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Posts Tagged ‘Entrepreneurs’

KAC Networking Social Highlights Need for Innovation

Posted in entrepreneur, tagged , , , , , , , on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I had the privilege of MC’ing a professional networking social event in Seattle. This event, organized by KAC (Korean American Coalition), highlighted entrepreneurship.

I gave the following perspective on the importance of entrepreneurship:

We live in a time of exponential changes. Advancement in technology continues to redefine our lives at a rapid pace. China is now the third largest economy in the world, having surpassed Germany last year. Experts predict that China will surpass the US as the largest economy in 18 years. China and India have more honor students than we have children in the US. What does that mean for the future?

To me, it means that innovation is what will continue to give America its edge. We excel in ideating new visions and new inventions. The book-smart Chinese and Indian look to America for innovations. That’s high-value advantage that we need to protect.

As for Korean-Americans, or Asian-Americans in general, we tend to gravitate toward professional livelihoods such as law, medicine and sciences. These are honorable professions, and honor is particularly important to the first generation Asians.  However, the exponential changes in our world today demand that we also cultivate innovation and creative thinking. We need to develop more entrepreneurs, along with lawyers and doctors within our Korean-American communities.

A survey showed that 47 percent of all venture-backed companies in the US have a founder or a co-founder who was not born in the US. What a testament to America’s standing as truly a land of opportunity. Yet, Korean-Americans represent a poor percentage of these venture-backed founders, far behind the Chinese, Indians and even the Israelis, among others. 

One part of the explanation, I believe, is because Korean American parents still push their children to be study and become lawyers and doctors. Also, the Korean culture is generally averse to risk-taking.  

So, we need to change because change is all around us. We need to cultivate an environment that creates more venture-backed start ups with Korean American founders. 

At the KAC Professional Networking Social, four local startups got to introduce their companies:

Guppy Media:  A cutting edge mobile and online advertising network, currently with distribution presence in over thirty countries.

Rice N Roll:  Serves fresh sushi rolls. Three locations throughout greater Seattle, and three locations at Safeco Field. Franchises offered.

Eggsprout: Social networking for professionals with focus on job searches.

Presalepassword: Subscription-based information web site for the secondary ticketing industry.

I’m looking forward to more such events.

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Eggsprout Launches Social Media Online Job Site

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , on January 10, 2009 | 2 Comments »

eggsprout1

Meet Hsu Ken Ooi, the guy on the right.  When working at CSG Openline, we had hired him straight out of college (University of Washington).  Even then, everyone knew he would end up starting his own company.  It was a given.

He’s extremely motivated, focused and ambitious.  About a year ago, he and the other founders of Eggsprout asked to meet to get some advice about becoming entrepreneurs.  Not sure whether any of the advice was useful or not, but glad to see their launch.  Even in this down economy, the ambitious, the passionate, and the brave are out there building their dreams.  Good luck to Eggsprout.

Here is their story on TechFlash.

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Life is but Series of Experiences

Posted in business, Entrepreneurs, People, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Guest Post by Paul Song

When John asked me to share one of my business experiences as a guest contributor to his blog a few months ago, I started to think which one would be the most interesting and relevant. Should I talk about starting an IT services company in my 20’s and what it was like to learn everything “on the job”? Or maybe the experience of taking a company public and playing with the “big boys” on Wall Street? Or maybe the humbling experience having our stock plummet by over 80% with the bursting of the dot-com bubble? Or starting a new company with millions in VC money?    I decided I want to talk about my little start up in Vietnam. It is not a big company nor even a successful one (yet). But it is has been a very rewarding experience in unexpected ways.  

My son Aaron, graduated from Pepperdine University in summer of 2006. During his college years, he had started an Internet company servicing the secondary ticketing market (ticket brokers and resellers also known as “scalpers”). By the time he received his diploma, Aaron was running a number of popular and very profitable web sites. When he asked my advice on what to do next, I encouraged him to explore living abroad to get a more “global” experience. As Thomas Friedman put it, the world is flat. We cannot ignore the growing interdependence of our global economy. Just look at how the US mortgage mess is affecting the credit (and now equity) markets worldwide! The next generation of business leaders must have a global perspective.

Having taken a more flexible role as Chairman of Noetix, I was not involved in day to day operations. So when Aaron suggested that I go with him to Asia and help him better explore business opportunities, I felt this was a unique opportunity for me to do something new and interesting with my son. We initially moved to Shanghai, China where we lived for about 5 months. But after a trip to Vietnam, we decided that we could best find opportunities to build a company together there.

So in April 2007, we moved to Ho Chi Minh City and started an Internet listing service for real estate in Vietnam. We’ve also launched a real estate magazine to compliment our web site (www.metvuong.com). When we started our venture, the real estate market was red hot, with prices nearly doubling from June 2007 to December of 2007. However with inflation and tightening credit world-wide, the market came to a screeching halt in March 2008 with prices declining as much as 40% in many markets (not too dissimilar to what is going on in the US). 

This has created some challenges for our business but it also is providing a great learning opportunity. It doesn’t take great management to grow a business when everything is booming (remember the dot-com bubble?). But when things are challenging, when strategy and execution become a necessity, when resources and money is limited and tough choices have to be made, that’s when management counts.    So even though metvuong is not a public company nor a company with millions in revenue, it has given me one of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far. It has given me the opportunity to start a business with my son. Though I was initially going abroad to help Aaron, actually, I may have gained more than he has from the experience. I’ve had the chance to live in a different country and to broaden my personal experiences. I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for developing countries and their challenges. I’ve come to understand first-hand what outsourcing means to companies both in the US and in the country. I’ve made many new friends including business leaders in other countries. And of course, I’ve had a chance to build some great memories and experiences with my son.  

Life is but a series of experiences. These experiences become our memories, prejudices and perspectives. Those become the basis upon which we make judgments and decisions. This is why we value people with experience. And for me, this has been one of my best experiences.  

_______________________________
Paul Song is my  brother.  He is currently the CEO of Metvuong and Chairman of Noetix.  He is also the former Founder and CEO of ARIS Corporation.  He is a former US representative for ABAC and is a member of YPO – Seattle Chapter.   

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