Ship-testing catchall

[oneblackcat]

To Try:

Omi:
Akaya
Kura
Nagi (not for the same set-up, but as long as futureverse catchall is there, maybe a test thread for what they'd be like?)

Kura:
Ken
Rasu
Hak
Soo-won
Jaeha

Mizuki:
Hak
Ran
Rasu
Yun (I know you don't want a bitchfest, but I still wanna try this one... lol)

Yukimi:
Ran
Rasu
Jaeha
Nami
Kimina

Yagyuu:
Fuji
Hak
Yukimura

Goku:
Ouka
Yona

Comments

[kurarinn]

If there was a conflict in Soo-won, this would be the greater one. Or maybe it was more a contradiction than conflict. For someone so disconnected from his fellow man in his personal life, he certainly seemed to care a great deal about what happened to humanity in general.

As for high level corruption and corporate greed ... such things have always been around. The practical (some might say cynical) side of Kuranosuke knew that it was just human nature. You shouldn't trouble yourself over things that were inevitable. Somehow, he doubted that Soo-won was the kind of person who mulled over things that he couldn't change.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to do something about that?"

[falconking]

"Would there even be a way to?" He asked, but the tone of his voice was exploratory, not defeated. Kuranosuke knew him well; he did intend to do something about it. But before acting, he needed a solid strategy. And before he had a solid strategy, he needed some information that would be best known by the experts in the fields.

"Inertia is a powerful force. Many of these problems are systemic, too broad in scale to be tackled without communal agreement. What's more, few of the relevant communities will be inclined to agree when the status quo is in their personal best interest... It would take both an instigator of change and a new approach that would flip the economic interests into natural alignment with the desired change."

[kurarinn]

Whether Soo-won was a revolutionary idealist or sanctimonious twit, Kuranosuke could not say. One thing he did know what the he was no idiot. Whatever this 'desired change' was, he knew the guy wouldn't rest until he could figure out a way to see it through. Kuranosuke wondered where that level of caring came from. You would never guess it, from the day-to-day face the man put on. Maybe at the end of the day, it wasn't really about any one person in particular, but a broader vision for everybody.

"Sounds like a real pain in the ass," Kuranosuke said with a smirk. "You'd better get on it, then."

[falconking]

"I suppose I should. So, Mr. Financial Advisor," Soo-won countered with a smile and a twinkle in his eye that said Kuranosuke perhaps should have expected this sort of follow-up. "If I were to have an idea for accomplishing that, would I be able to get some feedback on its viability?"

[kurarinn]

"Ooh, I see. You wanna drag me into this," Kuranosuke said dryly. He sat back into the couch across from Soo-won and looked at him with some amusement. "It might cost you."

[falconking]

"That would only be fair, wouldn't it? All right. In exchange for your standard consulting fee, consider the following bold proposal:

I want to start a company."

[kurarinn]

Honestly, it's not the financial cost Kuranosuke was talking about. Money, he knows how to make. But favors ... that's something else. But he plays along.

"I'm listening."

[falconking]

"Everyone knows that medicine is expensive, and that the reason lies in the research and development costs. Yet it's also something that many people need, including those without the budget for such costs. I've spoken with a few employees at existing companies, and it seems quite a few projects end up abandoned halfway through. I'd like to start a team of researchers to piggyback on that half-finished work, buying the information at a discount from other companies. This strategy would enable the company to finish the development at a lower cost and pass those savings on to consumers."

It seems like such a simple idea; it makes Soo-won a bit concerned that no one else has tried it already. He wonders if there are financial considerations he hasn't considered that make it unfeasible.

"Would that be doable?"

[kurarinn]

"That depends," Kuranosuke says rather vaguely. Like with any investment, there will be a lot of moving parts. Pharma just happens to be one of the riskier ones.

He has a great eye for how certain products or companies will perform, but medicine is notoriously unpredictable and time consuming.

"You'll need to buy a lot, and be prepared for a fair number of set-backs."

[falconking]

Soo-won parses that advice carefully. It's going to be incredibly expensive at start-up, is what he gathers from it. Heavy upfront costs and he'll need enough reserves on top of that to hedge against multiple obstacles.

"I see... And I want to be careful about relying too heavily on stock issuance. I don't want to be so beholden to shareholders that they can demand higher prices to leech the savings into their own pockets."

[kurarinn]

Not to mention, just being the CEO doesn't mean you can get away with everything. They can always replace you if they hold the sway of the shares.

"People always wanna know how you're playing with their money."

It's just the way it is. That's why it's so important to make your own.

[falconking]

"What impact would registering as a nonprofit have on those factors?"

After all, Soo-won isn't interested in money beyond whatever is needed to start and maintain the process.

[kurarinn]

He shrugs. "It'll just change who you're accountable to." Nonprofits have to maintain their status under the scrutiny of regulations, after all.

Government or investors. Pick your poison. There's a lot of red tape involved with one path. But perhaps it's a bold new way to create medicine.

[falconking]

Accountability to rules Soo-won thought was manageable. What he needed was a cost advantage, one that included that from lacking indebtedness to those who expected an exorbitant return on investment.

"I see. Thank you for your input. As I thought, there's more planning to do."