Golden Spoon Investor

A few days later, in Urbana, Illinois.

On a warm afternoon with spring sunlight streaming down, the expansive green lawns of the University of Illinois campus stretched out, dotted with red brick buildings that told the story of the university's long history.

Majestic, centuries-old trees lined the paths, standing tall and steadfast, while students could be seen leisurely reading on benches or riding bicycles to their next classes.

Seok-won sat in the back seat of a limousine, gazing out the window at the vibrant and lively campus scenery.

Just a year ago, Seok-won was a student at Harvard, so the atmosphere felt neither unfamiliar nor intimidating; instead, it was comforting and familiar.

After crossing the campus, the limousine stopped in front of a four-story building. Unlike the other structures, which had classic red brick exteriors, this one was modern in design.

"This is the NCSA," Landon said from beside him.

Turning his head, Seok-won slowly looked up at the building.

The University of Illinois campus, vast enough to feel like a small city, housed numerous affiliated research facilities, and the NCSA was one of them.

Stepping out of the car, Seok-won entered the building with Landon.

Inside, a uniformed private security guard with a holstered gun stopped them at the entrance and asked, "How can I help you?"

"We have an appointment with Jason Bedford," Landon replied, mentioning the name of the research institute's deputy director.

The guard's stern expression softened slightly.

"Could I have your name?"

"Landon Shore. He'll know it's about the web browser," Landon said confidently.

"Please wait here for a moment," the guard responded.

The security guard walked over to the information desk and picked up a phone to make a call.

After a brief conversation, the guard hung up and returned to them.

"An employee will be down shortly to escort you," he said.

Nodding slightly, both made their way to a sofa in the lobby and sat down to wait.

After a few minutes, a lean, white man stepped out of the elevator.

Scanning the lobby, he spotted them and walked over directly.

"Are you the representatives from Netscape?"

"Yes, we are," Landon replied.

The man, maintaining a slightly stiff demeanour, said, "I'll take you to the meeting room. Please follow me."

Rising from their seats, both followed him into the elevator.

The room they were shown was a conference room on the fourth floor, offering a panoramic view of the well-manicured campus through its large windows.

A long conference table sat in the centre, with chairs arranged to seat four people on each side. In preparation for the meeting, every seat was set with a glass and a small bottle of water.

"The deputy director will be with you shortly," said their guide.

Acknowledging this with a slight nod, Seok-won and Landon chose seats by the window.

Before long, the door opened, and a middle-aged white man with slightly graying black hair and a neatly groomed appearance walked in, accompanied by another man who also looked well put together.

After briefly sizing them up, the older man approached and introduced himself.

"I'm Jason Bedford, deputy director of the NCSA."

At this, Landon pulled out a business card and handed it to Jason Bedford.

"My name is Landon Shore. I'm the one who reached out to you," he said, before gesturing respectfully toward Seok-won.

"This is Mr. Park Seok-won, our fund's CEO and a major shareholder in Netscape."

Jason Bedford's expression noticeably shifted to one of surprise upon hearing that the young Asian man, who looked barely old enough to have just graduated college, was the CEO of a fund.

Being accustomed to such reactions and considering them natural, Seok-won extended his hand calmly.

"I'm Park Seok-won."

"Oh, my apologies," Jason said as he shook Seok-won's hand. "You look so young that I was momentarily taken aback. I hope I didn't offend you."

Seok-won responded with a soft smile, brushing it off with ease.

"It's fine. Being young is simply a fact."

As Seok-won dismissed the matter lightly, Jason introduced the man who had accompanied him.

"This is Attorney Croft, who will be providing legal counsel."

At this, Croft, a lean Italian-American man with a long, narrow face, pulled out his business card and offered it to both of them.

"Croft, at your service."

The four people, having briefly exchanged greetings, sat facing each other across a long conference table.

A brief awkward silence followed, and Attorney Croft cleared his throat quietly before speaking first.

"You wanted to discuss the lawsuit, correct?"

In response, Landon, speaking on behalf of Seok-won, calmly took over the conversation.

"That's right. If it goes to trial, it will be difficult for both sides, so wouldn't it be better to reach an agreement beforehand, on reasonable terms?"

"It seems there's a major error in what you've said."

At Attorney Croft's words, Landon furrowed his brows slightly and looked at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Receiving Landon's gaze, Attorney Croft replied with a confident demeanour.

"Once the trial starts, the Netscape side will be in trouble, but we won't have any problems."

Jason, sitting next to him, nodded in agreement, as if thinking the same.

In short, the urgency was on their side, not ours.

It might have been surprising to see them trying to seize control from the start with such confidence, but Landon, seemingly expecting this, responded calmly.

"Is that really the case?"

"..."

"The intellectual property rights to Mosaic are entirely held by NCSA, so if this goes to trial, we would certainly be at a disadvantage."

Croft, wearing a smug expression, twitched his eyebrows at the following remark.

"However, even if you win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory."

Landon, sensing the sceptical look, calmly continued.

"First of all, we will also counter-sue NCSA in the California Federal Court, so the trial won't end quickly."

Jason, who had been arrogantly leaning back, immediately frowned.

"Did you just say you're going to counter-sue us?"

At his probing question, Landon nodded slightly.

"Yes, that's right. What we need to make clear here is that Netscape has never infringed on any intellectual property rights."

"Huh."

Jason exhaled in disbelief as he heard this, while Landon remained unfazed and continued calmly.

