Silicon Valley’s Era Persists : Successful Completion of ‘KOREAN in Silicon Valley 2023’

김 문선

손 요한 Posted On 2023/10/12

On-site at “KOREAN in Silicon Valley 2023” ⓒPlatum

“KOREAN in Silicon Valley 2023” was held on 11 October at SKY Hall in NAVER 1784 to share the experiences of Koreans working in the US market.

Launched in 2014 and celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, ‘KOREAN in Silicon Valley’ is an annual conference organised by Startup Alliance. It brings together entrepreneurs, practitioners and investors who are innovating in Silicon Valley, the centre of IT in the United States, as well as in New York, Los Angeles and other parts of the country, to share their insights. To date, 115 speakers have participated in KOREAN in Silicon Valley.

This year’s edition of KOREAN in Silicon Valley featured three sessions: Silicon Valley Past and Present, Entrepreneurs Growing in a Global Marketplace, and People Building Global Careers. A total of 12 speakers and moderators participated.

In the first session, “Silicon Valley Past and Present”, Jin Hyng Lee, founder of LVIS and professor at Stanford University, Bumsoo Kim, managing partner of Translink Investment, and Hohyon Ryu, CEO of OXOpolitics, spoke about the trends in Silicon Valley over the past decade, the development of AI, and advice on going overseas.

Bumsoo Kim, Managing Partner of Translink Investment ⓒPlatum

Bumsoo Kim, managing partner of Translink Investment, said: “There is a perception that Silicon Valley is not what it used to be. However, Silicon Valley’s biggest competitive advantage is the virtuous cycle of talent that flows freely between large companies and start-ups. “Over the past decade, the Korean startup ecosystem has seen the emergence of successful senior entrepreneurs and a growing number of investors. Most importantly, the vague distance and psychological barriers to the US have disappeared. I hope that Korean startups will actively expand overseas in the future”.

The panel discussion that followed the first session was moderated by Jong Yung Yoon, professor at Koonkmin University, who was also a speaker at the first edition of KOREAN in Silicon Valley. The three speakers emphasised “diversity” and “conviction” for entrepreneurs who want to go overseas. Professor Lee said: “Entrepreneurs who want to get investment from global VCs have to go through a process of persuasion. It’s not a requirement to get funding, it’s more of a matchmaking process. You have to take the time to convince global investors to understand your business and your service”.

The second session was dedicated to entrepreneurs entering the US market and becoming global startups. This year’s session featured tech startups making waves in the global markets of VR, SaaS and homomorphic cryptography. Seung Joon Lee, CEO of AmazeVR, a global VR concert platform startup, shared his story of entering the US market based on collaborations with local and global artists such as Aespa.

Donghee Lee, CEO of Deep BlueDot ⓒPlatum

Donghee Lee, CEO of Deep BlueDot, shared what he learned about product development and customer experience delivery as a B2B startup after graduating from the Winter 2023 batch of US accelerator Y-Combinator. “If you want to provide SaaS services in the US, which has a large SaaS market, you need to build social proof by actively promoting your product,” Lee said. Deep BlueDot is a startup that operates Syncly, an AI-based customer feedback analysis tool, founded by former SUALAB members.

Next, Jung Hee Cheon, CEO of CryptoLab, told the story of how they are challenging the US market with their homomorphic encryption technology, which can work while encrypted.

The final session captured the audience’s attention with stories of people building global careers. Wonhee Baek, Senior UX Researcher at Google, who spoke at the career session, said: “Users don’t care enough about the product to tell us what they want first. Good UX research isn’t about asking users what they want. It’s about understanding their behaviour, analysing the reasons behind it and ultimately improving their experience,” she said of her role. Beak has spent her career in Silicon Valley doing UX research at Spotify, Netflix and Google.

Speakers at the career session stressed the importance of peers and people.

Hyesook Kim, senior animator at Pixar Animation Studio, told her story of joining Pixar and working on Elemental, which reached over 7 million viewers in Korea. “I was an ordinary worker who was intimidated by small things, but I knew what I liked and had colleagues who could help me make good choices when there were good opportunities, and I tried my best to show my skills,” Kim said, adding that she hopes many practitioners will take up the challenge of pursuing a career abroad.

Kyeongan Kwon, a software engineer at MITRE, added: “I came to the US and gained a lot of experience in Dallas, Boston, and New York. A few years ago, I was just an ordinary developer, but through various challenges, I made it to New York. “As important as practical experience is active networking. There are so many people out there who want to help others. Be proactive and ask for help.

Meanwhile, Startup Alliance, which organised the conference, said: “The main message of KOREAN in Silicon Valley is motivation”. “KOREAN in Silicon Valley shared vivid stories of Koreans who have challenged the US market, including Silicon Valley, over the past 10 years. Startup Alliance hopes that the entrepreneurs, big company employees, practitioners and university students who listened to the conference will actively challenge the global market”.