Seoul Space: Startup Incubator. Coworking Hub. IT Blog. Localization Agency.

Diaries of a Korean Entrepreneur (Prologue)

Donny — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:48:54 +0000

While it is every entrepreneurs dream to turn an idea into reality, hit 100,000,000 (users or $), and ultimately change the world, mine is, well…

no different.

To turn that into somewhat a reality, I have been on a learning grind by endlessly asking, listening, and fitting in with the right crowd. I had to switch my language from English to Korean. But I had a great incentive to switch. I went from being restless to becoming more patient and submissive to the people that I wanted to learn from. With that mindset, I am learning to make more sound and calculated decisions on my startup business than feeling rushed and acting callow.

9 months ago, I came to Seoul with nothing. But through my persistence, I was able to fit into a rich and vibrant community that gave me something. I found Seoul Space. For those of you that don’t know, its the premier incubator in Korea and most important of all, the center for learning for young Korean startups. To continue Seoul Space’s rich culture for learning, I will regularly post for you all to read about running a business from scratch, in the context of an entrepreneurs intimacy and involvement with a technology startup in Korea.

This blog will follow my journey in reaching 100,000,000 and will highlight the critical moments and times between now and then.

Throughout my entrepreneurial quest, I will meet with unending amount of CEO’s of rising to established startups in Seoul to solely learn from their past experiences. The things that I pick up from them will be very valuable, learning from their personal success stories and their many failures on running a technology business. So I will have a separate column that highlights the interviews to share with all of you, the CEO’s insights and stories on what worked for them and what didn’t work.

By reading and following my entries, I hope you all can benefit on on my personal strife as being a young entrepreneur that is trying to change the world.

The goal –> 100,000,000.

Right now –> 0

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Achieving Successful Innovations: An SRI Perspective with Stephen Ciesinski (INVITE)

Seoul Space — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:31:26 +0000

Annnd we’re back! ^^ We have tons of news, changes and updates on the way (the reason for the recent quiet on the blog, sorry all!)…but let’s start with an Seoul Space OPEN/FREE Speaker series event with the Samsung Ocean App Development Center:

Title: ”Achieving Successful Innovations: An SRI Perspective“

Speaker: Stephen Ciesinski
Vice President, SRI (Stanford Research Institute)
SRI website: www.SRI.com
SRI invented such technology as: the computer mouse, ATM and SIRI (Apple 시리)

Time: Friday, April 27, 2012 / 1:00 PM ~ 2:30 PM (with open Q&A and networking)

Location: Samsung Ocean App Development Center
Seoul, 12th Floor Samsung-dong Building, POSCO intersection (detailed directions below)

일 시: 2012년 4월 27일 13:00 ~15:00
장 소: 삼성앱개발센터 (서울 삼성동, 포스코사거리, 삼성동 157-1, 12층)

Brought to you and Sponsored by: Seoul Space & The Samsung Ocean Development Center

* Limited seating so sign up now! (sign up form below) *

발표는 영어로 진행되며, 통번역은 지원되지 않습니다.

BACKDROP

“Innovation” –or lack of–is often one of the most criticized aspects of the Korea tech scene, of Korea enterprise and even of Korean society. Innovation has always been an integral part of the tech, and especially startup ecosystem and community and this has only becoming more so with the current second wave of tech-startup-fever.

As such, Seoul Space proudly invites you to hear about innovation from Stephen Ciesinski, VP of one of the most renounced and influential centers of innovation in the world: SRI: the Stanford Research Institute. You might not know SRI by name, but if you live —the world— then you know some of the somewhat successful inventions like, the computer mouse, the ATM, or more recently, SIRI (yes, as in Apple’s iPhone voice recognition software SIRI). ^^

It is an free, open event so we welcome all those in the startup community in Seoul, and visitors with the curiosity for all things tech… please sign up and join us for this informal, great opportunity for some 1v1 time with Stephen.

Stephen will be speaking at the Samsung Ocean Center, a great resource for top developers in Korea as is, and even better place to plant seed for perhaps the next-greatest innovations in mobile and beyond.

SPEAKER BIO

Stephen Ciesinski, Vice President, Strategic Business Initiatives

Stephen Ciesinski has overall responsibility for SRI’s commercial R&D business development, international offices, innovation programs, corporate energy and automotive sector initiatives, strategic marketing, and other corporate programs.
Ciesinski’s professional experience includes a variety of industries and businesses-consumer products, semiconductor capital equipment, telecommunications, mobile/wireless, applications software, Web 2.0, open source, medical devices, and many others. As a corporate officer, board member, advisor and investor, he has participated in or managed numerous strategic events, including new business formation, major product launches, private financings, IPOs, M&A transactions, and leveraged buy-outs.

