____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ju-won Hwang (Entrepreneurship Major, 23rd Class) is majoring in Korean language and literature and is a leading member of the Entrepreneurship Student Council.

Kyo-min Park (College of Liberal Studies) is majoring in business administration and technology management and will soon join Bain & Company.

Dong-ju Jeon (College of Liberal Studies) is pursuing a double major in computer engineering and business administration, and has developed the asset management system “Barobaro,” which is set to launch in February 2026.

San Kim (Entrepreneurship Major, 22nd Class) majors in electrical and computer engineering and works as an undergraduate researcher at the ISLAB. Kim also manages four applications and web services as a solo developer.

Jong-won Song (Entrepreneurship Major, 18th Class) majors in chemical and biological engineering and entrepreneurship, and serves on the Student Council. Song researches machine learning-based sensors for fluid processing.

Chae-eun Song (Entrepreneurship Major, 21st Class) majors in oriental painting and design and is currently the CEO of a photobooth franchise.

Jae-ho Choi (Entrepreneurship Major, 23rd Class) majors in biosystems engineering and is planning, operating, and conducting a proof of concept (PoC) for a digital healthcare platform based on medical data.

Oh-seon Choi (Entrepreneurship Major, 22nd Class) majors in veterinary medicine. As a former student council member and a member of the Handbook of Majors writing team, Choi is preparing to launch a biohealthcare startup.

Seung-min Kim (College of Liberal Studies, Matriculating Class of ‘22) majors in mathematics and computer engineering. Kim is the lead developer at the startup “Iruri Labs,” developing and providing an AI grading service.

Do-yoon Kim (Entrepreneurship Major, 19th Class) majors in materials engineering and computer engineering. Kim also works as a researcher at NanoForge.AI and is preparing to launch a deep-tech startup focused on designing AI-based new materials.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Please briefly introduce the Venture Management Global Camp.

The Venture Management Global Camp is an entrepreneurship training program in which participants visit Silicon Valley to gain diverse experiences and learn inspiring entrepreneurial mottos. This year’s Global Camp was attended by sixteen students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship Program and consisted of two days of pre-workshop activities followed by seven days in Silicon Valley.

？

2. What inspired you to participate in the Global Camp, and what did you expect the most from the program?

Ju-won Hwang: At the time I applied to this program, I was deeply considering my major and career path. With AI, big tech, and tech-based businesses taking center stage across all industries, I found myself unsure where I stood in these trends, considering that I chose a field that is not particularly technology-focused. Even so, I was not particularly motivated to suddenly switch my career to programming or technology. So, I wanted to find an answer to my question, “What should I do?” which led me to ask, “What do I find interesting and what role would fit me best?” I participated in this program with the hope that it would give me some clues about the direction I would like to take in the future.

Kyo-min Park: My goal is to work as a VC in the United States someday, so I applied to the Global Camp to explore opportunities firsthand. I wanted to see and learn how vibrant the U.S. startup market is and how the process from investment to exit actually works in practice. I want to identify the skills I need to develop to stay competitive in the U.S.

Dong-ju Jeon: I have a dream of starting a business in the U.S., so when I saw a notice about the Global Camp for students interested in starting a business in the U.S., I felt it was the perfect opportunity for me. I wanted to meet entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley in person, hear about their journeys and concerns, and confirm that this is the direction I want to take in life.

San Kim: I wanted to see for myself how AI is being used in Silicon Valley, which is at the forefront of technology and innovation in this rapidly changing era of AI. I particularly wanted to hear from practitioners about how and to what extent the AI-based coding method known as “vibe coding” is used in the field.

3. What was the most memorable during the pre-workshop held at the Entrepreneurship Center?

Jae-ho Choi: I was impressed by how we learned about each participant’s item, developed detailed plans to explore entrepreneurship based on their progress, and received feedback on those plans, rather than simply receiving lectures on entrepreneurship theory during the pre-workshop sessions. These sessions helped me develop a testable business idea rather than a vague one and allowed me to prepare a detailed trip itinerary.

Oh-seon Choi: The orientation was a brief two-day event, but it was an intense experience focused on forming groups and planning itineraries. I remember giving a brief introduction and immediately diving into business and ideas because of the tight schedule. Seeing how participants kept introductions brief and dove right into the important matters made me realize their drive and sincerity.

Seung-min Kim: A quote from Partner Honggyu Choi at Springcamp VC was the most memorable lesson for me. He told us not to think of our Global Camp as a visit to the U.S., but to think of “I myself” going. He likened this to his own experience of setting the goal of making Springcamp a better company than YC; this is not what Springcamp US is doing, but what I, Honggyu Choi, am doing. He also added that we should think more carefully rather than be reckless when facing a challenge. This led me to reflect on myself as I traveled to the U.S.

