[Where are you now?] Jiwon Hong(Full-Time MBA Class 2nd Graduate)
- SKKGSB
- Hit737
- 2024-06-24
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Sungkyunkwan University SKK GSB organized a series of "Where are you now?" interviews with alumni to find out how they are doing in their careers and what life has been like since graduation.
SKK GSB Full-Time MBA Class 2nd Graduate: Jiwon Hong
Jiwon Hong, who is running a startup in Santa Clara, USA, graduated from SKK GSB in 2007 and worked as a Product Manager in the marketing division at Samsung Electronics.
In the latter part of her career at Samsung Electronics, her job was to collaborate with startups in Silicon Valley. At this time, she had a plan to dive in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. She said, "There was a faith that it was okay to fail and return to a job if needed. So, I took on the challenge of entrepreneurship."
YesPlz AI, founded by Jiwon, provides a service that searches for and recommends clothes that users want through artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, customers can select desired shoulder shapes, colors, and other preferences based on a mannequin drawing, and AI will suggest clothing items that closely match these preferences. It has significantly benefited clients such as W.Concept, the Handsome, Kolon Mall, and more, boosting cart size by 1.7 times and sales by over 10%.
Before achieving current success, she had previously founded a startup called 50ml in 2017, which recommended various food seasonings but ultimately failed.
Jiwon stated, "At Samsung, I gained the confidence in product management and biz development, however, 50ml taught me the essence of entrepreneurship."
She explained "50ml was a marketplace for gourmet condiments, but I made the mistake of building a product without talking to users and waiting for customers to find it. Learning from that experience, I started YesPlz AI by interviewing users, quickly building prototypes based on their feedback, and continually iterating. This process now applies to everything I do at YesPlz AI, from marketing to sales and hiring."
Jiwon emphasized that building stamina is important for the startup journey.
She added, "Nowadays, I start my day with intensive cardio and a cold shower. I wish I had started this routine in my early startup days. I wish I had spent more time working out to build my stamina earlier."
Jiwon advised current MBA students aspiring to enter the tech industry or start their ventures to build as many side projects as possible. She emphasized, "You won't land a great product manager role or any other job without relevant experience.' Constantly validating your ideas with users and iterating quickly is crucial not only for securing a job at tech companies but also for finding the right market fit for your venture."
Now she envisions a future where shopping agents handle shopping for humans. These agents, powered by large AI models, will know exactly what users are looking for and can scan millions of products in seconds.
Jiwon said, "We can provide the fashion brain that plugs into these agents to discover the perfect product for users. Ultimately, I hope we contribute to improving shopping efficiency in the industry."