On September 26, Entrepreneurship Lunch Talk with Jihoon Rim, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of K Cube Ventures was held at the Creative Learning Building (E11) from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Organized by Technology Business Incubation Center of KAIST, the lecture provided students with opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship and startup companies. The lunch talk was open to any member of the KAIST community.

Rim started the lecture with an introduction of himself and his company. A graduate from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at KAIST, Rim founded K Cube Ventures, a company specializing in venture capital. Before the founding of K Cube Ventures, Rim also worked at various firms including NHN, The Boston Consulting Group, and Softbank Ventures. One of his many accomplishments at Softbank Ventures includes investment in Sundaytoz, a top tier Korean social network gaming company best known for the popular game, Anipang.

While working for these various corporations, he saw that Korean startups have great potential and talent, but they lack early-stage investors. Thus, Rim founded K Cube Ventures in order to improve this startup scene. With the purpose of being a “startups’ best friend,” K Cube Ventures aims to foster emerging startup companies in Korea by investing in them and giving them advice. Some of the companies that K Cube Ventures had invested in so far include Frograms, Wishlink, mVerse, Greenmonster, Vingle, and Fincon.

In the lecture, Rim focused on the “characteristics of successful startups.” He explained the meaning of a startup as a way of solving problems and distributing social influence in our society. He told the students that tenacity is the most important characteristics required to initiate a startup. One must have a strong sense of tenacity and duty in order to overcome difficulties that come with starting a business. The lecture closed with a question-and-answer session. This was the fourth Entrepreneurship Lunch Talk offered in 2013. For more information on the Entrepreneurship Lunch Talk, contact the Technology Business Incubation Center.