82 Summit — A dose of inspiration to start the year
As a PM for Samsung’s mobile computing division from 2006–2009, I worked on ecosystem development for the fledgling smartphone sector. I spent a lot of time with many startups working on technologies such as GPS, Natural Language Processing, and GPUs. It was during this time that I developed a keen interest in venture capital as I observed the difference in approaches between Korean startups and their U.S. counterparts — Korean startups, typically operating on far less VC funding, were willing to agree to terms like exclusivity and customization. U.S. startups with more VC backing (and therefore negotiating leverage), typically had larger ambitions and were unwilling to put all their eggs in one basket. In a nation with the paradox of an intense education system yielding low social mobility, it felt unfair that Korean entrepreneurs were limited in their ambitions due to a disparity in capital. And thus, without knowing what Venture Capital really meant, I set upon a journey to build a career in venture capital.
Fast forward 15 years, and the 82 Summit held in Sunnyvale on January 12 attracted 1,100 people from around the world with the mantra of creating a united Korean startup community and ‘paying it forward.’ When I first met Kiha Lee as he was launching Primer Sazze Partners, he said after 14 years of being a successful bootstrapped internet entrepreneur, he wanted to start a fund to back Korean entrepreneurs and to create a community based on the principle of ‘paying it forward’ — something that I also felt the Korean startup ecosystem in the U.S. could improve on. The first 82 Startups event had a handful of people in Kiha’s kitchen. Then a couple dozen at a small office in Silicon Valley. Then several dozen to hear Han Kim speak about his journey at Wilson Sonsini’s office in Palo Alto. Continued exponential growth in the size and scale of the movement culminated in this year’s event last week, highlighted by inspirational talks by leaders in the Korean American startup ecosystem, including Saeju Jeong (Noom), Su-jin Lee (Yanolja), and Ikkjin Ahn (Moloco).
I left this year’s 82 Summit inspired that there are so many people passionate about advancing the global Korean startup ecosystem — from industry leaders such as Kiha Lee, Greg (Kwangrog) Kim, Saeju Jeong, Su-jin, and Songyee Yoon, to the volunteers who executed an incredible series of events, and of course the startup founders, investors, and corporate execs who flew over from Korea. There are many ways to ‘make a difference’ but the 82 Summit and other large-scale efforts being organized serve as a platform to contribute.
There will be three annual events going forward: January in the SF Bay, Summer in Korea, and Fall in NYC. I encourage anyone interested in the global Korean startup ecosystem to check it out!