"There may be some similarities between NCSA's Mosaic and our product, but that's simply because the key developer, Tom Harper, is also the representative of Netscape."

"Unbelievable!"

Jason scowled, glaring at Landon, but Landon stood his ground.

"I'm simply stating the truth. It's a fact that Tom Harper was the one who came up with the original idea and played a pivotal role in the development of Mosaic."

At this, Jason snapped back in defiance.

"Mosaic wasn't created by an individual; it was a collaborative effort by NCSA researchers! And that's why the intellectual property rights are held by NCSA!"

"Well, we see it differently."

As Landon maintained a calm demeanour, Jason's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

At that moment, Croft, noticing that Jason had taken the bait, clicked his tongue inwardly and intervened.

"The merits of the case can be settled in court. Please calm down."

However, despite Croft's attempt to settle Jason, Landon stirred things up once more.

"NCSA may not acknowledge it, but everyone who's in the know understands where the idea for Mosaic came from."

"If you're going to keep making such statements, I don't think there's any reason to continue this conversation," Croft said, cutting him off with a serious tone.

But Landon remained completely composed, without even the slightest change in expression, as he continued logically.

"As I mentioned earlier, if both sides go to trial, it won't be over quickly."

Landon then turned his head slightly and, with a serious tone, spoke to Seok-won, who was sitting silently with his arms crossed.

"Our CEO despises losing."

"Hah!"

Jason let out a half-laugh as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well then, let's see who wins. That should settle it!"

As Jason raised his voice angrily, Landon spoke calmly.

"You'll recall that I mentioned even if we win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory."

Jason looked at him with a "so what?" expression.

"The idea for the project came from a young researcher, who worked hard to develop the product, only for NCSA to unjustly seize it all and then dismiss him."

"..."

"And if it becomes known that the struggling startup, which has barely sprouted, is being oppressed and forced to shut down before it can even grow, what do you think will happen?"

"...!"

Seeing the furrows on Jason's forehead, Landon smiled meaningfully.

"Especially if it becomes known that NCSA, a public research institute established for the public good, engaged in such vile actions, it will be criticized from all sides, and its reputation will plummet. I wonder if you can handle that."

Jason flinched, and Croft, narrowing his eyes, spoke sharply.

"Are you threatening our client right now?"

"It's not a threat, it's a warning," Landon replied, shrugging casually.

Jason's face turned bright red as he erupted in anger.

"You are truly the most disrespectful bunch!"

As he stood up abruptly, Seok-won, who had been silent up to that point, spoke in a deep, steady voice.

"If you leave now, you'll regret it."

"What?"

Jason glared at him fiercely, but Seok-won held his ground and met his gaze directly.

"If the negotiations fall apart, everything Landon just mentioned will be reported by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post."

"...!"

Jason, taken aback, widened his eyes in disbelief.

The three major newspapers Seok-won had mentioned were powerful media outlets, not just in the U.S. but across the globe, so it was understandable why Jason would react that way.

After trying to mask his surprise, Jason scowled.

"You think I'll fall for that kind of bluff?"

"If you don't believe me, suit yourself. But the consequences will be yours to bear," Landon replied calmly.

"..."

Jason doubted whether they even had the means to request articles from such prestigious outlets, let alone publish them.

But if what he just said is true…

If, as Seok-won claimed, articles were actually published and public opinion turned against NCSA, the consequences would be too disastrous to even contemplate.

After several thoughts crossed Jason's mind in a short period, he finally sat back down quietly.

Seeing this, Seok-won, who secretly smiled to himself, spoke in a softer tone.

"If both sides continue to fight, all that will remain are wounds. There's no need to keep quarrelling until the end, is there?"

"Then you should accept the terms we've proposed."

Croft, eager to regain control, intervened.

But Seok-won immediately shook his head.

"NCSA knows full well that these are unreasonable demands that we can never accept."

Jason, who met Seok-won's gaze, cleared his throat and asked.

"So, what are you suggesting we do?"

Seok-won paused for a moment before slowly speaking.

"I'd like to propose a realistic solution, one that's actually achievable, rather than an impossible demand."

"...?"

As Jason perked up and showed interest, Seok-won seriously presented his prepared proposal.

"Instead of paying individual royalties, we'd like to buy all the rights to Mosaic."

Jason and Attorney Croft were both taken aback by the unexpected proposal, their expressions showing surprise.

"If we do that, it will allow us to settle things neatly without any more red faces, don't you think?"

However, Jason immediately hardened his expression and rejected the offer.

"Mosaic is a technology that NCSA is highly invested in and manages carefully. We can never transfer it to an outside party."

"Of course, I understand. But honestly, NCSA isn't generating any revenue from Mosaic, and the costs to continue its development are considerable, aren't they?"

In reality, as the Mosaic project grew with dozens of researchers involved, substantial funding was being spent.

Meanwhile, frequent errors and results falling short of expectations led to murmurs within NCSA.

'The reason the Mosaic project hasn't grown and has stagnated is because NCSA, by neglecting key personnel like Tom Harper, caused them to leave. This is a self-inflicted result.'

Seok-won muttered inwardly and then spoke to Jason.

"Just by developing and releasing the innovative web browser, you've already fulfilled the founding purpose of NCSA, which was to create a program for the public good that individual companies would have a hard time developing, haven't you?"

Jason furrowed his brow and pondered for a while before looking at Seok-won and asking.

"If we were to sell the intellectual property rights, how much would you offer?"

Seok-won, sensing Jason's wavering stance, leaned back in his chair and answered.

"How much would it take?"