He accomplished a lot so far, but he knew he will be even more successful in the future.

Woosung tried to forget about his work for a while and enjoy the view. Nighttime at Seattle was beautiful.

“The most famous attraction in Seattle is the Space Needle. The view from there is amazing.”

Woosung turned around to find Go Sangjun.

“I see.”

“You said you’re a freelancer?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be interested in working at Daeyang?”

“Daeyang? Daeyang…Hahaha.”

Woosung laughed. Go Sangjun took this as acceptance and continued enthusiastically.

“As you know, it is one of the best companies in our country. You would love working there.”

“What is your yearly salary including the bonus?” Woosung asked without a second thought.

Go Sangjun looked surprised. When he hesitated to answer, Woosung saw this as an opportunity to strike back. “If I offer you double of your current salary, would you be interested in leaving Daeyang and join me?”

“What?”

“I can really use someone like you who has experiences in developing cell phones.”

“I thought you said you’re a freelancer. But you’re telling me you want to hire me? I don’t understand…”

“I guess I didn’t explain my situation very well. I am indeed a freelancer, but I am a freelancer who dabbles in many different businesses.” Go Sangjun looked confused. “I don’t involve in just one business, so I just call myself a freelancer.”

While Go Sangjun tried to understand, Woosung continued.

“I am sorry, but I need to tell you that Amor will indeed be a failure. I realize Daeyang is a huge corporation, so it will recover and make another product.” Woosung emphasized the next sentence. “But who will be blamed for its failures? Who will have to work as a slave for their next project?”

Daeyang was known for its high salaries, but it wasn’t for free. The average number of working hours at Daeyang was higher than any other companies.

“Do I even have to explain? You must know this better than I do.”

Go Sangjun murmured. “But manufacturing a cell phone is more difficult than you can imagine.”

“Is anything ever easy? Remember, Andy Rubin developed Android with only 8 people. My people and I are planning to follow a small tech company model like ARM and Qualcomm. We will create new technologies and get patents. The actual mass manufacturing will be outsourced to other companies like Foxconn.”

Woosung knew there was a distinct possibility that Blue S could fail. So he came up with a possible plan B just in case.

He knew the technologies of the future. He planned to get patents for all of them. Even if the cell phone failed, the patents alone will generate sizable profits.

Go Sangjun listened to Woosung and answered.

“Everyone wants to become the next ARM, but you know it is basically impossible. Do you really think your skills are better than them?” Go Sangjun was still doubtful.

Woosung replied quickly. “I have the funds and the eyes for new successful technologies. Do you know that Andy Rubin’s Android was rejected by other big companies before he contacted Google? And Android only needed 8 developers to make. Big companies have their advantages, but it doesn’t mean they are the only ones who can come up with successful ideas. In fact, some companies, such as Daeyang, have ignorant executives who often make stupid decisions.”

Go Sangjun stared at Woosung. He agreed with Woosung. Good ideas from the developers at his company were often ignored by the upper management who didn’t know anything about programming.

“Join my team. With experiences like yours, we can offer you twice your current salary. We will, of course, have to discuss the contract in details later…”

“How do you know what I can do?”

“You are a manager a Daeyang System IM Department. You have been selected as MS MVP. It is obvious you are a talented developer.”

Go Sangjun sighed. Woosung was correct. He was the main developer for the Windows Mobile OS.

Woosung continued quickly. “Will you disappear into the corporate world as a nameless developer? Or do you want to be recognized? You have my card. Call me if you are interested.”

Woosung stood up and left.

Second day at the Summit.

Go Sangjun observed Woosung. He was definitely something different. He attended many seminars and conversed fluently with other developers.

What impressed Go Sangjun the most was that Woosung also participated in one of the sessions. It was titled “The Future of IoT.”

Woosung introduced himself on the stage.

“Hello everyone. My name is Aaron Kang. I’m from Korea. This session is a bit of a surprise. I suggested this seminar to Microsoft after I arrived here, so you won’t find any information about it in your package.” Woosung looked around and continued. “I apologize for the lack of notice, but I guarantee you that it will be a useful session. Now let’s begin.”

Woosung took out four PCB boards from his bag.

“I don’t know if anyone knows what these are. This is open-source hardware called Arduino. It is very similar to the Android.”

Arduino.

It was an open-source electronics prototyping platform that allowed users to create interactive electronic objects. Woosung placed the boards on the table and explained its different parts.

“The temperature sensors are connected to the LCD. First, I will get the temperature of Arduino to the first laptop. Then the temperature will be converted from the Celsius to Fahrenheit. This temperature will then be repeated in front of the Arduino’s LCD.”

The temperature quickly appeared on the LCD screen. The camera now focused on the LCD and showed the numbers on the giant screen.

-A Arduino. 25 oC 77 oF

-B Arduino. 24 oC 75.2 oF.

They were the numbers on the LCDs of the two Arduinos placed side by side. No one could understand why Woosung was doing this demo. Some even yawned as if they were bored.

“Now, I will try the same thing on the second laptop using the MQTT protocol, which I developed myself.”

-C Arduino. 24 oC 75.2 oF

-D Arduino. 25 oC 77 oF.

They were similar results.

“You are probably all wondering by now why I’m doing this. What is he doing?” Some laughed. Woosung continued with a smile. “Haha. I will show you why right now. Please pay attention.”

Woosung clicked to open the Window Task Manager.

“As you know, if you click here, you can see the CPU and the memory usage of the PC. Now, I’m going to make it think that 200 machines are connected. This is the number one PC.”

Suddenly on the screen, the green bar soared to show the memory usage of 80%. The audience started to become curious.

“Wow, high usage. Now, I will do the same thing using the MQTT protocol on the second PC”

This time, the green bar only rose to 10%. It then slowly went down. The message was clear. Woosung continued.

“The future of IoT is bright. The problem will be controlling hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of machines. Will the current system be enough?”

No one answered. After a short pause, Woosung stated with the utmost care.

“I don’t think so, which means this new protocol will be the solution. Now, I will take your questions.”

Many raised their hands.