Day 4 — My Secret Job Starting from 7 PM
By: Moonsoo Jung
Tags: Henngeadvent2019, Hennge, Business Development, Side Project, Side Hustle

Code Name MENCHA

Long story short- I am creating an online platform that connects young talents spread across various countries and supports them in helping each other extend their career opportunities to the global stage by making this unfamiliar environment more approachable.

For example:

I’m a Japanese HR manager looking for job opportunities in Singapore

➡️ My current options are: Linkedin or Headhunters (recruiting agencies)➡️ Are these solutions perfect?

➡️ No, I want another Japanese person working in Singapore to give me the real reviews about working there as well as tell me about the local life there. ➡️ Where do I find this person?

Yes, a lot of reds (=not done)

I launched this project in late October, and over the past six weeks,

I interviewed 13 target customers, surveyed 130 potential customers, opened social networking channels, created prototype website, collected 50 mentors from more than 10 industries, sent out e-mail newsletters, and now I am planning to launch the beta version this December.

To do this, I spent around $100 for the domain and some Starbucks coffee for the interviews. My prior rules are high speed, low cost, and maximum learning.

Why am I doing this?

This platform does NOT have a perfect business model, nor do I envision the current model to be a next-generation recruiting agency.

This sincerely came from my personal pain when I wanted to talk to someone in Korea when I was finishing college in the U.S., as well as to someone in the Japanese startup industry when I was planning on my career shift from Korea to Japan. This common problem became evident after the interviews I conducted. I noticed how many young students and talents were seeking mentors and advice for career development “beyond their own network”. This led me to my motive- to bring small positive influences, and by this, if I can introduce at the very least, one young talent in Korea to the dynamic and interesting career paths outside the country and connect them to people who can (and are willing to ) help, I will be content.

How is it going?

Well, the past six weeks have been failure after failure. The average opening rates of the newsletters was around 5%. Even my closest friends refused to be mentors without an appropriate reward model (incentives). Logo design and website creation were done by two MBA students and are in quite a miserable condition📛📛📛. I also discovered more than 3 local startups doing businesses identical to the one I have been planning. I have set up dozens of different options, analyzed the pros and cons and made many decisions without confidence. I do not know how the model might change by tomorrow morning.

Thanks to Kame-san for teaching me Figma

But, It’s fun! I believe this is the beauty of a side project. I took my own initiative for the project. I am forced to try tasks that I never have experienced before.

I have learned to make decisions fast and observe the consequence of the decisions faster. Moreover, a side project involves less resources and less risk, but the return is not low. Not only do you gain experience, but it also serves as lessons for any future business. Personally, I am catching up with the thinking process of young talents and behavior patterns of the new generation while building networks with them. How could anything else be more valuable than that to survive in this VUCA world?

Above all, my passion is at developing businesses that can bring positive, kind influences on the world, and I can’t be happier that now I am fulfilling my passion. So, HENNGE family! What’s your passion and what are you doing to fulfill it?