Over the course of his career Ciesinski held executive management positions with Applied Materials, the global manufacturer of semiconductor capital equipment; Octel Communications, the worldwide leader in voice-messaging products; Resumix, Inc., the inventor of Web-based personnel recruiting applications; and Laszlo Systems, a pioneer in Web 2.0 software and provider of complex Internet applications to Global 2000 and telecommunications service operators. He started his career at Procter & Gamble, was a consultant with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and also served as a venture partner with Earlybird Ventures.
Ciesinski is past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Union College and is a lifetime trustee. He is also Chairman of The President’s Cabinet at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), and a member of three boards at Stanford University.

Ciesinski is also currently instructing in Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford’s Business School and is an advisor to several Silicon Valley-based ventures. Ciesinski is a graduate of Union College with a double major in Electrical Engineering and Modern Languages, and received an MBA from Stanford University. Ciesinski and his wife are founders of the Kalele Foundation, dedicated to providing character and self-esteem development experiences for disadvantaged children.

오션센터의 첫 스피커 스티븐 시진스키 를 소개합니다. 현재 스티브는 Stanford Research Institute (SRI) 에 VP로 R&D 개발 과 사업전략을 담당을 하고있습니다. 스탠퍼드에서 Entrepreneurial Studies 를 강의하고있고, Silicon Valley에 위치되있는 많은 스타트업 들의 Advisor 역활을 하고있습니다. 국내 창업자들, 개발자들한테도 많은 관심을 보이고있습니다.

Some examples of SRI innovations…

(OR) here:
온오프믹스 :: [세미나] 혁신의 성공을 위한 SRI社의 접근 방법 [204] http://j.mp/Jsmsrl

(OR) here:

DIRECTIONS POSCO intersection (포스코 사거리) Kangnam-gu, Samsung-dong 157-1, Samsung-dong Building (12fl., Samsung Ocean Center). KOREAN: 삼성동 157-1, 삼성동 빌딩 12층) Landmarks: Our building has INTERPARK sign on first floor. Next to A+ building which as a JAVA CITY. Across the street from GOLDEN TOWER and YAHOO. Diagonally corner across from POSCO building.

South Korea, Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Samseong-dong, 157-1

Show on Google Maps

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13 Reasons Why Your Startup Will Fail

Richard Min — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:52:20 +0000

Feeling a little overwhelmed?

Those who choose to go down the startup road will face challenges –for one’s self as well as for one’s company– that one can never truly be fully prepared for. Then again, that is true for most of life’s worthy endeavors, and as the saying goes: “fortune favors the prepared mind”. So, entrepreneurs arm themselves with as much ammunition of optimism, team, strategy and execution as possible in order to overcome the “reality bites” (eight out of 10 business fail in their first three years and venture capitalists only fund the top 1 percent of pitches they see¹) and “gut check“ challenges they will inevitably face. Often identifying the ”unseen challenges” is as important as having a way to overcome them or avoid them the first place.

Given that, here is a repost of a great list from Business Insider by David Feinleib, a co-founder of five startups (with two exits) and a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, who has seen both sides of the startup world.

In a style and title that speaks to the “Fear no challenge” and “YOU CAN DO IT!!” part of most great entrepreneurs, here is the Feinleib list of ”13 Reasons Why Your Startup Will Fail“:

There’s no place for your product: ”Investors are fond of debating which they care about more: the market or the entrepreneur. The reality is, great entrepreneurs find great markets. Many startups never achieve the elusive product-market fit. Some companies, like Facebook and Zynga, find product-market fit right out of the gate. Or at least they appear to. Others, like Intuit, go along for years until they crack the code.”

Your product sucks: ”Many potentially great companies fail because they deliver bad products. No one sets out to build a bad product. So how do they end up getting built? You can still suffer from product blindness—using your product so much that you work around the difficulties, the friction that prevents mass adoption. Just consider file sharing company Dropbox. There were other file sharing products before Dropbox, but Dropbox kept the product simple and made it easy to use.”

You don’t have vision or chops: ”There’s the romantic notion of starting something—of being your own boss, running your own show, and building what you want to build. But being a successful entrepreneur means being a visionary—and being able to execute your way to making that vision a reality. ”

You burn too much money on sales and marketing early on: ”For every venture dollar invested, I estimate that more than two-thirds goes into sales and marketing costs and only a third into product development—sometimes less. Spending on sales and marketing too early means no return if customers or users don’t bite. Once you up the burn, it’s hard to go back. So make sure you have product-market fit before ramping sales and marketing.

