“Poolriding has been steadily expanding its office, and now it has grown to a size that accommodates 20 people, occupying the largest space in OTK Gate.”

“Before coming, I installed the Poolriding app and took a look around.”

“The program itself is not that complicated. It just needs to match drivers who have vehicles with passengers who need them.”

“Any company could easily create a program of this level if they set their minds to it. However, even if they create the same program, not everyone can succeed.”

“In the carpool market, leading companies like Laksee and Two Plus are actively operating. As the leading companies have already dominated the market, Poolriding is having difficulty increasing its users.”

“In the United States, there are numerous ride-sharing companies, but many people use Iber. The reason is that Iber has the most registered drivers, making it easiest to hail a car. New drivers joining also choose Iber for the same reason: Iber has the most consumers looking for rides.”

“Even if you launch a better service later, people don’t easily switch. Unless there’s a merit like being incredibly cheap.”

“Although Poolriding is behind in user numbers, it is quick and accurate in responding to user experience (UX) and consumer needs. With continuous investment, it will be able to grow even bigger in the future.”

“Hello.”

“Everyone was surprised by my unannounced visit.”

“Yang Doo-seok greeted me.”

“Hello, CEO. I saw your performance on the bridge the other day, well done.”

“He is from the same school and same graduating class as me. And he also dropped out of school to start a business.”

“I briefly met him in the club room when we were in school, but I never expected to be connected like this.”

“This place only has workspaces, making it unsuitable for meetings or conferences, so we moved to a conference room.”

“OTK Gate, a shared office space, is equipped with conference rooms, studios where filming is possible, a fabrication room with 3D printers and expensive equipment, and separate sleeping rooms and shower rooms for naps. It is usually operated by reservation for tenant companies.”

“Everyone’s expressions don’t look too good.”

“I can guess the reason. It must be due to the backlash from the taxi industry.”

“Yang Doo-seok said with a sigh.”

“Originally, KCG Asia was going to make an additional investment of 2 billion won, but this was canceled because the Liberty National Party proposed a bill to ban carpooling.”

“If the law changes, the carpool business, which has been legal until now, will become illegal overnight. In this case, the business will have to be completely shut down.”

“He asked with a worried expression.”

“Do you really think the bill won’t pass?”

“I don’t know.”

“Unless the ruling and opposition parties agree, it will not be easy to pass the bill.”

“However, only the degree is different, but other parties are also conscious of the taxi industry’s votes. Even though most of the public supports ride-sharing, the discussion has not progressed.”

“I stated the purpose of my visit here.”

“So, I’m here to propose an investment.”

“Everyone’s eyes widened at my words.”

“Investment?”

“To be precise, it should be called an acquisition. K Company wants to acquire 100 percent of Poolriding’s shares, including the shares held by Golden Gate.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yang Doo-seok was taken aback by the sudden proposal, and co-founder Jo Baek-hyeon asked.”

“You are going to launch self-driving cars later anyway, so why are you trying to invest in carpooling?”

“I plan to invest not only in the carpool business but also in the entire mobility industry. And I think Poolriding should lead that business.”

“What you can gain from providing the service is users and their data. Where, when, who, and how they used it accumulates into big data.”

“This big data can be used to determine when, where, and how many vehicles to dispatch. Even when the era of self-driving cars opens, big data will be essential.”

“That’s why other ride-sharing companies are working hard to accumulate data. On the other hand, Korea hasn’t even started yet.”

“Kim Hyeon-gyu cautiously asked.”

“By any chance, what is the acquisition amount?”

“I nodded.”

“We have negotiated with Golden Gate and estimated the total corporate value at 15 billion won. We have also received consent for the share transfer.”

“Wow! 15 billion won!”

“This amount is not paid in full. Since K Company previously invested 1 billion won and secured a 32 percent stake, we only need to pay for the remaining shares.”

“Everyone had incredulous expressions.”

“Startups often receive certain shares instead of high salaries. Shares are just scraps of paper if the company goes bankrupt, but if it goes public or is acquired by a large corporation later, it can be a jackpot.”

“Excluding the shares acquired by K Company and Golden Gate, the remaining shares of Poolriding are divided among the co-founders and employees.”

“Therefore, everyone here is a shareholder. If you received even 1 percent of the shares, you would receive 150 million won.”

