“What I overlooked in the early stages of starting a business was that I created the service I wanted rather than solving the customer's problem.” (Park Min-jin, representative of Pierrot Company)
“To grow sales, it is important to remain steadfast about what the customer wants and what needs to be resolved in the industry structure.” (Lee Won-seok, representative of Deliverylab)
Four representatives of startups who studied in the KAIST Impact MBA program attended the 'C Forum 2025' on the 3rd and emphasized this. They shared their views on the topic of 'scale-up based on social impact.'
The C Forum is an event co-hosted by the domestic representative accelerator CNT Tech and ChosunBiz that helps startups and various ecosystem participants connect and collaborate to create new value. It marks its third edition this year, following last year's event.
This year, the KAIST Impact MBA also participated. The KAIST Impact MBA has been training entrepreneurs who have a positive impact on society since 2013.
Kim Jeong-heon, representative of UD Impact, noted, “I want to say that it is okay to start a business even if the business model is difficult to fund,” adding that it started as a business model that trains social entrepreneurs for free and has grown steadily but slowly to gain recognition in the capital market.
UD Impact is a social corporation that provides solutions such as job creation, small business growth, and regional revitalization.
Kim, who is preparing for an initial public offering next year, said, “The answer to the question ‘What is a meaningful social corporation from an economic perspective or as seen by the public?’ was the IPO,” and added, “Ultimately, a corporation must be able to generate revenue and profits, and we convinced them that we could create social value better than profit-seeking corporations.”
Kim Han-guk, representative of DRLN, said, “We are a place that creates sustainable future materials from discarded clothing,” and added, “I want to create a world where people can wear clothes freely and throw them away.”
Park Min-jin, representative of Pierrot Company, which operates the electronic device subscription and partitioning service phoneGO, shared her experience that even in meaningful businesses, it is necessary to satisfy the customer's desires. She said, “I started the business with the intention of solving problems in the electronic device industry and provided services that helped consumer transactions in the early stages, and through the demand validation process, we ended up with a subscription service.”
She emphasized, “We need to create the services that customers want, and to get them to pay, high levels of hypothesis validation are necessary.” She added, “Ultimately, a good service is judged by the customer,” and explained that “whether customers are willing to pay for the service and whether we can secure enough customers to grow rapidly will be the metrics.”
Lee Won-seok, representative of Deliverylab, also advised that startups should not waver in the customer relationships and problem awareness they have set to drive sales. He founded Deliverylab, an online food ingredient distribution platform called ORDER HERO, after feeling issues in the distribution structure while working in the food and beverage industry.
He said, “When I started the business, I thought customers wanted a service that combines not just price but also delivery reliability.” He explained that “I subsequently built regional logistics centers to change the logistics operation structure,” and added, “Understanding why you are doing this business and what you are doing for the customer seems to be the most important point in starting a business.”