4. What was your most memorable experience during the camp in the U.S.?

Ju-won Hwang: The most memorable activity was meeting Ian Park. Drawing on his investment experience, he said it is faster and more sustainable to find founders and investors who share your philosophy than to try to persuade others. I also learned that, when it comes to consumer goods, the critical questions and the approach to solving problems are more important than trends or specific items.

San Kim: My most memorable experience was visiting Google's headquarters and speaking with the engineers. Although Google proposed the Transformer architecture, which is the foundation of most AI models nowadays, through a paper titled “Attention is All You Need” in 2017, the LLM market has been dominated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. I asked about the background and was told that, at the time, Google relied on search and advertising as its primary sources of income and did not invest overtly in LLMs. That was when I realized that a dependable cash cow can sometimes become an obstacle to innovation.

Riding in a self-driving Waymo taxi was also an unforgettable experience. Watching the car drive through the Bay Area without a driver, I felt that autonomous driving technology is already part of our everyday lives.

Jong-won Song: During our free time, I had a memorable meeting with the planners of a self-driving lab (SDL) in the bio and semiconductor industries. What shocked me was the stark difference in speed between a startup researching SDL with Postdocs and PhDs and a 300 billion won investment, versus a university lab conducting similar research with 3 billion won and PhD students. This made me reconsider the direction of my research.

Jae-ho Choi: My most memorable experiences were meeting the founder of Typa and interviewing graduate students at Stanford University, where I learned how research ideas can evolve into startup models and businesses. I came to understand that research-based startups involve more than developing technology; they also entail defining questions, establishing market-entry strategies, and building teams.

5. What were the most challenging moments during the camp?

Chae-eun Song: Personally, I was already in the process of incorporating my company as a franchise business, so I was able to go beyond conducting market research on existing brands like Life 4-Cut and Photoism. I also prepared by visiting the areas where I planned to open stores in person. Additionally, I further developed my business plans through face-to-face meetings with local partners and assessed competitors, the commercial area, and foot traffic at the sites, rather than doing so virtually via Zoom, which was extremely helpful for my business launch plan.

Jae-ho Choi: The biggest challenge was explaining my ideas, conducting interviews, and receiving feedback from locals in an unfamiliar setting. Language and cultural differences were barriers to communication, and I also had to convey our core values quickly and persuasively. However, I was able to assess the strengths and limitations of my business hypothesis through user responses, which led me to recognize the importance of “field testing” when launching a business.

Oh-seon Choi: The most memorable moment was talking with the speakers about the changes AI will bring to communication between humans and computers, and the future it will create. I was especially impressed by how preemptive healthcare using wellness devices is already part of life in Silicon Valley. This led me to realize that technology should not alienate humans but instead should become a tool that supports the most human desire to “live a long and healthy life” in the most advanced way.

Do-yoon Kim: Participating in the JPM 2026 Bits in Bio meet-up and stepping outside my materials background to explore new approaches in bio, AI, and data processing was both challenging and inspiring. Although these fields were unfamiliar, stepping out of my comfort zone and listening to diverse methodologies from people worldwide helped me gain new transdisciplinary insights.

6. Were there any new lessons or inspirations you gained through the camp?

Ju-won Hwang: I have been interested in consumer goods, and what I learned through the camp was that I need to broaden my perspective on products by viewing them through the lens of “industrial structure” rather than as “individual trends.” I also came to think that for consumer goods trends, “where they can be consistently consumed” is more important than “where they first begin.” Through visits to local companies, meetings, and market research, I realized that while consumer goods trends change rapidly, underlying needs and structures remain consistent. This motivated me to focus on industries and issues with long-term accruals rather than short-lived trends.

Jong-won Song: Aside from entrepreneurship, I felt that living in the U.S. can feel lonelier due to its relatively lower density of infrastructure and people compared to Korea. Regarding SDL, there was consensus in this field that it is necessary and inevitable. However, I felt that if research was led by academia in the past, it might now be startups with enormous computing power and funding that are better at conducting basic research using AI and robotics.

Jae-ho Choi: I learned that if you aim for the global market, you should consider regulations, user confidence, and business structures from the very beginning of the service design stage. In the healthcare industry, I realized that the competitive edge comes more from practical applicability and regulatory compliance than from technological readiness. The experience solidified my motivation to combine overseas pilot testing with business validation when launching a startup in the future.