Only your friends use your product: “So you’ve got a great market and a killer product. A few people have heard of it—the only problem is, they’re all friends of yours. Like the tree falling in the empty forest, thousands of great products have gone unused because no one knew they existed. They’re not just unknown—they’re invisible. How do you get the word out in a crowded market without incinerating cash? Build the best product and generate a lot of buzz around your brand.”

You don’t know how to use others to build scale: ”Lots of companies can get a few users or sell a few products. Few can do that at scale, in a repeatable, efficient way. Today’s startups use highly leveraged approaches—freemium, word of mouth, partner strategies, and viral acquisition to drive highly leverage growth. You should too. ”

No one can understand what you’re saying: ”Communication can make or break a startup. As I heard an investor once ask an entrepreneur, ‘if you can’t communicate your pitch effectively to us, why should we think you’ll be able to communicate effectively to your team?’ His words stuck in my mind and he was right. Words matter.”  Speaker training is a good idea. “One time an entrepreneur gave a pitch and looked down at the conference table the whole time. Didn’t make eye contact. It was painful.”

Your pitch is too long. “It’s bad when people realize they’re running out of time but they just start speaking faster instead of bumping up a level. They try to fit more in. It all gets lost in details. It’s awkward for everyone and really hurts the pitch.”

Your pitch doesn’t play on emotions. ”Many entrepreneurs get in front of people with access to capital but failed to convince their audience to invest. A huge part of pitching comes down to psychology and emotion. Investors are primarily motivated by two things: greed and fear.”

You make excuses: ”Time and again I hear someone say they have a great idea for a company but they just don’t want to give up their current job to pursue their idea. Other times people have great ideas, but aren’t sure how to get going. Starting a company is hard. Yet dozens of people, when I asked why they decided to start something new, gave me the same answer: ‘I realized if I didn’t do it now, I’d never be able to do it’.”

You lack focus: ”When I got my first check (actually, it was a wire transfer) from a venture investor some ten years ago, he gave me one piece of advice. ‘Focus wins.’ The advice is as sound today as it was when he gave it to me. In a startup, you could be doing any one of a thousand things. But focus tells you which one thing to do to win.”

There’s a lot of drama: ”A lot of startups fail because they suffer from drag. They go after small markets, build the wrong product, the founders don’t get along, or they make it too hard for users or customers to use their products. These issues create what I refer to as startup drag. Entrepreneurs have to be eternal optimists but with sufficient pragmatism to make their optimism reality. Get too much drag and it’s easy to lose the optimism and confidence that breeds success.”

“This is the last money we’ll ever need”: ”Don’t say that. It just sounds naive. But most early stage companies need more money. Investors are in the business of investing money. They want to hear how you’re going to win, how you’re going to be the market leader, not how you won’t need their money.”

Here’s my added ”trick test”:

If you read those, got discouraged, and thought “Yikes, I don’t know if I can deal with that” or it made you nervous, but asserted, “Naw, we’re different! that stuff totally doesn’t apply” — then STOP, drop and roll. Time to have a serious sit-down and re-evaluate your path down the startup road or at least, smack yourself up the head and make sure you have real replies and actions plans to address those points.

However, if you saw that doggie pic and read that list and immediate thought:

“Cool! Cheat sheet!!!! Gotta SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS NOW!“, or “Gunna print this and make it a check list for every Update Meeting we have“, or “Ha! I love a good challenge. Immediate actionable items are…. ” –

then sally forth, and continue carving a path for all the mere mortals to walk while basking in the glory of your giant startup footsteps!

I mean come on, even a baby “gets it”..

He's got the right attitude

——–

¹ Read the original article: David Feinleib: Why Startups Fail: And How Yours Can Succeed

In 2008, David Feinleib, wrote a blog post, Why Startups Fail. The post got so much attention that Feinleib decided to turn it into a book called Why Startups Fail: And How Yours Can Succeed, which was published in December.

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The Coming Wave of Venture Fund Expirations

ross — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:10:15 +0000

As described from E-Daily, a “tsunami” of VC funds expiring in the next year, leading to difficulties in exiting investments:

According to the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) and venture capital industry insiders, the amount of venture capital funds set to expire in 2013 will reach 1.374 trillion won.

