The next day.
Seok-won was seated with Landon at an outdoor table of the Del Coronado Hotel's restaurant.
The sky was perfectly clear and blue without a single cloud, and the refreshing breeze blowing in from the wide beach just ahead gently brushed through their hair.
Though the sun was strong, a large parasol shaded their table, keeping them comfortable.
Off to one side, a four-member jazz band—two men and two women—was performing smooth melodies that blended with the gentle crash of waves in the background.
Seok-won, wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, stared out over the brilliantly blue Pacific Ocean, eyes squinting slightly from the vivid sunlight and sea breeze. Just then, a white man approached the table.
He was in his late 30s, with a slender build, wearing glasses and a light gray blazer.
Landon noticed him and stood up with a smile.
"Mr. Phillips. Glad you could make it."
Seok-won turned his head to look as well, and John Phillips responded with a friendly smile.
"Apologies. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"Haha, not at all. We simply arrived early. You're actually ten minutes ahead of schedule."
Landon gestured toward Seok-won, who had risen halfway from his seat, and made the introductions.
"Allow me to introduce Mr. Seok-won Park, the principal owner of our fund."
Phillips, who had already been sneaking curious glances at Seok-won, brightened and extended his hand.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm John Phillips."
Seok-won took off his sunglasses and shook his hand.
"I've been wanting to speak with you for some time. It's great to meet in person."
Phillips chuckled politely, as if brushing it off as mere courtesy.
"Well, thank you—even if it's just a polite way to say hello."
But Seok-won gently shook his head.
"I mean it. I was genuinely impressed when, two years ago, I saw you pioneer the concept of search-based advertising revenue through Idealab."
Phillips's eyes widened in surprise.
John Phillips, a natural-born entrepreneur and idea man, had founded or helped run numerous companies.
One of them was Idealab —a business incubator that provided support and resources for both established companies and new startups alike.
"I didn't expect you to know about Idealab," Phillips said, visibly impressed.
With a warm glint in his eyes, Seok-won offered a soft smile and said:
"I believe the search advertising model is a groundbreaking idea—one that effortlessly solves the profitability concerns people have had about internet companies."
As Seok-won showered him with praise, Phillips couldn't help but beam with a wide grin.
"Thank you. That means a lot."
"I'm convinced your idea won't just change the trajectory of dot-com businesses, but become a driving force behind a major transformation of the entire internet ecosystem. That's why I pushed so strongly for an investment in Start.com ."
Start.com was the company John Phillips had personally founded to bring the idea of search based advertising to life.
"To have someone like you, Mr. Park, recognize the value of this model—it honestly means the world to me," Phillips replied with genuine appreciation.
At that moment, Landon glanced at the two of them and said with a light chuckle:
"Well then, shall we sit down and continue this conversation?"
Realizing they'd been standing and talking this whole time, Phillips let out a hearty laugh and took his seat.
The three men sat around the circular table, facing one another. A waiter in a crisp uniform soon approached and placed menus before them.
"What would you like to order, gentlemen?"
"The steak here is actually pretty good. Shall we go with that?" Seok-won suggested.
Thanks to their engaging conversation, Phillips had already developed a great deal of fondness for Seok-won, and he nodded without hesitation.
"Sounds great. Let's do that."
"I'll have the same," Landon added, not even glancing at the menu.
Seok-won turned to the waiter and said:
"We'll take the steak course, please."
"Very good, sir. It'll just be a moment."
The waiter soon returned with a light appetizer and some pre-meal wine.
Lifting his wine glass, Seok-won looked at the other two men and said:
"How about a toast—to the start of a promising relationship?"
"Absolutely," Phillips replied with a smile.
Phillips readily raised his glass in response.
With a light clink , the three men touched glasses and each took a sip of wine before setting their glasses down.
"To be honest," Phillips began, gently running his fingers along the rim of his glass, "one of the reasons I wanted to meet you today was because I felt building a relationship with you, Mr. Park, could be a tremendous asset for my business."
Having dealt with plenty of sharp-witted entrepreneurs—not just nerdy tech founders glued to
their computers—Seok-won had already guessed as much. He replied with a calm smile.
"I'm not quite that big a name, but I appreciate the compliment."
"What are you saying?" Phillips responded, waving a hand as if brushing the modesty aside.
"You're known as the Midas of Wall Street. Every company you touch seems to strike gold.
There's not a single person in Silicon Valley who doesn't know your name."
"The fact that Eldorado Fund—or rather, you , Mr. Park—have invested in Start.com is enough to make even the skeptics take our search advertising model seriously."
Landon, seated nearby, looked at Seok-won with a grin that seemed to say, See? Told you so.
Seok-won gave a small, amused smile and replied casually, "I suppose it's a little embarrassing, but if my name can help the companies I invest in, that's not such a bad thing."
"With your investment and credibility behind us," Phillips said with growing enthusiasm, "we'll create a powerful synergy. I'll make sure of it."
Just then, a waiter arrived with plates of tenderloin steak, beautifully plated with asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
As they began slicing into their steaks, the conversation flowed effortlessly. Thanks to Seokwon's earlier mention of IdeaLab, the mood remained friendly and relaxed throughout the meal.
Despite being an experienced serial entrepreneur, Phillips found that he and Seok-won had surprising chemistry—similar views, a shared sense of insight. Their conversation continued to deepen.
"I didn't realize you were interested in clean energy as well," Seok-won remarked.
Putting down his fork, Phillips nodded.
