The fear that he had shown before boarding the plane to the US was gone now.
But why did Kevin Systrom want to meet Yoo-hyun separately?
The answer could be heard from his next words.
“Steve, I have something to tell you about Do-ha.”
“What is it?”
“We want to hire Do-ha for our Instagram service.”
“Do-ha?”
Yoo-hyun asked in surprise, and Kevin Systrom answered quickly.
“We will compensate you with two years’ worth of salary that Do-ha will receive from your company. We will also offer him a generous salary.”
Did they have a reason to do this much?
Yoo-hyun looked puzzled, and Na Do-ha, who was indifferent until then, perked up his ears.
Yoo-hyun interpreted for Na Do-ha, who didn’t understand the content.
“They want you to stay here.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Wait a minute.”
Yoo-hyun understood that Instagram was in a hurry because they lacked manpower.
He first asked the other party how serious they were.
“How much will Do-ha’s salary be?”
“Starting from 100,000 dollars (about 120 million won). We will also provide accommodation.”
“That’s quite a lot. Especially the accommodation support is an attractive offer.”
Yoo-hyun answered and conveyed his opinion to Na Do-ha, who was next to him.
“They will pay you more than 100 million won if you stay here. They will also give you a house.”
“100 million?”
“Did you do a good job?”
Yoo-hyun smiled and patted Na Do-ha’s head, who was surprised.
Was it thanks to his performance today?
He felt that Na Do-ha was highly praised.
Yoo-hyun thought that was it.
But Kevin Systrom’s mind exceeded Yoo-hyun’s expectation.
“Actually, we think 100,000 dollars is not enough.”
“Really? How can you know that in just 10 days?”
“Do-ha has fixed more than 10 errors in our service, from the back end to the front end. He even built the server and prevented the hacking risk. In just 10 days.”
“Is that amazing?”
“It is amazing. Do-ha is an all-rounder. He deserves more than that salary for what he has done so far.”
It meant that it was not a losing deal from the beginning.
Yoo-hyun explained this part to Na Do-ha, who shrugged as if it was nothing.
Did he misunderstand his meaning, Kevin Systrom said in an anxious voice.
“If Do-ha agrees to stay, I will give him an additional 1 percent stake.”
“1 percent stake?”
“Yes. It’s just a piece of paper now, but if you look at the trend of subscribers, we have a high potential for growth. It won’t be a loss for Do-ha either.”
It was 1 percent, but it was giving a part of the company.
Even co-founders would fight over 1 percent, and it was absurd to offer it to an Asian who couldn’t speak English and had no background.
It meant that Kevin Systrom valued Na Do-ha very highly.
“...”
Yoo-hyun was quite surprised to see Kevin Systrom, who was rushing forward without a brake to get what he wanted.
Even if he looked at it objectively, it was an offer that Na Do-ha had no reason to refuse.
Yoo-hyun honestly told Na Do-ha.
“Do-ha, you did such a good job that they want to pay you more.”
“More than 100 million?”
“Yeah. They will also give you 1 percent stake.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you own 1 percent of Instagram. It’s not that big now, but if Instagram grows like this, it could be worth tens or hundreds of billions of won.”
“Wow.”
Na Do-ha opened his mouth wide at Yoo-hyun’s frank words.
He also told Kevin Systrom the same content.
He didn’t want to hide his feelings from the other party who was sincere.
Kevin Systrom’s eyes widened when he heard Yoo-hyun’s words.
“1 percent could be worth a million dollars?”
“Yes. I believe that Instagram will grow more than that. I told Do-ha that too.”
“Wow! How can you be more daring than me, the CEO?”
Instagram’s subscribers were skyrocketing, but it was still a storm in a teacup.
Yoo-hyun confirmed his inner thoughts and teased him more.
“Sorry?”
“Ah, no. It’s not even my money, what.”
Na Do-ha shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake off the money.
Yoo-hyun chuckled and stroked Na Do-ha’s head.
“Kid. I’ll give you that stake.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Yeah. But, I’m counting on you for Double Y.”
Yoo-hyun left Na Do-ha, who was staring blankly, and picked up his phone.
He searched for a name in his contacts and it appeared on the screen.
Paul Graham.
He was the investor who would buy Yoo-hyun’s Airbnb stake and give him Instagram stake.
Through this, Instagram would secure the funds they needed and expand their staff.
If things went well, they could become a bigger and more successful company than before.
That day, Yoo-hyun had a party with Na Do-ha at Hyun-jin’s house.
There were four people gathered in the living room with a feast: Hyun-jin and Hyun-jin-soo, Yoo-hyun and Na Do-ha.
Yoo-hyun briefly shared what he had done, and also heard the hidden stories of Na Do-ha.
The conversation was led by Hyun-jin-soo, who was a troublemaker in Silicon Valley.
“When Do-ha went to Instagram...”
“Really?”
It was thanks to Hyun-jin that Na Do-ha got into Instagram, but it was Hyun-jin-soo who quickly narrowed the gap between Instagram employees and Na Do-ha.
Thanks to him, Na Do-ha was able to get a proper job from the start.
Na Do-ha, who had a much lighter expression, returned the favor.
“I owe a lot to Hyun-jin-soo. And Hyun-jin also coached me every night, so I got a lot of help.”
“What coaching?”
Yoo-hyun asked, and Hyun-jin shrugged.
“I can’t just sit still. I taught him a little bit about the mobile service that I learned over his shoulder. I just gave him a hint, and Do-ha did it all by himself.”
“No. It was something I would never have known in Korea. Especially to be a full stack engineer...”
“That’s because you have experience from back to front, server...”
Yoo-hyun didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but he knew it was a very useful time.
He handed a glass to the two geniuses who were arguing.
“Come on, it’s a good thing. Cheers.”
Na Do-ha, who clinked glasses, asked.
“But how did you meet such amazing people, hyung?”
“Who?”
“Steve Jobs. He’s someone who’s hard to meet even for the president, right?”
Steve Jobs was so famous that even Na Do-ha, who came to the US for the first time, knew him well.
It was hard to explain how he met him, and it was difficult to make him understand the process.
Hyun-jin stepped in when Yoo-hyun was in trouble.
“Your hyung is that amazing. I owe him a lot too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There would be no our company without Yoo-hyun.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s right. Not only our company, but also Airbnb.”
“Airbnb too?”
Na Do-ha’s eyes grew bigger as Hyun-jin’s words continued.
He knew that Airbnb was a rising company in Silicon Valley.
Hyun-jin delivered the final blow to Na Do-ha.
“Yeah. Go and see for yourself tomorrow. You’ll see how amazing your hyung is.”
“Wow! That’s awesome! Hyung, how far does your network go?”
“...”
Yoo-hyun swallowed his words as he looked at Na Do-ha’s surprised expression.
‘What if he finds out that I have a stake in it?’
Yoo-hyun was very worried about how to tell him.
There was a reason why Yoo-hyun postponed his meeting with Airbnb founders.
The investment review of Andreessen Horowitz was approaching.
The Airbnb founders were busy making proposals and building systems to meet the requirements.
They were almost ready now, and they invited Yoo-hyun confidently.
That was today.
Yoo-hyun headed to the Airbnb office with Na Do-ha.