Lee Jun-seok, a student of business administration, founded GO EAT, a customized menu matching service.
- 경영대학
- Hit437
- 2021-05-17
"Every time I go out on a date or meet a friend for a meal, I wonder what to eat. It was hard to find a satisfactory menu for both. So I thought it would be nice to have a service like YouTube, Netflix, and Watcha that combines their tastes with a mobile application."
Lee Jun-seok (23), who is majoring in business administration at Sungkyunkwan University, started his own business by dreaming of Netflix in the restaurant culture industry. GO EAT, which was set up in March last year, has 12 college students, including Lee, planning team, development team, design team, machine learning and algorithm team. Sales have not been generated yet because they have not started full-fledged services, but their goals are grand. "I want to create a world where we have no choice but to use 'GO EAT' when eating out or ordering delivery food.
Lee began to be interested in starting a business after experiencing a two-night and three-day start-up camp when he was a freshman in college. Lee had fun creating things with his own hands. Rather than working for others, I wanted to pioneer my own life. Even if he goes back to my freshman year, he wants to learn coding to do better in business.
To college students who want to start a business, Lee says, "Let's try it for now." "GO EAT is still in its infancy, but I dare advise you, don't think about it at first, just try it. No matter what anyone says, you're increasing your chances of success in your idea."
Next, Mr. Lee will answer question one by one
▲From left to right, Lee Jun-seok, President of GO EAT, Jeong Na-hyun in planning team,
Song Ji-eun and Kim Seong-yeon in design team [Picture = GO EAT]
Q. Please introduce GO EAT.
A. In short, it is a new customized menu matching service. It analyzes users' tastes and situations and matches menus and restaurants with algorithms and machine learning. Like Netflix and Watcha, the more users use the app, the more accurate the menu matching is. At first, it will focus on marketing on users to secure the number of users, and later provide partnership services with restaurants.
Q. Why did you choose the menu matching service as a business item?
A. I often thought about what to eat with my girlfriend when we were dating. When I met my friend and ate out, I was worried about what to eat. I was always worried about what menu I could enjoy with the other person. Eating should be fun, but if you don't like the menu itself, it's not a perfect meeting. It's hard to find a satisfactory menu for both, to say the least. The other person's pleasure can be halved if he or she tries to eat the menu I want on purpose even though he or she is not willing to care for me. So I thought that if there is a service that combines the tastes of the two through mobile applications (apps) and matching them, they can both quickly and comfortably choose a common preferred menu.
Q. When did you start your own business?
A. Start-up activities began in earnest in March 2020. Sungkyunkwan University Campus Town Start-up Care Center's tenant company program helped GO EAT establish itself. Start-up was interested when he experienced a start-up camp at a university when he was a freshman. I participated in the start-up camp for two nights and three days with my major motivation, and it was so fun to create something with my own hands. And as I retook the college entrance exam, I felt it was better to carve out my life on my own than to work for someone else.
Q. How did you raise the capital for the start-up?
A. There was about 9 million won in capital for the start-up. 4 million won was raised through stock investment, and 5.5 million won was collected from subsidies provided by the start-up competition and Sungkyunkwan University Campus Town. In the future, we're going to get help from government-backed projects and attract investment from Angel Venture Investment.
▲From left to right, Kim Jeong-cheon, Jeong Jeong-bin, Im Min-young,
Yeom Sang-hee in development team [Picture = GO EAT]
Q. How many team members are with you?
A. Currently, two in planning team, six in development team, two in design team, and one in machine learning and algorithm team are gathered. I'm glad I met some great people. I felt that the most important thing in a start-up was to gather team members who had the right will and willingness to end it patiently. In particular, I was a business student, so it was difficult to recruit developers. Thanks to my current team members, I was able to create the best team.
Q. How is the market responding to GO EAT?
A. The survey found that 251 out of 276 college students (91%) think about the menu when they eat out." 73 out of 101 college students (72%) who used prototypes said they would use GO EAT rather than Baemin, Yogiyo, and Mango Plate if the app was officially released. When the app was released on Google Play Store in February this year, 1,000 people signed up in a month. As part of marketing, we released a psychological test called ‘What would I be if I were a food ingredient?’ and 53,000 people have participated. Regarding the business model, a survey of restaurant owners showed that more than 70 percent were willing to review it positively.
Q. When was the most difficult moment in the business?
A. We had to hire team members in each field, but we only picked one side a lot, so the development progress was very slow. It's because I was ignorant of app development. As app development did not go as planned and faced difficulties, a large number of team members left. That was the hardest time. The most important thing when starting a business is people. If even the people who make the app don't have faith, no one will use it.
Q. Is there a moment when you see a chance of success?
A. 53,000 people participated in the marketing psychology test. GO EAT's official Instagram followers exceeded 1,000, and the number of GO EAT app users has exceeded 1,000 so far. When we did a market survey about our business model, we got a positive response and we're looking forward to it.
Q. What is the nature of the GO EAT business?
A. GO EAT is a new Netflix-like menu recommendation app and coupon stamping app. It is essential to recommend the menu to users according to their tastes and circumstances. The business model plans to receive expenses in the name of customer referral fees from the restaurant when users who subscribe to GO EAT service regularly scan their QR codes while paying after meals at the restaurant. If QR code 'Stamp' is used more than a certain number of times, GO EAT will refund 100% of regular subscription cost to users and accumulate points.
Q. Is there anything you wish you had known before starting your own business?\
A. It's a shame that I found out about the preliminary start-up package too late. I think it would have been better if we had prepared faster and raised the capital. And when I started my own business, I would have created a network of talent first.
Q. What activities do you want to spend more time on if you go back to college as a freshman?
A. I would have double majored in software or joined a coding club so that I could do coding myself. Coding is not mandatory to start a business, but knowing coding gives you many possibilities. You don't have to be good at coding like an app developer. However, if you know how to do coding, you can understand more deeply how many people should be selected in which field, what qualifications should be selected, and how to distribute and plan tasks.
Q. If you give advice to college students who want to start a business?
A. We're still in the early stages and we've barely started, but I dare advise. The most important thing is not to think at first, but just try. Also, I think it's good to read interviews or autobiographies of those who succeeded in starting a business. It is important to know how they succeeded and how they acted. And no matter what anyone says, you need to change your idea little by little to make it more successful, believing that there is a possibility of success. What I first planned was 'Famous Restaurant Online Virtual Standby Service'. I continued to pivot and now I'm settled as an idea.
Q.What is the most worrisome and scary thing about start-up activities?
A. I want to be with my current team until I make a more complete product. I'm most afraid of Goit's team members leaving. I'm not even in a position to pay now. What team members want most is achievement. If there is no proper result for this release, we are worried that we will be able to finish it off.
Q. Do you have Plan B in case the business didn't go as planned?
A. No. I feel like I'm in a jam, but I want to focus on this first. Because it can be an opportunity that comes only once in your life.
Q. Do you have a role model?
A. Kim Bong-jin, the representative of BAEMIN. I see him after starting my business, he is a great man. In particular, Kim Bong-jin's persistence and efforts seem to be an inaccessible area. After ten years of hard work, the current BAEMIN has been created. I think what famous entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs have in common is persistence that never gives up rather than genius.
Q. What's your goal for this year?
A. When college students are thinking about what to eat, they should turn on 'GO EAT'.
▲ GO EAT
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출처 : https://www.mk.co.kr/news/business/view/2021/04/377777/