The amount set to expire in 2004 was 3 billion won and until 2009 never amounted to more than 40 billion won per year. However, in 2010 591.5 billion won in VC funds expired and last year the amount was 424.2 billion won. At only 388.2 billion won, this year represents a lull and by next year the amount of funds expiring is going to increase. For the next 3 years, the amount of funds to expire will stay near 1 trillion won per year.

When venture capital funds reach their maturity they either must be extended or begin procedures to dissolve the fund. Venture funds usually have a lifetime of 7 years and are extendable for 2 more years. However, to fund operators, 7 years is quite long and most tend to close the fund at the 7 year mark.

The problem comes when investors can’t recover the returns on their investments through a sale. The recovery rate on Korean venture funds currently stands at just 20-30 percent of total investments.

One venture capital officer said, “When dissolving the fund, it’s possible to cash out through a sale of real assets but there are few venture capitalists who want to do that.” “VC fund managers want to sell their assets, however if it’s not possible, they may repay LPs with their own funds.” he said.

In 2010 and 2011, one large VC fund couldn’t sell their non-performing assets, resulting in the manager paying investors out of pocket.

Given the situation, it is unavoidable that venture companies will be affected when the trillion won in funds expires next year.

The SMBA affiliated Korea Venture Investment Corporation’s decision to establish a secondary fund is due to worries over this situation. An SMBA representative said of the situation, “We plan on creating a secondary fund and a system for monitoring undisposed of assets this year.” “We will also link it with the special exchange that the Financial Services Commission is creating for institutional investors investing in SMEs.”

[This article comes from our content partners at Invest KOREA's blog, privateequitykorea.com]

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StartupWeekend Daejeon Pitch Workshop with Seoul Space

Ryan Huddleston — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:19:13 +0000

What happens when you take about 15 budding Korean entrepreneurs and make them pitch their startup ideas in English to a host of judges?

We found the answer to that question on Wednesday, February 8th during the Seoul Space pitch workshop. With StartupWeekend looming on the horizon, Seoul Space, in conjunction with host AppCenter, led the young entrepreneurs through a series of round robin pitches, and then picked the top four groups to present in front of a full audience. The winner of the contest would receive bragging rights plus a bottle of premium liquor.

Dr. Per Stenius listens and provides feedback during the round robin stage

The young men and women had the chance to pitch their ideas in 1 minute or less, practice and refine their techniques, and receive feedback from judges.

Seoul Space bloggers Ryan Huddleston and Ross Geesman discuss the event

The judges for the event included several well known names and faces in the Korean startup scene:

1) Dr. Per Stenius, CEO and Founder of Reddal (www.reddal.com), an outsourcing company focused on advanced cognitive functions.

2) Kara Paik, a Professor at Dongguk Business School, who teaches Principles of Management and Persuasion, Presentation & Negotiation classes.

3) Jason Demant, the primary organizer of the Twist Seoul event, and coordinator for many Pitch Workshops with Seoul Space.

4) WonShik Choi, the CEO and Founder of the MKT forum, which deals with consulting and Training.

5) Richard Min, Co-Founder of Seoul Space.

These judges rated the presenters on factors like eye contact, brevity, enthusiasm, applicability, potential customer base, business plan strategy, etc.

After the round robin event had concluded, the judges convened to choose the 4 best company ideas that would move on to the final round.

Judges in the process of picking the top 4 pitches

Finally, the top 4 choices pitched in front of a full audience.

All eyes on the prize: Richard Min hoists the trophy (1 out of only 4 bottles currently available in Korea)

The top 4 teams (in order) were:

1) 1 Day 1 Song (Hyun-Gyu Ju)
Online Music Publishing Platform that plans to release 1 unique song per day.

1 Day 1 Song’s Hyun-Gyu Ju

2) Reflectly (Jaegouk Kim and Paul Kim)
A solution for hair designers that allows customers to easily locate them.

3) Game Item Pricing (Jin Hwan Yang)
Service that allows gamers to easily find out the cost of different in-game items online.

4) Smart Eating (Byung-Uk Kang)
Application that provides personalized information about food.

Two judges, one presenter: Richard Min and Kara Paik with Smart Eating’s Kang in the background

The competition was fierce, but in the end, high school student Byung-Uk Kang of Smart Eating came out on top (although, on account of his young age, he had to pass on the premium liquor to his father).

AppCenter Director Jin Hyoung Kim addresses the audience

I had the chance to interview each of the top 4 pitch contestants afterwards and ask them how they felt about the workshop:

1 Day 1 Song

Ryan: “How do you feel about getting into the final four at the event tonight?”
Hyun-Gyu Ju: “I feel so happy to be here (in the final four) and I learned so many great things from the event. So, pretty good!”

