[Startup Institute Lecture Series #2] “A problem is the problem” – Futureplay CEO Joonghee Ryu 

“A problem is the problem”

From the problem to solve to the problem to find.

The second lecture of 2020 Lecture Series hosted by Korea University Business School (Dean = Jaewook Kim) Startup Institute (Director = Hicheon Kim) was held on May 19^th(Tuesday). The Lecture Series is a lecture given by start-up mentors currently active in the field as a part of the Entrepreneurship Academy hosted by Seung Myung-Ho Center for Entrepreneurship Education - the education institution in the Startup Institution. The second Lecture Series was given by a technology startup specialized investment company - ‘Futureplay’ CEO Joonghee Ryu, and was held in the online format due to the current situation of COVID-19.

CEO Joonghee Ryu said “Although the phrase ‘A problem is the problem’ may sound like a play on word, it is a very important topic. There are a lot of people who can solve problems well in Korea, but there aren’t many who can make or find problems. The core of startups is defining the problem, but there aren’t many people good at it”.

#A technical startup starts with technology
Technology startups start with technology, but technology itself is not money. Making technology into products and making products into businesses makes money. If you are a prospective entrepreneur who majored in management, you should have a defined product for your business, even if you don't have the technology. There is something that student start-ups misunderstand – they think that business is creating added value and receiving money for that. The product is the reason why the customer has to pay for the business, so a definition of the product is needed. Being a medium to commercialize technology is a 'problem' that exists in the market.

#A problem is the problem
Defining a problem is identifying the pain of a potential customer that exists. Customers pay to solve the pain. It is important to understand what people are talking about these days and what are the disadvantages of solutions on the market. For a good start-up, the essence must be well defined.

#What a good problem is

It should be at the intersection of what people want, what I like, and what I'm good at. If I do something that I'm not good at to fit people only, there will be someone who does it better than me. But if you only consider what the market wants and what I'm good at, you would have to even like it eventually because you're tired and can't do business for a long time. Businessman is a person who makes money by understanding what the market wants, and an artist who does what he or she likes, and an expert who makes money by using what he or she is good at. The CEO must have all three aspects.

#How to start finding a problem

You must first define your customers and approach their pain. Using the "T-shirt method," you can start with a problem that has received the highest score by evaluating it as s, m, l, xl according to the level of what the market wants, what I am good at and what I like. Nothing is more important than finding good problems in the early days of business. It is a matter of putting the greatest resources into it. After all, the "problem" that technology start-ups need to focus on is to search diligently while thinking about "products" and "market" together.