Real Man

Yoo-hyun left a word of comfort to the man who had taught him.

“Paul, it’s not your fault, is it?”

“Well, maybe if I hadn’t invested, the damage wouldn’t have been so big. Maybe I could have stopped it in the middle if I had been interested.”

“You mean there’s a responsibility that comes with spending money?”

When Yoo-hyun conveyed what he had learned, Paul Graham lifted the corner of his mouth.

“It seems like I didn’t make a useless trip.”

“It’s an honor to be taught by you in person.”

“You’re good at talking. Anyway, the weather is getting cooler, how about a cup of coffee?”

“I’ll buy the coffee.”

Paul Graham smiled faintly.@@novelbin@@

Yoo-hyun walked a little more with Paul Graham.

They arrived at a small brick building with one floor after exchanging various stories.

The entrance of the building was unusually large iron gate, and on top of it was a familiar blue bottle-shaped picture and a name sticker.

-Blue Bottle.

Yoo-hyun opened the door after confirming the name of the store.

Creak.

As soon as he entered, a coffee roaster machine with a peculiar shape caught his eye.

In front of the open bar, a barista was pouring coffee.

Unlike other coffee shops, the process of extracting coffee was clearly visible.

Swish.

Yoo-hyun turned his head and looked around.

The neat and exotic interior made this place feel like an art gallery.

People were chatting in the fragrant coffee bean aroma.

It felt very relaxing.

It was similar but different from the scenery of the Blue Bottle that Yoo-hyun had visited in Korea in the past.

Feeling a bit strange, Paul Graham asked Yoo-hyun.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes. The atmosphere is nice.”

“It is. It’s still small. It’s been a few years since it opened, but it’s only opened its second branch.”

“It seems like the business is doing pretty well, though?”

“The owner here is a bit eccentric. He’s stubborn anyway.”

As Paul Graham grumbled, a man who had stretched his head out from the bar said a word.

“Why are you talking bad about someone behind their back?”

Yoo-hyun recognized the man with a kind eye and a horn-rimmed glasses.

‘James Freeman.’

He had briefly encountered him when he visited the Blue Bottle Korea branch in the past.

He was only interested in making good coffee rather than expanding his business.

He was very unusual for a world-class coffee shop owner.

Paul Graham teased him, who looked much younger than before.

“I’m going to talk bad about you in front of you from now on. Why are you so slow?”

“Slow? It takes time to pour coffee.”

“Just use a machine. It takes 30 seconds, but you’re whining for more than 3 minutes. It’s frustrating.”

“You’re just pretending to be nice. By the way, who is that next to you?”

James Freeman, who chuckled, nodded his chin, and Paul Graham put his arm around Yoo-hyun’s shoulder.

“His name is Steve, he’s a pretty useful friend.”

“Hello, this is Steve Han.”

“I’m James Freeman. Please wait a moment. I’ll brew you a special coffee for a special guest.”

James Freeman greeted Yoo-hyun and started to make a hand-drip coffee.

Drip, drip, drip.

Paul Graham sighed as he watched the coffee slowly falling.

“This is taking too long.”

“Don’t mind him. He likes to talk a lot.”

James Freeman whispered, ignoring Paul Graham.

Yoo-hyun saw the two men joking around and felt they were very close.

Soon, Yoo-hyun received his coffee and went outside.

The sky was dyed with sunset.

Yoo-hyun sat on a bench and sipped his coffee, feeling the cool breeze.

The coffee had a refreshing acidity and a rich flavor.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t help but admire.

“This coffee is delicious.”

“James is a bit stubborn, but he makes good coffee. I met him five years ago, I think. He’s a consistent friend.”

“He seems to stick to his principles.”

James Freeman insisted on the time-consuming hand-drip method.

He only used fresh beans that were roasted within 48 hours.

Paul Graham bit his tongue, recalling his rule.

“Tsk, tsk. He calls that being faithful. What did he say? ‘We are for the people who want the best coffee.’ Is that it? That’s the vision of Blue Bottle.” ɌáƝÓ₿Ě𝙨

“You know a lot.”

“Of course. I invested in that company.”

Paul Graham invested in Blue Bottle?

That was surprising, considering his preference for Silicon Valley IT companies.

“Why did you invest in it? It doesn’t look like they want to grow bigger.”

“Because they are right.”

“Is that a reason?”

“Yes. Do you know what I learned from investing?”

Paul Graham answered firmly and asked Yoo-hyun.

“What is it?”

“It’s not about the brilliant business idea or the smart and capable CEO.”

“Like the people we saw earlier?”

“Yes. If you invest based on the surface, you might end up with poison. You’ll lose not only money, but also people.”

Yoo-hyun gained insight from Paul Graham’s experience, something he never thought of before.

So he was more curious.

“Then what’s important?”

“People. To be exact, the CEO’s upright conviction.”

“Conviction?”