Reflectly

Ryan: “What did you think about the workshop tonight?”
Paul Kim: “We heard a lot of good comments about our pitch, and this kind of event was really helpful for us for refining our pitch. We probably need to do some more refining at home based on all the comments we’ve heard today.”

Game Item Pricing

Ryan: “How did you feel about the workshop tonight?”
Jin Hwan Yang: “It was so great. I really wanted to meet people involved in the startup market here, and I was very happy to (finally) meet them!”

Grand Prize Winner Smart Eating (Interview Video)

Smart Eating Interview

Group Photo: Everyone had a great time!

Check out Ryan’s blog over at: ryanceoseminar.blogspot.com

Photographs courtesy of StartupWeekend organizer Sally Park

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Friday Five: Top 5 Apps in Korea – Korea iPhone, Android, SKT App stores (February 10, 2012)

Sally Sangwon Park — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:31:29 +0000

Five for Friday’s back! Every Friday, we publish the top 5 paid and free apps from four app stores in Korea: IPhone App Store, Android Market, SKT app stores…

Top 5 Paid iPhone Apps

1. 갑자기말되는영어 문법세상(English Grammar that suddenly makes sense), Education, $0.99

2. Mini Motor Racing, Game, $0.99

3.라디오 알람 시계-MP3/라디오/자연의 소리 알람 + 취침 타이머(Radio Alarm-MP3/Radio/Natural Sounds) +Sleep Timer, Music, $0.99

4. The Lost City, Game, $0.99

5. 갑자기말되는일본어 문법세상(Japanese Grammar that suddenly makes sense), Education, $0.99

Top 5 Free IPhone Apps

1. 한붓그리기(In one draw), Game

2. 판도라(Pandora), Life Style

3. 돌핀브라우저(Dolphin Browser), Productivity

4. 더하기 빨리하기 – 뺄셈의 역습(Add Champ), Game

5. 세기의 불가사의(Mysteries of the century), Books

Top 5 Paid Android Apps

1. 애무의정석 200+(The art of foreplay), Life Style, KRW 1,900

2. Where’s My Water?, Game, KRW 1,147

3. Poweramp Full Version Unlocker, Music, KRW 5,252

4. Beautiful Widgets, Decoration, KRW 2,999

5. The Call of Sedona, Life Style, KRW 1,000

Top 5 Free Android Apps

1. 카카오톡 KakaoTalk, Communication

2. 얼굴나이 테스트 (Test your facial age), Social Contents

3. 톰의 러브레터(Tom’s Love Letter), Entertainment

4. 폰 테마샵 (카카오톡/틱톡/배경화면/런처/프로필/폰트)(Phone themes), Entertainment

5. 네이버 – Naver, Books

Top 5 Paid SKT App store Apps

Category: Games (You can visit Here)

1. 팔라독(Paladog)ⓐ, KRW 3,000

2. 문명:레볼루션(Civilization Revolution), KRW 5,000

3. 막아라혈액형용자(Stop, Blood-type hero), KRW 2,900

4. [3D 액션RPG] 던전앤나이트(Dungeon and Night), KRW 3,300

5. 스펙트럴소울즈 (Spectral Souls), KRW 5,000

Category: FUN (You can visit Here)

1. 슈퍼 스피드 (Super Speed), KRW 900

2. 카톡 이모티콘스티커(Ka-talk emoticon sticker), KRW 2,300

3. [HD지원]적중토정비결, KRW 9,000

4. 지피지기(사주,궁합,운세,이름,해몽)(Fortuneteller), KRW 8,800

5. 카톡배경꾸러미(무한업뎃) (Ka-talk themes), KRW 1,500

Category: Life Style (You can visit Here)

1. CamCard(명함스캐너), KRW 2,900

2. BlackBox for T map, KRW 7,000

3. 레스코 라디오 (Resco Radio) 2.10, KRW 3,900

4. 자이뷰-XyView, KRW 10,000

5. BizReader 비즈리더 명함 스캐너, KRW 8,800

Category: Education (You can visit Here)

1. 해커스 리스닝 핵심편 – 토익(Hackers Listening-Toeic), KRW 4,500

2. 디오딕 3 옥스포드 영영 사전(Oxford English English Dictionary) , KRW 25,900

3. 보들북♬인기율동동요4(Children’s songs4), KRW 3,900

4. 하루한자 3,2,1급(Hanja), KRW 900

5. 보들북♬인기율동동요1 (Children’s songs1), KRW 3,900

Top 5 Free SKT App store Apps

Category: Games (You can visit HERE)

