Young In Yoon, is heading the electronic contract management service firm FirmaChain as the Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the company’s board of directors. FirmaChain is a Korean startup, that is making digital contracting secure by utilizing the blockchain technology.
Yoon joined the startup in 2018, bringing more than 16 years of Information Technology industry leadership, online/mobile game expertise. Before starting with FirmChain, Yoon has held leadership roles at top-notch gaming companies like Nexon, Ncsoft and Patigames, where in the last decade he has made major breakthroughs for the companies. Yoon officially took on the role of leading FirmaChain at the end of May 2019. He manages overall operations, makes strategic direction/decision for Firmachain to ensure the success of the business.
Young In Yoon spoke to Koreatechdesk.com regarding his role in the startup and the ecosystem.
1. Please tell me about your background, and what are you working on currently?
I worked for online gaming companies for 16 years (NCsoft, Nexon). I’m currently managing overall operations, making strategic direction/decision for FirmaChain to ensure the success of the business.
2. What motivated you to get started with this current company and how did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now?
Before I joined the FirmaChain, I had a great job by all status, but I felt like I needed something more. I’m interested to make people’s lives better with technology, so I jumped straight in the startup leap.
It was not an easy decision to leave a comfortable environment, but over 16 years of working experience in the gaming industry, I had a chance to involve in all different departments of the company except development sectors that I don’t afraid of new challenges.
3. Please tell me more about your founding team?
Although all of our co-founders have different skill-sets and work experience, we do have in common the thought that the traditional written contract system is very ineffective and inefficient. So, we started the FirmaChain to fix the problem.
Our founding team and all of our colleagues have been working so hard to build the foundation and getting us to the next level. We are always pushing each other to do what’s best for the company.
4. How have you attracted users and grown your company from the start?
At the early stage, email marketing including cold-emails, people from your email lists, newsletters rather than well-known platforms such as SNS, Youtube, Facebook, etc. Owning the platform that I control and decide what goes on is very powerful regardless of the returning rate.
5. What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? What strategy worked best?
Our revenue model is pay per complete the document/transaction, monthly subscription and the account extension fee. The best strategy is to meet people; listen to what they want to. There is no substitute for getting out and meeting people in the business. Listen carefully with the feedbacks and evolve accordingly.
6. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and the obstacles you’ve overcome?
The biggest challenge we’ve faced is the typical mistakes that many startups make. It does not always work perfectly when we’re trying to solve the problem by focusing on the problem rather than finding a solution, as we’re thinking from a customer’s point of view.
7. What are your milestones for the next round and what are your goals for the future?
It is regarded that the domestic market for e-contracts is not much facilitated compared to foreign countries that have adopted it in their daily lives. FirmChain, business-wise, is planning to establish the e-contract culture within the local market, and technology-wise is planning to advance its technology by eliminating the inconvenience and increasing the efficiency of it.
8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received and what advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?
Well, it is too difficult to spot one best advice. I’m still learning mostly from books, people I meet in business and my colleagues. One thing to realize is that mindset is everything. If you’re interested in starting a business, you have to give everything on your project for a long time, find your USP, and prepare for the unexpected.
