Expanding a Career — and Asking Bigger Questions

Jinkyung Kim, currently responsible for the B2B subscription service Kakao Biz Membership at Kakao, works as a Product Owner designing integrated business solutions that help small business owners operate more efficiently. He describes his role as “Building services that reduce operating costs and support the growth of business owners in Korea.”

Having started his career at a global advertising agency, he reflected:

“In the beginning, I focused on building brand awareness, but over time, I became more interested in how customers’ businesses actually grow.”

After gaining experience in data- and CRM-driven business environments at Salesforce and Kakao, he gradually expanded his career beyond marketing into designing products and business structures. Looking ahead, his goal is to become a leader who can design and execute scalable business models powered by AI and global market opportunities.

Why Kelley-SKK GSB EMBA — From Execution to Strategy

Although Kim had already built substantial hands-on experience in sales leadership at Kakao, he felt the need to structure that experience within a broader management framework.

“I realized I needed a framework that would allow me to clearly explain and persuade others why a particular strategy makes sense.”

This led him to choose the Kelley-SKK GSB Executive MBA program. For him, the decision was not simply about earning another degree, but about gaining practical capabilities and a global network that could be directly applied in real business environments.

The Kelley-SKK GSB EMBA is a Dual MBA program jointly offered by Sungkyunkwan University SKK GSB and the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. One of the program’s greatest strengths is the opportunity to learn directly from Kelley faculty in Korea. Through the program, students systematically develop global management frameworks while also gaining access to Kelley’s worldwide alumni network.

Considering the scalability of his current business and future expansion into global markets, he describes the Kelley-SKK GSB EMBA as “the most strategic choice” for his next stage of growth.

“Not Intuition, but Logic” — How the MBA Changed His Decision-Making

Before entering the program, Kim expected the MBA experience to be heavily theory-driven. In reality, however, he found the courses to be highly practical and immediately applicable to his work.

“During the launch of Kakao Biz Membership, I applied break-even point (BEP) analysis and revenue forecasting methods learned in class directly to evaluating the business model. By structurally analyzing factors such as CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and projected revenue, I was able to assess business viability far more logically and systematically than before.”

He explained that while he previously relied largely on experience and intuition when making decisions, he now approaches problems by building hypotheses and validating them with data. He also actively applies strategic thinking frameworks that connect market dynamics, customer value, and revenue structures in order to organize and solve business challenges more effectively.

According to Kim, one of the biggest changes has been his ability to redesign business master plans using strategic frameworks, moving away from intuition-based decision-making toward judgments grounded in logic and structure.

He also noted that interacting with leaders from diverse industries has helped him view similar business challenges from broader and more structured perspectives.

“After taking the course Leading High-Performance Sales Teams, I completely redefined my perspective on sales. In the past, I focused mainly on revenue performance, but now I see customer adoption and retention as far more fundamental indicators.”

He added that poorly designed sales activity metrics and incentive structures can actually reduce organizational productivity — another key insight from the program.

Going forward, he plans to focus on integrating Product, Sales, and Customer Experience strategies to build a repeatable growth structure rather than pursuing short-term performance alone.

Jinkyung Kim is now moving beyond execution toward becoming a leader who evaluates and drives business with clearer logic, structure, and strategic judgment. The Kelley-SKK GSB EMBA continues to sharpen and accelerate that transformation.