1. ★무료★액션퍼즐 패밀리UP(Action Puzzle Family)

2. [캐릭터생성이벤트]카오스베인(Chaos Vein)

3. [인기급상승]파워레인저 액션RPG(Power Ranger Action)

4. ★무료★스노우보딩 서밋X (Snowboarding SummitX)

5. [무료게임] 이미지퀴즈 ♥(Image Quiz)

Category: FUN (You can visit HERE)

1. 무료 문자카톡 알림음 – 프링~~(katalk alarm)

2. 카카오톡(Kakaotalk)

3. [무료]파란만장 내 인생 그래프(Life Graph)

4. 얼굴나이 테스트(Facial Age Test)

5. 미래 배우자 정보 보기(Your Future Life Partner)

Category: Life Style (You can visit HERE)

1. 이지 클리너(Easy Cleaner)

2. 모바일 T world

3. 네이트(Nate)

4. 스마트청구서

5. [강추] T 멤버십(T membership)

Category: Education (You can visit HERE)

1. 영어단기학교-기적의 영문법(Miraculous English Grammar)

2. 꼬마버스 타요 차고지놀이

3. 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 3기: 1~2화 Lite(Pororo)

4. 씽씽키즈 HD 무료 영어동요(Free English Children Songs)

5. ★T 스토어 추천★ 영어스피킹 연습 1(English Speaking Practice)

Enjoy and start downloading!! ^____^

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Smartphone Browser Dolphin Set to Take on Korea

Ryan Huddleston — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:53 +0000

If you’re an Android user, you’ve probably had some trouble with your phone’s internet browser. Imagine then how excited I became after using MoboTap’s lightning fast smartphone browser Dolphin for the the first time. I’ll admit, I’m a little late to the Dolphin game, having only discovered it recently. But already I’ve noticed a night and day difference between it and my default browser. Whereas before I would spend my time clunking through buggy menus and waiting minutes for pages to load, now I’m speeding through my favorite sites with a sleek, streamlined user interface.

Shortly after finding out about Dolphin, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of MoboTap’s executives and find out more about the browser. Taek Chung, Head of Business Development and GM of Operations at MoboTap, was in Seoul giving a press conference and conducting meetings at the Seoul Space office in Gangnam. Korea being their third largest market (and him being Korean), Mr. Chung had quite a bit to say about his company’s stance on the country, his views on the start-up scene in Korea, and several other subjects. What follows is the abridged transcript of that interview:

Myself and Mr. Chung

Who are you?

My name is Taek Chung. Taek pronunciation wise, same as T-E-C-H.

How did you get involved with the Dolphin browser and what is your role at MoboTap?

So my role is the general manager for the U.S. office. I have two roles, number one is GM for the U.S. office and (the other) is as head of business development. So what it means is I’m in charge of all the operations; business development, marketing, PR, everything that you can possibly think about a start-up — I run the U.S. office. And, also, specifically, I’m in charge of business development myself, and now the marketing functions; I’m the head of marketing.

Why are you here in Korea today?

Oh, it’s our number 3 market. And we launched our local product yesterday. And we are trying to make sure that people know about this new product.

As MoboTap is a startup company, how do you feel about the startup scene in Korea today?

That’s actually a good question: I mean, I’m learning about this. I don’t know that much about the Korean startup market. Korea is more about business for us.

http://www.dolphin-browser.com/about

Can you tell me a little bit about Dolphin’s history? Why did MoboTap feel the need to create this browser?

Sure, so we introduced our first product in October of 2009. And that was our first product, it was on the Android. And at that time, it was really a simple reason; there were no good mobile browsers on the Android market. So we were trying to bring a good experience to people by making a browser, and that’s what happened. And at that time we leveraged the touch based screen, so we made a gesture based input, and also we implemented multi tap. After that we added more features. We have a thing called add-on, it’s like an extension from a web browser context. And also we have a webzine, which is a new way to consume magazines; we curate the media content, that’s what we do, for the Korean market; not just a direct translation, but we are also trying to introduce a new feature specifically targeting the Korean market as well, and that’s where we stand.

And how many employees does MoboTap currently have?

About 50-60. And most of them are engineers. If you’re looking at a start up, there are, like, different focuses for the companies. For example, I guess for Groupon, it’s the sales, for us it’s the product. Often, with like last year, we really didn’t do that much activity around PR, the product sold itself.

Can you tell me anything about the Sequoia Capital/Matrix Partners Series A investment MoboTap received last year?