“Yang Doo-seok stammered and asked.”

“W-what if we refuse?”

“There are various paths for startups to take.”

“Some are acquired by existing large corporations and grow stably with various support, while others grow their scale by their own efforts and go public.”

“Which one to choose is up to them.”

“It doesn’t matter. However, we are planning to enter the market, so we are thinking of acquiring another carpool company or launching our own service.”

“This is one of the common methods used in acquisition negotiations. From the perspective of the company being acquired, if they do not accept the offer, they will have to face competitors with huge capital.”

“Having finished talking, I got up from my seat.”

“I will give you a day to discuss it. Let me know when you decide.”

***

“I went to work with Taekgyu.”

“Taekgyu asked.”

“Do you think they will accept?”

“If they refuse, it’s fine.”

“There are plenty of companies that can be bought with money.”

“How about acquiring Laksee, which is the No. 1 in the industry?”

“Red Stone Group has already invested there.”

“While domestic conglomerates are passive in investing in and acquiring startups, foreign companies and private equity funds have quickly invested huge sums and bought shares.”

“This is because they see great growth potential. In fact, there are more than a few startups that are growing into unicorns despite all sorts of regulations.”

“As I waited leisurely, Yang Doo-seok came to the company around lunchtime.”

“We will accept the offer.”

“Did everyone else agree?”

“Yes. I was going to refuse if even one of the co-founders disagreed, but everyone agreed.”

“Taekgyu nodded and muttered in a small voice.”

“It must have been too large an amount to refuse.”

“I contacted Golden Gate, and a lawyer from the legal team came over.”

“You can talk to this person about the legal procedures.”

“Ellie held out her hand.”

“Hello. I’m Ellie Kim, Team Leader of Legal Team 1 at Golden Gate Korea Branch.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

“Yang Doo-seok carefully took her hand. His face turned red, and he couldn’t even make eye contact properly.”

‘Our Legal Team 1 leader is quite pretty, you see.’

***

“The K Company and Poolriding acquisition signing ceremony was held at the Ceylon Hotel in Namsan, and K Company CEO Park Sangyeop, Poolriding CEO Yang Doo-seok, and OTK Company CEO Kang Jinhoo attended together.”

“CEO Park Sangyeop announced future plans at this event.”

“K Mobility, which will be launched with Poolriding at its center, will be reborn as a comprehensive mobility service that provides various transportation services such as call taxis, ride-sharing, and car-sharing. To this end, we plan to acquire taxi companies in the metropolitan area and also operate the taxi business.”

“Reporters gathered at the scene were surprised by the unexpected announcement.”

‘I thought they were only entering the ride-sharing market, but they are directly entering the taxi market!’

“In addition, we will launch a ride-sharing service exclusively for foreigners by hiring drivers who can speak foreign languages, targeting foreign tourists.”

“Foreign tourists are an exception to the ban on driver brokerage. Therefore, it is possible to launch products with differentiated prices and services.”

“CEO Kang Jinhoo then spoke.”

“I will keep it short and say just two things. First, we will abolish the fixed payment system. Second, we will not refuse passengers. That’s all.”

***

[K Company launches K Mobility as a subsidiary!]

[Carpooling company Poolriding acquired for 15 billion won!]

[K Mobility to merge with taxi companies in the metropolitan area. Is it directly entering the taxi industry?]

[Kang Jinhoo enters the ride-sharing market!]

“As announced, K Company acquired and merged several small taxi companies in Seoul and the metropolitan area.”

“K Taxi plans to focus on dispatching taxis during times when taxis are scarce, avoiding competition with existing taxis, and will operate mainly based on calls.”

“In foreign countries, it is common to operate by receiving calls, whereas in Korea, it is more common to pick up passengers while driving around the streets.”

“Due to this, a situation arises where taxis are not available in one area, while taxis are idle in another. Roads are also heavily congested due to taxis lining up or loitering.”

“So why haven’t taxi companies thought about improving this situation until now?”

“The reason is, of course, the fixed payment system. Taxi companies’ customers are not passengers who take taxis, but drivers who rent taxis to operate. So there was no reason to invest in developing call apps at all.”

“We will set the base salary for employees at 2 million won and pay performance bonuses according to sales. Outside of the set working hours, personal cars or company cars are allowed to be used for carpooling or other ride-sharing businesses.”

