At Start-up Seoul: Tech-Rise 2019, the Seoul Municipal Government's first-ever startup event, speakers focused on the need to encourage South Korean pioneers to go global. Off the stage, they shared what they value for life and success.

“One big misconception is that entrepreneurs are driven by financial gain but best entrepreneurs are driven by doing something important,” said JF Gauthier, the founder and CEO of Startup Genome, said. “They have a strong determination to get there. That’s why after they fail, they try again,” Gauthier said. 

Samuel West, who brought a pop-up exhibition of the Museum of Failure to the Start-up Seoul said his goal is to seek fun. “My goal is not to be financially successful but to be happy. I made a decision 15 years ago to only work on projects that are really, really fun,” West said.

He founded the museum and decided to put the spotlight on failures with more than 100 products that were deemed failures.

While pursuing high goals, staying humble is important, according to Chris Yeo, head of Grab Ventures.

“I try to stay humble and always keep learning. The best way to do that, personally, is to read and from a professional perspective, I always talk to customers -- from transportation platform like Grab passengers and drivers,” Yeo said. Customers always tell you the truth and it’s very important to hear.”

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)