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| − | <div> | + | <div>Interesting Lessons learnt from Day 1: |
| + | === JJS Media === | ||
| + | JJS Media created a crowdfunding platform called MyMusicTaste which helps artistes and promoters accurately measure the quantifiable demand and purchasing power of fans for global artistes to hold concerts in their countries. Previously, this was done through guesswork and gut feel, which increased the risk for both artistes and promoters. The speaker, CJ, raised many valid and interesting points which are critical to improving the chances for success for a startup: | ||
| + | *An awesome team is better than a good product because investors are more likely to tolerate failure because they know the team will eventually deliver in the end. | ||
| + | *In Seoul (and especially in China), other companies and competitors with more capital can easily copy a startup’s idea and force it out of the market. Thus, to succeed, it is crucial to create a product that is extremely difficult to imitate. | ||
| + | *Even though the speaker is a fanatic fan girl, she is able to hone her hobby effectively to market to MyMusicTaste’s targeted audience, who are also mainly fanatic fans who are eager to meet their artistes. | ||
| + | *It is crucial to find a focus for a startup (e.g. MyMusicTaste initially focused on the Kpop market only) as resources should be pooled into a single focus to form the startup’s unique selling point. | ||
| + | *It is extremely important to have effective leader(s) who are willing to sacrifice everything to ensure the survival of the startup. Such selfless behavior will no doubt inspire the employees effectively. | ||
| + | *Free and popular collaboration tools widely used by startups | ||
| + | **Trello, an easy to use project management/collaboration app | ||
| + | **KakaoTalk, a popular instant messaging app in Korea with features similar to WeChat | ||
| + | **Slack, another popular instant messaging app which effectively synchronizes messages between desktop and mobile devices. | ||
| + | === FiveThirty === | ||
| + | FiveThirty’s latest app consist of ZimBox,ZimMan,and ZimCar, which represent different components required for moving house for single families (getting empty boxes to contain belongings, getting movers to move stuff, and getting a vehicle to contain the belongings). Mr Chung and Mr Lee raised many interesting points with regards to executing a successful startup: | ||
| + | *Having a concrete idea or vision from the start is essential for success, or else the company will not have a clear direction to advance. | ||
| + | *The startup creator(s) must have enough passion for the product or service and never be deterred by failure. | ||
| + | *In today’s age, sometimes it is just sufficient to reinvent the logistics and perception for existing services for a new idea. For example, Zimcar’s idea focuses on flat prices, single point of contact, and good quality control as compared to similar house moving services which usually require extensive negotiating to overcome the longstanding problem of overcharging. | ||
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Revision as of 23:47, 27 April 2015
South Korea
| Day 2 |
Contents
Day 3: Reflections
JJS Media
JJS Media created a crowdfunding platform called MyMusicTaste which helps artistes and promoters accurately measure the quantifiable demand and purchasing power of fans for global artistes to hold concerts in their countries. Previously, this was done through guesswork and gut feel, which increased the risk for both artistes and promoters. The speaker, CJ, raised many valid and interesting points which are critical to improving the chances for success for a startup:
- An awesome team is better than a good product because investors are more likely to tolerate failure because they know the team will eventually deliver in the end.
- In Seoul (and especially in China), other companies and competitors with more capital can easily copy a startup’s idea and force it out of the market. Thus, to succeed, it is crucial to create a product that is extremely difficult to imitate.
- Even though the speaker is a fanatic fan girl, she is able to hone her hobby effectively to market to MyMusicTaste’s targeted audience, who are also mainly fanatic fans who are eager to meet their artistes.
- It is crucial to find a focus for a startup (e.g. MyMusicTaste initially focused on the Kpop market only) as resources should be pooled into a single focus to form the startup’s unique selling point.
- It is extremely important to have effective leader(s) who are willing to sacrifice everything to ensure the survival of the startup. Such selfless behavior will no doubt inspire the employees effectively.
- Free and popular collaboration tools widely used by startups
- Trello, an easy to use project management/collaboration app
- KakaoTalk, a popular instant messaging app in Korea with features similar to WeChat
- Slack, another popular instant messaging app which effectively synchronizes messages between desktop and mobile devices.
FiveThirty
FiveThirty’s latest app consist of ZimBox,ZimMan,and ZimCar, which represent different components required for moving house for single families (getting empty boxes to contain belongings, getting movers to move stuff, and getting a vehicle to contain the belongings). Mr Chung and Mr Lee raised many interesting points with regards to executing a successful startup:
- Having a concrete idea or vision from the start is essential for success, or else the company will not have a clear direction to advance.
- The startup creator(s) must have enough passion for the product or service and never be deterred by failure.
- In today’s age, sometimes it is just sufficient to reinvent the logistics and perception for existing services for a new idea. For example, Zimcar’s idea focuses on flat prices, single point of contact, and good quality control as compared to similar house moving services which usually require extensive negotiating to overcome the longstanding problem of overcharging.
JJS Media
We were greeted by a lively lady by the initials of CJ who shared with us about JJS Media and the service they currently provide.
JJS Media created a service called MyMusicTaste which uses technology to bridge the gap between different stakeholders in the music industry. Curious of the reason behind cancelled concerts, the founders gathered that such incidents happen when the planning team and the artists are unsure of the preferences of music lovers. Hence, by using an application to find out about the music tastes of fans, they have managed to satisfy the demand and supply for concerts. The application has thus effectively reduced the number of cancelled concerts.
MyMusicTaste was started in 2013 and the service currently has about 400,000 users with majority coming from South America and Europe. The service has helped artists find places where their fans want them to have concerts and JJS Media has held 50 concerts in 25 countries up to date. Through word of mouth from fans, the service was able to gather users quickly under 2 years without the need to market the service themselves. The company is currently focusing their efforts on MyMusicTaste and has no plans to further develop another service.
We had a fun session with CJ and these are my takeaways from JJS Media.
- “You’re the only person that thinks that this is going to work”. So you need to be able to convince people that your product/service will benefit them. Hence, the ability to convince is an important skill to have for an entrepreneur.
- A leader’s role is very important. Responsibility, courage, leadership are traits that a leader should possess.
- A strong team is necessary to complement the product/service that you sell. Find people that share the same interest and have passion for the work that they do.
- Good word of mouth is the best way to gain user base.
FiveThirty
With the motto “We Make Life Better”, FiveThirty has come up with an origami application, a part-time job seeking application, and an application to help with the chore of moving house.
Mr. Sanghwa Chung from FiveThirty shared with us about their services called ZimBox . ZimMan . ZimCar – These services provided by the company focuses on helping single families reduce the trouble of moving house. ZimBox provides all essentials needed for packing and ZimMan brings helpers while ZimCar transports the packed items. The company does not plan to patent the idea as they believe that competition will help to bring about greater awareness of such service. Contrary to JJS Media, FiveThirty plans on having many applications to benefit groups of people with various needs. I’ve learned from FiveThirty that competition is not necessarily bad for companies.
We had another speaker Mr. Lee who has various experience with start-ups and he previously held a stable job in aerospace engineering. He currently is developing an application to aid parents with special needs children. This idea stemmed from the birth of his son who is disabled and he is working on the application to guide parents who are facing the same situation as him.
With past experience of failed start-up attempts, he shared with us that passion is what really keeps him going. However, sometimes money kills the passion. In seeking co-workers, he too believes that it is important to find someone with interest in the work that he does and having goals is a must. The trade-off of working in a start-up is that there will be less time to meet friends and there is a wider gap in interests.
The two companies that we visited today were very welcoming and I look forward to visiting Pristone, Seoul National University, KBAA, and FuturePlay tomorrow!
