My demands had already been conveyed to Jackson through Pierce.
And now, I was sitting here to hear Jackson’s response.
This was part of a preliminary negotiation process.
An indirect negotiation, not a direct face-to-face eting but conducted through an interdiary.
I called this a “practice match.”
Like a chess ga where each side tries to read the other’s moves and execute their own strategy, but none of it actually counts toward the final score.
‘It’s been a while since I did sothing like this.’
To be honest, I prefer to jump right into the real battle without practice.
My main strategy has always been to strike an unexpected point and use the opponent’s confusion and agitation to my advantage.
But when you have a practice match, you can’t expect that elent of surprise.
It’s like revealing my tactics to the opponent in advance.
‘It’s a sha, but…’
Still, I had my reasons for choosing this practice match.
After eting Jackson once, I decided he was soone who needed this kind of preliminary ga.
Anyway.
In that sense, the match with Jackson via Pierce had begun.
"First of all, you said you wanted to move up the release date.”
That was my opening move.
I wasn’t just talking about the next product; I wanted to accelerate the schedule for all future products.
How would Jackson react to that?
"In the end, what you’re asking for is to shorten the entire product cycle itself, but that’s impossible. Overly frequent upgrades do more harm than good, so from their perspective, there’s absolutely no reason to do it.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Even setting aside the chaos it would cause in product developnt and the production line…
Too frequent upgrade cycles bring more harm than benefit.
What I was demanding was akin to asking for the iPhone 5 to be released within half a year of the iPhone 4.
This would cause the next model to cannibalize the sales of the current one.
Consurs who were planning to buy the iPhone 4 would end up buying the iPhone 5 instead.
Moreover, it would create a mindset of "Maybe I should just wait a bit longer for the next model," which would actually delay additional purchases.
And that’s not all.
If the performance improvents between generations shrink, consurs’ expectations for new products will fall, and the overall brand image will be damaged.
But I had prepared counterasures for these problems.
"I have a solution for that."
"Even if you do, they won’t listen.”
Pierce responded firmly.
He had an attitude that left no room for persuasion.
Obviously, this wasn’t Pierce’s personal opinion.
It ant Jackson had completely shut his ears.
“Besides, it seems you want even the next product to co out quickly… but that’s not feasible either.”
It felt like nothing was going my way.
I saw no willingness to compromise.
“For most products, we could accommodate so of your requests, but this ti it’s different. The next product line isn’t just about a simple performance improvent — it symbolizes a shift from gaming GPUs to dedicated deep learning chips. At least on that point, no interference from anyone will be tolerated.”
“If I persuade him directly, things might change.”
Pierce chuckled and shook his head at my words.
“No, not this ti. No matter how much you threaten him, it won’t change.”
“I don’t do threats…”
“Sure, you won’t. But if you keep pushing like this, Jackson might be the one to threaten you instead.”
What was he talking about now?
“Threaten ? Jackson?”
“Yes. If you keep coming at him aggressively, Jackson will say, ‘See you at the shareholder eting.’”
‘As expected.’
This was why Jackson was so difficult.
My “persuasion” usually worked because my opponents wanted to avoid an all-out war.
But Jackson wasn’t afraid of a fight.
"And even…"
Pierce hesitated briefly before continuing.
“If you keep pushing this issue, he said he’d be willing to step down from his position.”
I involuntarily furrowed my brows at this.
“He’s willing to consider resigning?”
“That’s right. The mont the shareholders vote in your favor, he said he’d imdiately step down. That’s not an empty threat.”
‘If he loses the vote, he’ll resign as CEO…?’
That was quite a drastic move.
Jackson was practically the embodint of Envid’s identity.
His resignation announcent would shock the market just like if Jobs had declared he was leaving Apple.
If Jackson really went that far?
The shareholders would rally to his side to prevent such a scenario at all costs.
‘Of course, I’m confident I can still win…’
I could still sway the shareholders and bring them over to my side.
But… if Jackson actually resigned, that would be another problem.
‘Winning might actually be poison for .’
My goal wasn’t simply to win at the shareholder eting.
It was to accelerate Envid’s product lineup release schedule.
But if Jackson resigned, the company would be thrown into internal chaos and every schedule would be disrupted.
In that case, even if I won, I wouldn’t get what I wanted.
In other words, even if I fought the war, there would be no spoils.
‘A head-on clash would definitely be disadvantageous for .’
There were only two possible outcos at the shareholder eting.
I lose.
Or I win and Jackson resigns, leaving unable to achieve my original goal.
It was a calculated move.
“Threats… you’re right.”
Being threatened is still an unfamiliar experience for .
Just a few days ago, Stark had done it to once, but finding myself in this situation again felt awkward.
It must be because the opponents I face are all on a different level now.
And I’ll keep encountering these formidable enemies from now on.
“Even knowing this, will you still make that move?”
Pierce asked.
I suddenly felt relieved that this was just a practice match.
If this had been real?
Jackson would have threatened to resign right to my face.
That alone would have been a declaration of war and a final ultimatum, and both he and I might have crossed an irreversible line.
But now?