“Yes. People with strong conviction don’t waver. If they are like that, I can fill in the gaps for them. They won’t collapse in any situation.”

Suddenly, Yoo-hyun remembered what Hyun Jin-geon Geon said.

– The 5G era will come after 4G. When everything is connected by communication, we can change the world.

He always had the conviction to change the world in his heart.

That was the secret to his perseverance in difficult situations.

“I think I understand what you mean.”

“Yeah, I thought you would know right away. You’re one of us.”

“Am I?”

Yoo-hyun had satisfied Paul Graham’s curiosity, but he had never shown a strong conviction.

But Paul Graham thought differently.

“You can tell from the shale oil case. You went there just to make money, but soon you tried to move the whole shale oil industry.”

“That was Ellis’s effort.”

“Anyway, you could do that because you had an eye for it.”

“An eye for it?”

“Look at the companies you invested in: JK Communication, Airbnb, Instagram. They all have CEOs with a strong conviction to change the world. Am I wrong?”

“It sounds right.”

“Yeah. In that sense, you have a good eye.”

Yoo-hyun was attracted to them, but it wasn’t just because he had a good eye.

He also used the future he knew.

Could he call that an eye?

Yoo-hyun told him his honest feelings.

“I was just lucky.”

“Choice can be luck. But executing it is courage and skill. You can trust yourself more.”

“That’s very encouraging.”

“I gave you some encouraging words, so I should get something back.”

“What do you want?”

Paul Graham wouldn’t ask for anything material.

Yoo-hyun was curious about his unexpected answer.

“I want you to walk the path of an investor. With me or without me.”

“You said a businessman would be fine before.”

“That was temporary. The more I see you, the more I think you have the sense of an investor.”

“Can I know why?”

“Simple. I think it would be fun if you joined this industry.”

Paul Graham seemed to mean it sincerely.

Yoo-hyun made a counterproposal with a smile.

“Then help me a little.”

“What?”

“I need to check if it suits me.”

“Didn’t I let you check enough today?”

Yoo-hyun didn’t stop and took another step.

There was no one who could help him with investing as much as Paul Graham.

“I’m not enough. I want to learn more. I want to make choices based on skill, not luck.”

“I’m a busy person.”

“You’ll help me. I have an eye for it, you know.”

“What? You’re something else.”

Paul Graham was speechless at Yoo-hyun’s cheeky words.

But his lips twitched as if he didn’t mind.

Paul Graham decided to help Yoo-hyun and set a condition.

“Steve, when you’re done with the summary, I’ll give you a test.”

“What test?”

“Pick a company you want to invest in.”

“Does it matter where?”

“No. You can do whatever you want. I just want to check your choice.”

It was an offer that Yoo-hyun had no reason to refuse.

Yoo-hyun agreed and extended his schedule in San Francisco.

That was the beginning.

Yoo-hyun followed Paul Graham and visited many companies and met many people.

Some of them were already successful, and some of them would be very successful in the near future.

Of course, there were also people who Yoo-hyun had no memory of.

They received the same amount of money, but the results were different.

What was the difference?

Yoo-hyun wondered about the part that Paul Graham didn’t tell him.

It was also related to Paul Graham’s test.

If he didn’t know something, he had to learn it.

Feeling the lack, Yoo-hyun took another step on his own.

He visited the Stanford University library, where he had been countless times when he was doing his MBA.

He looked through the MBA books that he had read until his head hurt.

‘I thought I would never see them again.’

Yoo-hyun chuckled at the sudden thought.

It was amazing.

He was hanging on to something that no one asked him to do, and that he didn’t need right away.

What was more amazing was that it wasn’t hard at all.

He rather enjoyed the process of filling in the gaps.

Yoo-hyun applied the experience he had with Paul Graham to the cases of many companies.

And he kept asking questions.

Which company would he invest in?

He ignored not only the future he knew, but also the values that Paul Graham taught him.

Yoo-hyun focused on the voice inside him.

He didn’t just look at the money, but at the society, and even the country.

He chose the direction that would improve the lives of many people with the same money.

That’s how Yoo-hyun established his own investment philosophy.

Yoo-hyun didn’t just read books at the library.

He also listened to the stories of famous CEOs when they came to give lectures.

Today, he was sitting at the end of the auditorium, focusing on the speaker’s words.

The voice of Joe Gebbia, who had kind eyes under his horn-rimmed glasses, flowed through the microphone.

-One of the challenges we faced at Airbnb was how to overcome the fear of strangers. We focused on reputation, or reviews, as a solution. The idea came from…

The screen showed the small room where Yoo-hyun had stayed for the first time, the airbed, and the modest breakfast.

It also included the first review that Yoo-hyun left on a post-it.

He remembered the old days as he saw the picture.

It had been five years since he met them.

A lot had happened since then.

He was thinking of the various moments he had with them.

The lecture was over and applause filled the air.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

The students who got up from their seats rushed to Joe Gebbia.

Joe Gebbia was stuck there for a while.