Lessons on entrepreneurship from K-drama ‘Start-Up’

One of the things I did during the holiday break was to watch the Netflix K-drama “Start-Up.”

Aside from entertaining its viewers with the love story of its three main characters—Seo Dal-mi, Nam Do-san and Han Ji-pyeong, it also shares a lot of lessons that are helpful for young entrepreneurs starting a business.

It is difficult to succeed in business. A lot of people set up businesses thinking that it is the easiest way to become rich. After all, most billionaires are businessmen who own successful businesses.

In reality though, it is very hard to succeed in business. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about 20 percent of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open and 45 percent during the first five years. Only 25 percent of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. And when a business fails, most of the capital invested cannot be recovered.

In Start-Up, Nam Do-san’s company, Samsan Tech, was struggling for several years, even though the company had a technically superior product. The company also had to constantly compete with other companies and look for potential investors to raise funding. Aside from having a technically superior product, Samsan Tech had to prove to potential investors that there was strong demand for its product and that it had a strategy on how to monetize demand. And it only had a few minutes at a time to do this.

Be prepared to lose money. Almost all businesses lose money in the beginning. Although a company might have a great product which is in demand, it will take time to create awareness about the product and for sales to reach critical mass so that revenues are enough to cover expenses.

In Start-Up, Samsan Tech had a great mobile app for the visually impaired called NoonGil. However, because NoonGil became very popular, the expenses needed to maintain the app or the ‘burn rate” also went up. Because NoonGil was a free app targeting the blind, it could not rely on advertising revenue to generate profit.

Eventually, a global foundation bought NoonGil. Prior to that though, San Sam Tech was under significant pressure to raise funding. Otherwise, it would be forced to close NoonGil only after a few months of operation.

Therefore, when setting up a business, make sure to set aside enough money to cover expenses for several months while the company is still not yet profitable.

Teamwork is important. Being smart or talented doesn’t automatically guarantee success in business because there are some skills that you need but do not have. That is why recognizing your shortcomings and relying on others in your team is important for success.

In Start-Up, Han Ji-pyeong told Sam San Tech to hire a CEO if they want to succeed because Nam Do-san was not good enough. Although this piece of advice was meant to be an insult, it was actually good advice, because the addition of Seo Dal-mi to the team as the company’s CEO helped the company succeed.

Hire people who share your values. That way, your employees will be committed to the company and will do their best to provide the best products and services for your customers. In contrast, people who are good but are motivated by money will only do what is necessary to deliver what is required. They are also not loyal and will easily move to another company that is willing to provide higher compensation.

In Start-Up, Cheong Myeong’s lead programmers were very good but were motivated by money. Consequently, when Cheong Myeong’s competitor gave them a better offer, they left. They even orchestrated a ransomware attack on Won In-jae computers so that the company would fail, giving them a good excuse to leave the company. Working for someone can be more lucrative than starting a business. Many people insist on starting a business, especially if they are smart or talented because they want the prestige of being the CEO of a company. Moreover, they find it frustrating working under people who are not as good as they are.

However, as mentioned earlier, being smart or talented doesn’t automatically guarantee success in business. Starting a business also requires a lot of responsibilities that you might not be willing to take. Sometimes, you might be better off working for a big company that already has the infrastructure that will allow you to maximize the value of your skills and will pay your well for helping the company grow.

When one of the programmers in Start-Up, Kim Yong-san, asked Han Ji-pyeong if their team should accept an offer to work for Cheong Myeong instead of putting up their own company, Mr. Han said “if what excites you is writing programs and seeing them run, work for a company that pays you well. If you’re excited about establishing and leading a company, then run your own company.” INQ

April Lee-Tan, CFA, is the chief equity strategist of COL Financial, the Philippines’ leading online stockbroker. She has over 20 years of experience covering the Philippine stock market. She heads the COL research team. For her market insights, follow @AprilLeeTan and @colfinancial on Twitter. For comments and suggestions, email [email protected]