Seung-min Kim: I learned that ethnic differences and language barriers are insignificant, at least in the Silicon Valley startup scene. I attended an AI-related meet-up I had signed up for at the end of our time in the U.S., where speakers and attendees from diverse ethnic backgrounds shared insights. I also had the chance to talk with people from Japan, India, and the United States. When we gathered in groups, I discussed my company, and one American attendee later approached me after listening and took my LinkedIn contact, saying this idea could have potential in the U.S. I remember leaving the meet-up and heading to the train station when an Indian attendee, who seemed to be around my age, caught up with us (my teammate and me) and offered to walk us there so our conversation could continue. I was impressed by how open everyone was to communication and how freely they shared their ideas―and felt that this indeed was Silicon Valley’s culture.

7. How has your experience in Silicon Valley changed your interest, perspective, or plans for entrepreneurship and venture management? How do you plan to use the experience gained through the camp in the future?

Kyo-min Park: In the U.S., there was a virtuous cycle in which an influx of new startups and success stories fueled interest in entrepreneurship, leading me to believe that the American startup market would continue to grow. I also realized that to compete in America, the ability to persuade others―not as an outsider but with the cultural sensibility of “one of them"―would be crucial.

Jong-won Song: I became even more certain of my dream to build a technological moat and start a business in the U.S. I felt that my domain knowledge, pain points, and qualitative thinking skills and approaches, developed after earning my doctorate in an ever-changing society, would become valuable assets. However, I think I might need to think more about what distinguishes research conducted in academia from that in industry and discuss this with my professors.

Chae-eun Song: I plan to begin preparations to establish the corporation in April, targeting the U.S. summer vacation season, which runs from June to August. I plan to create a step-by-step checklist that includes communicating with the landlord, compiling incorporation materials, establishing a distribution structure for consumable supplies, and hiring companies for mechanical equipment and interior design. I plan to prepare for this step-by-step over the remaining period with the goal of opening the store in June. The market research conducted during this camp has helped me immensely refine my plans to expand into the U.S. market.？

Jae-ho Choi: I came to go beyond a domestic-centric service design and prioritize a platform structure with global expansion in mind from the early stages. From now on, I plan to prepare to launch a startup by combining technology development with PoC testing and business feasibility studies targeting overseas markets, to design a sustainable healthcare model from an investment perspective.

8. Was there anything you regretted not preparing for the camp that might have helped you learn more?

Dong-ju Jeon: Visiting the companies was very helpful, and I learned a lot, but I think I could have asked more in-depth questions and had an even more meaningful experience if I had studied more about the companies beforehand.

San Kim: I have two regrets. First, the itinerary was too packed. I went for a run in Palo Alto in the morning and stopped by a coffee shop where I saw something surprising. People who didn't know each other took out their laptops and started coding, then casually talked about programming. In Korea, it's not common to start a conversation with someone sitting next to you in a coffee shop, so it was refreshing to see that this is a natural part of the culture in Silicon Valley. If I had more time, I would have liked to code in a coffee shop and chat with local developers. Second, I didn’t prepare enough for networking opportunities. I sent a cold email to a robotics lab at Stanford University a week before leaving, hoping to visit, but I didn’t hear back. I think I could have met more people and learned from them if I had reached out to more contacts earlier.

Jae-ho Choi: I regret not preparing more MVPs for on-site testing or more detailed user scenarios. If I had systematically designed the interview questions and verification indicators in advance, I could have gathered more quantitative data on market responses. I plan to address this when preparing the global pilot.

Oh-seon Choi: I believe I would have gained more valuable experience if I had planned for the camp earlier. Responses from the U.S. are slower than in Korea, and emails are often ignored. Competition for popular meetups is fierce, so I suggest scheduling personal plans before the official schedule is finalized. I also recommend sending weekly reminders for one-on-one meetings, finalizing meeting dates once the official schedule is set, and registering for meetups in advance, even if you have to cancel later.

Do-yoon Kim: My networking was mostly limited to Koreans because of the pressure I felt when speaking English. Because I only contacted people I knew in person, I realized there were limits to how much I could expand my network and the importance of global communication skills. Thankfully, Professor Joon Mahn Lee and Partner Honggyu Choi introduced me to their contacts, allowing me to build a variety of connections that wouldn’t have been possible without the Global Camp.

The Stories from the Entrepreneurship Center section features interviews with current and former students majoring in Entrepreneurship, as well as startup teams that participated in the Center’s programs, sharing the journeys of young entrepreneurs. If you are interested in this section, please email snustartup@snu.ac.kr.