[Soup] What do unicorn companies have in common? Bold failure, constant effort and experimentation

"Are you a carrot?"

"Toss me right away."

"Did you order Curly?"

"Is Bae-min coming?"...

Even if I turn the clock backwards and go back 4 or 5 years, those words would sound very unfamiliar.

But as of 2023, that's not the case.

Carrots have become synonymous with second-hand transactions, not shorthand for vegetables that horses like or of course, and Toss has come to mean quick and easy money transfer.

Culina, who can deliver high-quality fresh food at dawn, and Baedal Minjok, which has become a symbol of food delivery beyond iron bags at Chinese restaurants, are all 'pioneers' who have pioneered new fields that were previously unknown or inconvenient.

SBS Premium, Soup, together with the research team of Professor Nam Dae-il of Korea University, analyzes innovative startups in Korea and conducts in-depth interviews with the representatives of those companies to find out the secrets and challenges of success.

We have prepared pioneers to drive at once for the Lunar New Year holiday.

• Carrot Market, a Pioneer in

  the Hyper-Local Used Trading Market

• Pioneer of the Korean fintech market

  , Toss

• A pioneer who advanced the era of logistics technology

  , Curly

• From the pioneering

  of the delivery market

  to the shift in the donation culture, Baedal

  Minjok

• Remember

  , a business card organizer that has become a strong player in the scouting market

Carrot Market, a Pioneer in the Hyper-Local Used Trading Market

Carrot Market started with 'Pangyo Market', which was operated for some office workers in Pangyo.

This was an idea derived from Kakao's in-house second-hand trading bulletin board being active at the time, and it started with the idea that it would be fun if numerous companies in Pangyo traded used goods with each other.

The name was changed to Carrot Market, which means “market near you,” and the scope of service was gradually increased, eventually launching a nationwide service.

Paradoxically, Carrot Market is helping to create a society where the concept of 'neighbors and cousins' is emphasized again by allowing local residents to meet and communicate together in an era where everything has become non-face-to-face after the COVID-19 crisis.

Pioneer of the Korean fintech market, Toss

At a time when there was widespread opinion that radical innovation was difficult to create in the Korean financial industry, there is a company that broke this prejudice and pioneered fintech through a 'customer-driven' business model.

Currently, it is Viva Republica Toss, which is a unicorn in the fintech service field and is growing toward DecaCon.

As a result of analyzing the value activities of customers using remittance services, Toss created new customers in the field of remittance services, which seemed nothing new, just like Peter Drucker's maxim, "The purpose of business is to create customers."

Everyone accepts Toss' simple remittance service as a matter of course now, but there were many difficulties at the time of launching the service.

In a way, the process of Toss introducing fintech services is not just about introducing new services, but also the process of being a true pioneer who made the impossible possible.

A pioneer who advanced the era of logistics technology, Curly

There is a company that provides services for mothers who want to take care of every single thing they eat, and for customers who are willing to buy differentiated ingredients for gourmet meals.

Market Curly.

Market Curly's first target customers were working mothers in their 30s and 40s in Gangnam.

Even if you order food ingredients online or through an app, there is a deadline for delivery, so if you miss this time, you cannot receive delivery and the freshness of the product cannot be guaranteed.

To solve this problem, Market Kurly introduced a dawn delivery system named 'Morning Star Delivery'.

Since the concept of early morning delivery did not exist, the system for this was not equipped within the logistics industry.

In other words, Market Curly not only came up with an innovative service to solve customers' inconveniences, but as a result, they also wanted to pioneer the logistics industry system together.

From pioneering the delivery market to shifting perceptions of donation culture, Baedal Minjok

Baedal Minjok started with an idea to move the initial phone book book into a mobile app.

However, Baedal Minjok, which quickly pivoted its service due to lack of revenue, currently provides an integrated delivery platform that connects restaurants and consumers in each region to proceed with ordering, payment, and delivery all at once.

In addition, Baedal Minjok, which pioneered and revitalized the domestic delivery app industry through unique marketing and review functions, occupies the highest share in the 25 trillion won delivery market (2021, Statistics Korea).

After Chairman Kim Bong-jin joined the ranks of self-made rich people through Baedal Minjok, he signed up for 'The Giving Pledge' after going through all the pre-requisites that are famous for being difficult to pass.

This is the first time Chairman Kim Bong-jin, who started with nothing, is not a member of the chaebol family of the nation's leading conglomerates.

Baedal Minjok, which pioneered not only Korea's delivery culture but also donation culture by joining 'The Giving Pledge', has a great impact on revitalizing the startup ecosystem as a role model for junior entrepreneurs as well as establishing a new social role for successful entrepreneurs. there is.

Remember, a business card organizer that has become a strong player in the scouting market

"In the US, it's not a big flaw that I open my profile to everyone and I'm open to job change activities, but in Korea, showing that I'm open to new jobs by uploading and updating this profile seemed to cause great discomfort. I had this expectation that if we fine-tune those points, we could become a service that could work well in Korea.”

Established in July 2013, Drama & Company launched 'Remember', a business card management application in January 2014, and has established itself as the No. 1 business card management service in Korea with more than 300 million accumulated business cards.

Those who start using Remember once will continue to use it.

Every time you change jobs, you enter a new business card into Remember, and thus, the user builds up his or her career path in Remember while using Remember.

**If the 'Go to View' button is not pressed, you can view the address by moving it to the address bar.