Weekly VentureSquare Stories are summaries of some of the week’s top posts relating to the Korean startup and venture Industry.
Neowiz – Making it to First Place
On the 17th of August NCsoft’s sales for the second quarter increased by 7% to 166,800,000,000won for the whole period but were down by 1% for the same period last year. Neowiz’s sale increased by 13.12% from
148,200,000,000won to 167,700,000,000won for the second quarter, taking NCsoft’s spot at number one. This was possible due to Neowiz’s offshore sales, particularly in China where up to 2,700,000 players connect at one time. NCsoft’s sales on the other hand rely heavily on the domestic market.
The Different Impacts of Google Taking Over Motorola
It seems that the tech world will be a buzz recently with the news that Google is to take over Motorola. CEO Larry Page posted that the reason for acquisition was to “supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit on consumers, partners and developers everywhere.” It seems more aggressive than usual and he is making a bold decision to make sure they do not fall behind in times like these. Perhaps this is the power of leadership that someone in their 30s has.
Startup Guest: Primer CEO – Lee Taek-gyeong
Lee answered the question ‘When founding a company what is the most difficult thing?’. The real core problem for startups is not money but the core things right in front of one’s eyes that are missed due to worrying about money. He divided problems into three types;
Management over money, genuineness over skill, talent over experience.
Korean Startups: Wit Studio – Kim Dae-wook
One of the many startups that Kwon Do-gyoon and Lee Taek-kyeong have helped incubate has been Wit Studio. Founder Kim Dae-wook and Chae Eun-seok pitched their idea to Kwon Do-gyoon after meeting him by chance. Chae Eun-seok even cancelled his interview with Samsung to pursue the path of founding the company. Wit Studio is a User Interface tool in an area where originally Adobe Photoshop was the only dominant tool used.
Korean Startups: Hugeflow – CEO Park Geon-tae
Hugeflow has chosen a path which has been quite different to other startups. They based themselves in developing apps and software for the Microsoft app market. They are known for their technological expertise due to their entry barrier of Microsoft Silverlight, this is turn has somewhat restricted them as well. Will their hard work pay off in a market where Microsoft Windows phones are still widely unheard of?
Korean Venture Story : Helping Save Arae Hangul
On July 6, 1998 it was suddenly announced that Hancom would be sold to Microsoft. This was great news for investors after the IMF crisis but there was one condition. Hangul would no longer be developed. It would mean that the 4,000,000 users of Hangul would have to buy copies of Microsoft Word and learn how to use a word processing program all over again. On August 22, the Korean language society and 15 other groups started a bid to save the Hangul program.
Four Years as a Venture Investor
Having joined Soft Bank Ventures in 2007 it has been over four years now since I started investing in startups. Over that time I have invested 24,600,000,000 in 17 different companies and projects. After a while as an investor you ask yourself and often think about the question, “Am I indeed a good investor?”. I cannot speak for myself
but I do think that a good investor is one who is constantly putting in a solid effort.
This Week in Startups in Seoul
“This Week in Startups” is to make its debut in Asia. “The Week in Startups” is an internet broadcast which introduces small venture startups and new ideas. Silicon Valley startup investor Jason Calacanis introduces new ventures to an audience of around 100,000 viewers around the globe. There is to be a global online event where you and your company can take part. By preparing a 1-2 minute pitch in English for your company, you can have the chance to have your company and ideas broadcast on the show.
Event: Global Online Live Broadcast Event
Date: August 27
Time: 9.30am -1pm
Venue: Seoul Space, Gangnam
* 한국의 스타트업 소식을 영어로 번역하여 알리는데 관심이 있고 동참하고 싶으신 분은 editor@venturesquare.net으로 연락주시기 바랍니다.
* If you’re interested in sharing your ideas or company and translating them into Korean, feel free to e-mail us at editor@venturesquare.net.