Sure, so they invested in us, and Sequoia was the lead investor. (Ryan-What was the size of that, by the way?) It’s public news; it’s $10 million dollars, so that is public information. So they believed in us, in the sense that we are one of the key companies in the mobile industry, counting 5 to 10 years. And we appreciated their expertise, they know about the industry, you know Sequoia. So all things considered, that was very helpful for us.

MoboTap’s Taek Chung

How have things changed within the company since the investment?

In terms of major structure, not much really. We feel like we have a very good, smart, reliable friend that we could talk to whenever we had to discuss something. As you know, with a startup, you encounter a lot of small or big problems. And sometimes you have to make your own call, and sometimes you need a friend to talk to.

As you expand out of the U.S., does that relationship with Sequoia help you? I know they have offices abroad in some places in Asia…

That’s a very good question. Of course, they know a lot of people, but for a local market, let’s say like Korea, they don’t have that much of a connection here. So it’s more about, we try to figure out the way ourselves. And that’s where we stand. Actually it’s kind of interesting, it’s kind of an answer to your question from before which is, before coming to Korea, I did not know the fact that there are so many people like you, who are coming from the U.S. to work in a Korea related start up environment. That’s pretty interesting, but anyways that’s where I’m learning about this market as well.

Has your role changed personally since the investment?

No, actually, I joined right after the investment. (Before the investment) I was more of a personal friend, I’d like to call myself an advisor, but it’s a small start-up, you know? So it’s related. So that was the case.

Where would MoboTap like to see Dolphin go in the future? How many users, how many countries, etc… ? How does the company plan to expand?

So our aspiration is to make sure that all smart phones, whether Android or iOS, we hope that all users use the Dolphin browser. So that’s our target market. So to get there, in terms of geography, U.S., Japan, and Korea are our 3 major markets. And in terms of groups of users, we are doing a great job with tech savvy people, because people who are really following the tech industry, which I guess is a lot, we have a good relationship with them. But we are trying to also work with not so tech savvy users as well.

Right now, your company has a free Dolphin browser with advertisements, and a paid browser with no ads, is that correct?

What you said was true, but I thought we removed the paid version. Right now our status is that we have no advertisements. All the browsers are free. And that’s our current portfolio.

Does the company have any plans for adding additional income models?

Sure, we are testing multiple hypotheses right now. So we cannot talk about too many details, however we are testing lots of hypotheses based on the PC browser market. Like FireFox has a search deal as one way to make income. And also, in our case, we have add-ons, so add-ons can be another source for income as well.

Also, last year Dolphin was released for iOS. Were there any problems in taking the browser from being an Android exclusive and bringing it to the iPhone, iPad?

No, it’s actually a good question, because we thought there could be some challenges, but for us in fact our Android OS fans actually helped us a lot in moving towards the iOS. Because a lot of people who have iOS, who use the iPhone, especially if you are like more of an influencer, a lot of people have both the Android and the iOS phone. So a lot of fans who had the Android helped us a lot in getting a lot of entry success, and that was very helpful for us.

How many people worldwide are using the Dolphin browser?

12 million users right now. It’s growing very fast. So depending on how you look at it, it’s a big number, but our aspiration, as I said, is to make sure all the smart phone users use the Dolphin browser, so, you know, that’s the aspiration. So if you have a chance to talk to your friends or family about this… (Ryan: Oh, I’m using it) Hope you like it. (Ryan: Yeah, I do).

How many total users are in Korea, out of those 12 million?

About 1 million.

Did your company have any trouble bringing Dolphin to the Korean market?

Not really, because Korea became our number 3 market even though we didn’t do anything. In that sense, a lot of tech savvy users liked us, and a lot of viral marketing from their side was the key factor. But as you can imagine, there’s a limit on how much you can achieve just based on the viral marketing. So, that’s why I’m here, for that reason. Because on one hand, it’s really some marketing and PR for me to talk about the Dolphin browser to other people, but on the other hand, it’s also a chance for me to listen to other people’s perspective. It’s a pretty new industry, so we are trying to understand how users use our Dolphin browser.

What are your plans for the future as far as Korea is concerned?

Well, it is our number 3 market. And my number 1 goal is to make sure that people know about us. It may sound a little bit arrogant, but I have a strong belief and confidence that once people know about us, they will use us. So, in that sense, that’s my goal. But at the end of the day, I hope that all the 30 million smartphone users, no 20 million, there are 20 million smart phone users in Korea, download the Dolphin browser and then use it. That’s my aspiration.

Do you have an office in the country, and if not, do you plan to establish one soon?

