Recently, Webtoon went public (Nasdaq: WBTN). I want to sincerely congratulate them on their successful IPO. My previous company was a competitor to Webtoon. They were much bigger than us, but we packed a punch, especially in content monetization and building a creator community. They had good financial backing from their parent company, while we … Continue reading Competitors
I was recently chatting with a founder whose first company didn’t work out, and now he wants to start another new company. In terms of deciding what to build next, my recommendation to him was: forget about your personal passion and optimize around the market this time. Why? Continue reading Optimize For Market
Recently, I met some smart people who I know are better than me in many, many ways, but are stuck in corporations, doing routine work. If their brains are V12 engines, my brain would be a motorcycle engine 🙂 They’re younger, smarter, and even better looking than me. But many of them come to me … Continue reading Taking A Risk
Personally, I would advise founders against taking a corporate strategic investment unless there is a significant and tangible benefit (I’m not talking about CVCs, I’m talking about strategic investment from a company’s balance sheet). There are many reasons why strategic investments could potentially go wrong: But every case is different, and for some companies strategic … Continue reading On Corporate Strategic Investment
Recently there seems to be a mini-trend of founders opting to raise smaller amounts of capital to minimize dilution. Many of these companies go through YC or other accelerators, which take around 7% equity before any financing. An additional ~20% dilution on top of this would certainly seem excessive, especially at such an early stage … Continue reading Raising A Smaller Round
When you put fleas in a bottle with a lid, the fleas will initially hit the lid as they jump. Soon, they won’t jump higher than the lid, even after it is removed. We humans are similar. There are many inconveniences in this world that we take for granted, assuming there’s no better solution. Entrepreneurship … Continue reading What Are We Being A Flea About?
The job market has dramatically changed. People regularly work on multiple projects with varying degrees of involvement. Some have a full-time job and engage in personal side projects on the weekends, while others work on 3-4 different projects as contractors or consultants. Whether people like it or not, this has already become the norm in … Continue reading Missionary Mindset For Part Time Employees
When other founders reach out to me for advice, I try to make it more “pull” than “push” as much as possible. I can only share my own experiences and stories. It’s up to the listener to decide which parts (if any) to take as advice. If they want, they can pull some stuff from … Continue reading Advice: Pull vs. Push
One of the common traits of successful founders that I see: They don’t lower the bar by comparing themselves or their company with others that underperform or have lower standards. Some of their competitors are badly run companies – misspending investors’ money, suffering from internal drama, you name it. When good founders see these companies, … Continue reading Don’t Lower The Bar
In a non-work related story: In Jeju Korea, two high school students found a lost credit card at a convenient store. To help find the owner, they used the card to buy the cheapest item ($0.25) so the owner would get the text notification. Then they left the credit card along with $0.25 they just … Continue reading A Heartwarming Story