“When this fact became known, the taxi industry was turned upside down.”

“Taxi companies flocked to the OTK Company headquarters and the National Assembly to hold protests.”

“If large corporations like OTK Company enter the taxi business, are we, small and medium-sized taxi companies, supposed to die?”

“Does it make sense for large corporations to enter such small business districts?”

“OTK Company, guarantee the survival rights of the taxi industry!”

“The government should immediately designate taxis as a business suitable for SMEs and prohibit large corporations from entering the taxi industry!”

“If our demands are not met, we will continue our all-out strike and fight against the government to the end!”

“However, as public opinion about taxi companies had deteriorated extremely due to the previous incident, netizens sneered.”

– The impact is a bit weak.

– How about the president jumping into the Han River?

– They are acquiring taxi companies and providing services legally, is there any problem with this?

– When they say they will do ride-sharing, they say it’s illegal to transport paying passengers in private cars. So when they say they will do it with taxis, they say it’s encroachment on small business districts.

-ㅋㅋㅋThey are just saying don’t do anything.

“Taxi companies vehemently opposed it, but taxi drivers’ reactions were slightly different. No taxi driver would dislike being guaranteed a base salary with a monthly salary system and improved working conditions.”

“In fact, this had been talked about for a long time. However, due to the taxi companies’ opposition and complex vested interests, even discussions did not proceed properly. But K Company implemented it right away.”

“Taxi drivers talked about K Taxi whenever they gathered.”

“These days, there are not many passengers, so it’s hard to even meet the fixed payment amount.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to K Taxi and get a monthly salary?”

“They say that if you fill the basic working hours, you can freely do business for the rest of the time, right?”

“Then you could earn 3 million won a month.”

“Shouldn’t we move to K Taxi before it’s too late?”

***

“Liberty National Party lawmaker Jin Baekkyung raised his voice in the National Assembly.”

“Taxis must be designated as a business suitable for SMEs to prohibit large corporations from entering! The National Assembly should step forward and protect the survival rights of small business districts and SMEs!”

“This was no different from directly relaying the taxi companies’ claims. It was known that he had close ties with taxi company representatives as a former union leader.”

“The Liberty National Party actively supported the taxi industry, even making the carpool ban bill a party platform, but this time they showed a passive attitude.”

“Although taxi companies have great influence, taxi drivers actually hold the votes. With taxi drivers welcoming K Company’s entry, it is not appropriate to side with taxi companies.”

“But at this point, another misfortune broke out.”

“In the process of investigating the president who ordered the sit-in on the bridge and the suicide attempt, it was found that the taxi association had given illegal political funds to lawmaker Jin Baekkyung. Reporters immediately rushed to the National Assembly.”

“Did you receive illegal political funds?”

“What do you think about this exposé?”

“Is that why you have been speaking for the taxi industry’s position?”

“Lawmaker Jin Baekkyung firmly denied it.”

“If I have received even a penny of illegal political funds, I will commit ritual suicide in front of Seoul Station!”

-ㅋㅋㅋIs he a samurai or what? Why harakiri?

– Was his father pro-Japanese?

– No, but why commit harakiri in someone else’s district?

– To commit harakiri, someone has to behead you from behind to ease the pain, right? Is Representative Lee Jung hye going to do it?

– Tsk tsk, people are saying they are going to die, and you guys are saying things like this.

– Even though they pretend to be nice, this is the true nature of the leftists. Really disgusting.

– Why die?ㅋㅋ If you didn’t receive money, there’s no reason to commit harakiri. Surely the conservatives don’t distrust Representative Jin Baekkyung?

“Lawmaker Jin Baekkyung refused to be summoned by the prosecution and insisted on his innocence to the end. However, the delivery person who allegedly delivered the money appeared, and the list of political lobbying was revealed, completely cornering him.”

“The list included not only Liberty National Party lawmakers but also several New Politics Party lawmakers. This meant that the taxi industry had engaged in all-out lobbying in the political world.”

“Lawmakers on the list were busy avoiding the media. The bill to ban carpooling failed to pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and was blocked, and taxi companies lamented, ‘How much money have we poured in so far!'”

“When Poolriding relaunched its app under the name K Mobility, the number of subscribers exploded, and the server was down for a while.”