1415T2g1 South Korea/Reflection/day4
South Korea
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Contents
Day 4: Reflections
MangoPlate
During the Q and A session, I also better understood the marketing strategy of how a start-up should hit the market. For example, one should start with the market in SE Asia as a test bed before embarking on breaking into the US and Europe market. This is to ensure that the product has countless iterative improvements before they are officially launched worldwide. I also learnt the each there is no one size fit all marketing strategy. For instance, although the marketing strategy that Mango Plate uses may work in Korea, it may work in Singapore. This is due to the various cultural and taste of Singaporeans. For instance, most Singaporeans stay close to hawker centres and would not use Mango Plate application to find a good restaurant when they can get access to food easily. Hence, most Singaporeans will only use Mango Plate during special occasions which would mean that the number of user rate will not be as significant as Korea. Thus, a different marketing strategy will have to be used such as providing discount codes to entice Singaporeans to use Mango Plate.
Startup Alliance
D. camp
Zikto
From this presentation, I learnt about the importance of protecting one's startup idea from being copied via the application of patents and also operating in "stealth" mode as shared by the presented. I also learnt that the the goals of start-ups is to improve the lives of people by solving problems which the current market does not have a solution to. This is because having a good idea which does not rectify any problem will lead to no where.
VCNC Between
From the presentation by Edward, I learned that although VCNC had faced many stiff competition from other companies, one should not be too bothered by them as it will only be a waste of time. By simply doing what VCNC does best such as the improvement of code efficiency and others, it has allowed VCNC to stay ahead of the pack. Edward also shared that the mantra VCNC lived by was “If you want to bite, don’t nibble.” This is to say that as start-ups, one should be aggressive – after targeting on something, just do it once and do it good with no regrets.
I also learnt from VCNC that although having the technical know-how is good, that is not sufficient enough to work in VCNC if employees do not share the same passion as VCNC. This shows how important it is to ensure that employees of a start-ups do not have a conflict of interest (i.e. should not have different passion). This is because a conflict of interest will hinder the progress of the start-up. I also learnt that as a start-up, it is important to have one’s goal fixed on going global so as to fully maximize the potential of the start-up. Furthermore, it is also important to know who the target market are as different consumers in different countries can have different taste and preference towards dating. It is also important to target the women consumer base in some situations. For example, in the case of between, as women tend to be more aware of such cute applications and would want to use them, they will often rope in guys too. Hence, the consumer base will indirectly increase too. Lastly, I also learnt about the importance of having an A-team (Best of the best people in the team) in a start-up. This is to allow each member weaknesses to be covered by another team member’s strengths so that they can complement each other. Not only will this lead to cost savings, it also allows each team member to know and appreciate each other more which improves productivity.
BeSucess
From Visual Dart, we can see how they differentiate themselves in the gaming industry. Instead of focusing of game development, they choose to focus on the designing process and excel on it. They are willing to go an extra mile for something they like and be really good on it. I can see their passion as can be seen from how they are willing to work extra time for hours. They also have excellent teams, where people are located to a department which suits their skills and personalities. I am personally very impressed with the way they organize themselves and do many projects at the same time.
During Seoul Tech Networking, we have the time to talk to like-minded entrepreneurs from different parts of the world. Although I didn’t manage to talk to all of them, but I manage to talk to some of them who have started their own company. We also manage to learn from the presentations and one of our teams even has the chance to present about Singapore entrepreneurship ecosystems. I can see that Singapore is more open to foreigners starting a company in the country. Although South Korea government seems to have more programs than Singapore does, Singapore government is also growing and paying more attention to entrepreneurship growth within the country. Considering the size of Singapore, the government has done a great job developing the ecosystems and I believe that more entrepreneurs will appear in Singapore.
- During our trip to KBS, I was really amazed of blue screen technology to mimic realistic backgrounds. In addition to viewing their impressive broadcasting equipment, I also had the pleasure of viewing their internal concert theater which was the biggest one I have even seen.
- We learnt that in Visual Dart, its biggest competitors are from developing countries such as China and India. In addition to what I have learnt from school and from my experience overseas, I have discovered that this represents an increasing trend of developed countries rapidly losing their edge to those in the developing countries.
- During our networking session at Seoul Tech conference, I have learnt that both Korea and Singapore have robust existing schemes to entice foreign entrepreneurs and startups to their countries, even though Singapore is more welcoming to foreigners in general. On the other hand, Korea has numerous private accelerators that are able to link startups up with international VCs and angel investors better than Singapore as the accelerator companies’ founders usually have experience and connections in the US and many other countries.
KBS
We visited KBS and got a tour around the building. KBS is South Korea's largest broadcasting station and it was interesting to see the filming stages, halls, broadcasting room, and props store.
Visual Dart
Visual Dart is a game art designing firm with about 60 employees. They modularize the design into various forms such as sketching, initial drawing, 3d creation, animation, background design and more. A single design takes about 10 days to a month to create depending on the design complexity. Visual Dart started off small and they initially did work for home shopping networks. They then moved on to small scaled designs and the company was promoted through competitions and exhibitions. From our interaction with the first employee in the company, I've learnt that
- communication with the client is important to ensure that both parties have an agreement on how the design concept should be developed
- fostering good relations out of work helps to build better relations with co-workers
- get constant exposure locally and internationally and stay up to date on the latest technology advancement and change in trends
- idea generation can be inspired from various ways e.g. by watching movies, playing games, and observing the environment
Seoul tech networking night
At the sharing session and networking event, we heard about the South Korea and Singapore start-up system. In both countries, the government plays a big role in encouraging people to start their own businesses. The government takes various initiatives to nurture talent, support mentors, provide funding, and educate its people on entrepreneurship. I think it is good that the government takes the lead to develop the start-up ecosystem. I expect that in the future, reliance on the government will be reduced if start-ups can support each other. Also, there will be more private services that cater to support the community.
Tomorrow is our last day and we will be visiting Seoul Topis, Auctionary, and Korbit!