That’s something that we’re talking a lot internally about, but we really haven’t decided what to do about this. I mean, it’s a good point, because, you know, you have to have some local person here, and we are thinking about it. So we’re thinking about it, that’s the right term.

What makes Dolphin better than other mobile browsers?

There are, I would say, two core reasons, and the third one is more of a feature related answer. Number one is, we make a mobile web browser for smart phones. And we do not make a PC browser. And we do not make a feature phone browser. What it means is that our entire product, both user interface and software, are really optimized for the smart phone. And it really drives all the different decisions about how your product goes. Number 2 is, we, as a very small company, have a very good internal process to reflect user feedback for our product, very consistently… (Ryan: So it can move up through the chain very quickly, right?) Right. So those two things are our core reasons, and as a result, like we have a gesture based input, add-ons, multi tap, webzine, that’s what we have. But I think really the first two reasons are really the core power that drives our success.

Do you have any exciting stories you want to share from working at MoboTap?

Yeah, well, every day’s really exciting. For me, what’s a really exciting part of this industry is, we are building a business model as an entire industry. I’m sure you know what I mean by this, but for example like, it’s quite recent that Apple and Google have stabilized the application ecosystem. And, with a mobile web browser, we are still trying to figure out how to work together with other partners, and that’s really exciting, because it is a lot of connections, relationships, business developments, marketing, PR, it’s just the whole package. That’s very exciting.

Finally, how did you find out about Seoul Space and what do you think about Seoul Space’s role in the Korean start up scene?

Yeah, so Seoul Space, one of the founders is David Lee, and he is an advisor, so that’s really the direct reason why I got to know this space. But I’m very pleasantly surprised about the fact that they provide like a Silicon Valley kind of support for small companies. And we can talk a little bit about the Korean funding situation, but the rumor that I heard is that it’s a little difficult to find a Silicon Valley type investor in Korea. And then I think Seoul Space is really satisfying that empty hole in the ecosystem, and I believe that it will really help nurture a lot of future Dolphin browsers in Korea as well. And I think it’s really good for the economy and I wish it great success.

Seoul Space’s Richard Min with Taek Chung

So, do you have any special additions you would like to make, or anything else you would like to say?

Well, I’m learning about this market. And really I’m trying to learn what the best way to approach people is. Any feedback or suggestions, if anyone visits your blog with questions or comments, I welcome it. And also, I see a lot of young, energetic, smart people here and they’re working on a start up, it’s a pretty good thing.

Thank you so much for meeting with me.

Thank you

Check out Ryan’s blog over at: ryanceoseminar.blogspot.com

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Waffle: Changing the Way You Connect to WiFi

Jason Demant — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:16:44 +0000

Waffle is revolutionizing the way people connect to WiFi. Based in Seoul, their product was initially targeted towards small-business owners like coffee shops. A coffee-shop owner using Waffle has their customers send out a tweet, post on Facebook, answer a quiz, or watch an advertisement in order to access the Internet.

In today’s post, I caught up with Minku Lee to ask him a few questions about how Waffle is doing. He’s a cofounder of the company and, amazingly, still a high school student.

1. How did you come up with the idea for Waffle?

In Korea, almost all of the public Wi-Fis are provided by mobile carriers. So people just use their mobile phone tethering instead. We felt it was difficult to use existing Wi-Fi, so we decided to solve that with Waffle.

2. How is the business being funded?

Currently we’re self-funded, but we won a startup contest held by Korean government. We’re currently looking for additional investors.

3. How are sales and the roll-out going?

We currently have several franchises. However, we’re preparing to make public Wi-Fi zone – cover one huge area (like one city) with Waffle. Also we’re looking for global partners, with attending conferences like Startup Asia and LAUNCH Conference.

4. What has been the reaction of coffee-shop and other small-business owners to the product?

Coffee shop owners are interested in statistics. Because Waffle provides usage report, they can find out how users are using Waffle. On the other hand, they can customize Wi-Fi screen, that’s another merit.

5. How do you balance going to school and building Waffle?

I have a passion for Waffle, but I’m also focusing on class. In school, there is some useful information that can be used in real life. School life is also important.

6. Did anything exciting happen as a result of being a part of Twist Seoul?

I attended Startup Asia, and a few of attendees recognized me because they had seen me on TWiST!

7. What’s coming next for Waffle?

We’re currently focused on optimizing and improving Wi-Fi experience of user, however we’re planning something useful! Stay tuned. Waffle’s new website is coming soon. In the meantime, you can sign up for their newsletter.

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