This was information I heard through Pierce, so it carried no actual force.
We might make moves, but the outcos didn’t count.
That’s what a practice match is.
‘What move should I make next…’
Should I throw out one more attack to test his reaction, or save it for the real battle?
I was torn at that mont.
“If you’re thinking of using so other form of threat, you should stop. He’s not soone that’ll work on.”
It was a sharp comnt.
To be honest, all the other moves that had just crossed my mind were thods that would easily co off as coercive.
Pierce composed himself, then spoke in a solemn voice.
“Let give you so advice. Don’t just focus on the differences — pay attention to the common ground. You and Jackson are looking in the sa direction. It’s just that you have different views on timing. And that timing difference is only a few months. Is it really worth waging an all-out war just to move things up by a few months?”
“Only a few months, huh...”
A bitter smile crept across my face.
To Pierce, it might seem like just a few months.
But to ?
Right now, I had exactly 7 years and 4 months left.
Within that ti fra, a few months was by no ans short.
“I’m sorry, but to , it’s worth that much.”
I couldn’t back down.
When I firmly conveyed my resolve, Pierce let out a deep, weary sigh and spoke again.
“In that case, why not try going along with your opponent’s thod this ti, instead of your usual way?”
“My opponent’s thod? What do you an?”
“I’m saying, don’t just threaten — try taking an honest approach for once.”
Don’t just threaten, he says…
“The factors that determine Jackson’s timing are mainly two things. Real demand — especially whether it has reached the stage of mass adoption — and whether an ecosystem is in place. If you can prove those two points, he’ll move forward with you.”
“So he’s not entirely impossible to compromise with.”
“That’s right. But the room for compromise is very narrow.”
It was actually a pretty good hint.
I had obtained a clue that could help persuade Jackson.
“So, do you have anything else to say?”
A few moves floated through my mind.
But I shook my head.
“The rest, I’ll persuade him myself.”
The practice match ended here.
The rest I had to save for the real fight.
But then, Pierce narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“Rember — no threats.”
At this point, I couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated.
“I’m hurt. You make it sound like all I do is threaten people.”
“No agitation, no fabrication either.”
Threats, agitation, fabrication…
Just what kind of person did Pierce think I was?
“Sotis, an honest and straightforward approach is the only thing that works. You should try it once in a while.”
One week until Envid’s board eting.
During that ti, I was deep in thought.
First, I chewed over the hint Pierce had given .
“Real demand and whether there’s an ecosystem...”
If I could prove those, Jackson would be persuaded.
The problem was that at this point, I couldn’t prove either of them.
“There’s no way there’s real demand at this stage.”
Most companies entering the AI field were still stuck in the R&D phase.
Even if they bought Envid’s GPUs, they’d only secure small quantities for imdiate research needs.
But what Jackson wanted was proof of large-scale demand in preparation for comrcialization.
But in order to comrcialize?
They needed Envid’s product.
To prove comrcialization, the product had to be released, but to release the product, they needed proof of comrcialization.
A classic chicken-and-egg dilemma.
“Proving the ecosystem is difficult too.”
Honestly, I understood Jackson’s concerns.
Just launching cutting-edge technology doesn’t an everything will go smoothly.
Look at Google Glass.
They implented groundbreaking AR technology, but there were no apps or content to actually make use of it.
Amazon’s smartphone was the sa.
They launched the product but neglected to build the app store ecosystem, so it ended up being shunned due to poor usability.
Jackson feared AI would fall into the sa trap.
He ant that, along with technology, high-quality software, developers, tools, and systems all had to be in place before he would fully commit.
“But I can’t show him that right now.”
Because it simply didn’t exist yet.
And then.
In my mind, an idea I had long suppressed began to resurface.
An idea so intense it made my whole body tremble.
But I shook my head violently.
“No, I shouldn’t consider that thod yet.”
That was literally my last resort.
It wasn’t a card I could draw prematurely at this stage.
“Should I just wait quietly? After all, things will move even if I don’t act.”
Pierce had hinted that Envid planned to release their new product in the sumr, but I knew.
I knew they would actually move the schedule up significantly and unveil the product around April.
Because in March, a major event would shake the AI industry.
An event so powerful it would blow away all the issues of ecosystems and real demand.
The match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol.
There had been previous cases of AI defeating humans in chess and quiz shows.
But Go was a completely different level of challenge.
With possible moves amounting to 10 to the power of 170, it was believed to be an area where AI could never beat humans.
But…
AlphaGo would go on to win four out of five gas against Lee Sedol, making an indelible mark on the world regarding AI’s potential.
And that wasn’t all.
AlphaGo wasn’t a traditional rule-based system but a model that combined deep learning and reinforcent learning.
This event led to the collapse of the old rule-based camp and a massive pivot toward deep learning, causing explosive demand growth.
That was why Envid would move up their release schedule from their original plan.
March.
Just three months from now.
Should I just sit tight and wait for those three months?
Or should I push forward and try to bring that ti even closer?
“Phew...”
While I was wrestling with that dilemma.
The day of the board eting — the start of the real battle — was fast approaching.
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