"With rapid industrialization, it's impossible to ignore how severely we're damaging the environment. I believe clean energy—energy that doesn't generate pollution—is absolutely essential for a sustainable future."
"Climate change, the destruction of the ozone layer, and frequent weather anomalies like El Niño and La Niña are undeniable signs," Seok-won agreed.
"Exactly. That's why I'm convinced that clean energy will become one of the most important industries of the future," Phillips said, leaning forward with a spark in his eyes.
Seok-won, picking up on the fact that Phillips wasn't just an environmentalist but someone who saw eco-energy as a promising business sector, was quietly impressed.
"He's the one who came up with the search advertising model, and now he's showing this level of foresight? His business sense is remarkable."
And given that Seok-won already knew clean energy would soon become a high-growth, high value industry, he found Phillips' vision even more impressive.
"Among the various forms of clean energy," Phillips continued, "I personally believe solar power has the most realistic and promising future."
"Why solar over wind?" Seok-won asked.
"Well, wind energy is also an excellent source of clean power," Phillips explained, "but its biggest flaw is that it can't generate electricity if the wind isn't blowing."
"Isn't it the same for solar though? You can't generate electricity at night."
Seeing Seok-won's interest, Phillips was clearly excited to finally share his passion on the topic.
"Well, that's true," he replied in an animated tone, "but with solar power, you can store the electricity generated during the day in large-capacity batteries and use it around the clock without interruption."
"Can't wind energy be stored in batteries the same way?" Landon interjected, setting down his wineglass after taking a sip.
"Yes, but the sun rises reliably every day, allowing consistent recharging. Wind, on the other hand, can go several days without blowing. That lack of continuity is a major weakness," Phillips explained.
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense," Landon nodded thoughtfully.
"Plus, unlike wind energy which requires massive infrastructure, solar panels can simply be installed on rooftops, allowing households to generate electricity independently. That makes it far more efficient and cost-effective," Phillips added, glancing at Seok-won with a spark of ambition in his eyes.
"If the opportunity arises," he declared, "I'd love to try my hand at solar power as well."
"Realistically, eco-friendly energy won't be able to replace fossil fuels overnight," Seok-won said, "but it definitely seems like a business with high growth potential."
Hearing that, Phillips beamed.
Coming from someone with a perfect track record like Seok-won, those words felt immensely reassuring.
But behind his composed exterior, Seok-won was actually skeptical about the solar industry's future.
"If only China weren't in the picture…"
Just as Phillips predicted, the growth and adoption of renewable energy—especially solar— accelerated dramatically in the near future.
But in that process, Chinese companies took control of the global market with aggressive pricing and sheer volume.
From polysilicon to ingots, wafers, solar cells, and finally the modules—China ended up monopolizing the entire solar industry value chain.
"Other countries might produce the same product at $100, but China slashes that down to $40. There's no competing with that."
The same pattern repeated itself in other green energy sectors, from electric vehicles to wind power.
So, while Phillips' ideas were undoubtedly visionary and ahead of their time, Seok-won couldn't help but question whether they would lead to success in the long run.
Blissfully unaware of these inner doubts, Phillips grinned.
"Hearing that from you, Mr. Park, only makes me more confident about solar energy's future!"
Seok-won paused, momentarily wondering if he should gently discourage him—but there was no tactful way to predict the impending downfall of many solar ventures under China's price war.
So instead, he said nothing.
With a flicker of regret briefly passing through his eyes, Seok-won smoothly shifted the conversation to what he had originally intended to discuss.
"As we promised in the investment contract, we won't interfere in the operation of Start.com in any way. However, may I offer just one piece of advice?"
"Of course. Please go ahead."
Phillips, who was already thoroughly impressed, nodded without hesitation.
"If it's proven that a pay-per-click advertising model actually generates revenue, a flood of internet companies desperate for income will scramble to sign contracts."
"We'll be filling the biggest gap they have—so I'm sure that'll happen," Seok-won said confidently.
But Phillips' cheerful expression faded at Seok-won's next words.
"Of course, some will come to you through proper channels. But there will always be opportunists looking to steal a good idea."
"...!"
"Throughout history, innovative ideas and breakthrough technologies have always been copied by others."
It was a hard truth—and one that would eventually strike Star.com directly.
The very company that had pioneered the search ad model, made a splash with a successful IPO, and was raking in hundreds of millions in ad revenue… would later be threatened by a copycat.
Ironically, that copycat would be none other than Google.
What made it worse was that, in the early days, Phillips had actually proposed a merger between the two companies, saying the synergy would be enormous—only to be coldly rejected.
At the time, Google had dismissed the idea, claiming that modifying search results in exchange for ad revenue would "pollute" the purity of the search engine.
But later, Google blatantly copied the concept and launched the exact same service.
From Phillips' point of view, it must've been infuriating.
Watching the growing seriousness on Phillips' face, Seok-won offered some candid advice.
"To prevent that kind of damage, I think it would be wise to reinforce your patents—make them ironclad. What do you think?"
Phillips took a moment to consider, then nodded.
"I hadn't really thought of that, but you're right. Strengthening our patents would definitely be a smart move."
"Then as your partner now, we'll provide you with full legal support to help with that."
"I'd really appreciate that."
Phillips gladly accepted the offer.
Seeing that things were going exactly as he hoped, a faint smile tugged at Seok-won's lips.
Of course, patent reinforcement wouldn't stop every copycat from appearing.
But when they did, a stronger patent portfolio would at least allow Star.com to secure much larger settlements and damage compensations.