1415T2g1 South Korea/Reflection/day4
South Korea
| Day 2 |
Contents
Day 4: Reflections
KBS
Visual Dart
Seoul Tech Networking / Seminar
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!
KBS
The visit to KBS, Korea Broadcasting System is very enriching and interesting. I never got the chance to step into a broadcast studio. Thus this is a rare opportunity. In KBS, I get to see their news reporting room, a live show, their props room and more. I also get to experience how the celebrities and reporters are “placed” on top of other background such as the weather forecast.
Visual Dart
1 challenge that Visual Dart faced is when the client suddenly decline the job. When Visual Dart and their client agreed on a project, Visual Dart will proceed to arrange for manpower. However, there are cases that their client decided to turn their back against them. This can also happen after the client signed the contract. Thus, I learnt that we have to always be aware and prepared of this type sudden changes. Even if you signed a contract with the other party, they might still turn their back against you. It does not matter if the contract mentioned that there will be momentary compensation when 1 party break the contract.
When designing, there are bounds to have time when there is no inspiration. Thus, their employees will get idea from the internet, movie, books, walking around and even looking at other people game design. This is also applicable for us when we are stuck in our school or future work life. Thus, I learnt that there's no point stressing over it, instead we should relax and look around for inspiration.
Seoul Tech Networking
At Seoul Tech Networking today, we learnt about the various reason why foreigners find it hard to startup in Korea. It is due to the immigration, commercial and foreign direct investment laws. Although Korea government has as many start-up support as Singapore government, foreigners still find it hard to start up in Korea as compared to Singapore. I also get to know about the FDI procedure and OASIS VISA. These information are useful for foreigner start-ups who want to venture into Korea.
