The Romanticization of Start-Ups
By: Su Wern Khor
Tags: Netflix, Kdrama, Startup Life, Startup, Startup Lessons

The Romanticization of Start-Ups

I’ve recently checked off another show from my K-drama watch list with Netflix’s newest K-drama, Start-Up. I thought I’d share my thoughts and analysis of the show. As someone who loves K-culture, works at a start-up and is fascinated by the start-up ecosystem this show was a no-brainer for me to indulge in. I decided to write this while the show is still fresh in my mind and give my own take on how the show portrayed innovation and start-up life.

I’d like to point out that this analysis is purely based on my opinion and I am fully aware that this show is called a “drama” for a reason. While it has it’s over-the-top scenes it also has elements of what a real-life start-up looks like. However it’s worth noting the romanticization of it and the inevitable K-drama love triangle (hence the pun in my title). If you are looking for an in-depth analysis on the quality of acting and storyboard, this is not for you. Lastly, there will be spoilers in this piece so if all of this sounds good to you, let’s get into it.

Before diving into analysis, I’d like to give a little preface on what the show’s about. As described by Vice,

“The show centers around Seo Dal Mi, played by K-pop idol-turned-actress Bae Suzy, who is an optimistic twenty-something who dreams of becoming a successful CEO. She eventually joins Sandbox, a utopian tech start-up incubator in Seoul, where she tries to successfully pitch a business and confront her estranged sister, all while slowly realizing that she’s in one very confusing love triangle.”

Left to right: Han Ji Pyeong, Seo Dal Mi, Nam Do San, Won In Jae. Source: Kpopmap

Notable characters that will be mentioned in this article:

Seo Dal Mi is the CEO of Samsan Tech and lead character stuck in a love triangle.

Samsan Tech is an AI start-up founded by 3 developers which later on was led by Seo Dal Mi.

Nam Do San is the lead developer of Samsan Tech and Dal Mi’s main love interest.

Han Ji Pyeong is a venture capitalist and other love interest of the love triangle.

Noongill is a mobile app for the visually impaired, developed by Samsan Tech.

Despite romance being a central piece of Start-Up’s plot, the show included many educational crumbs scattered throughout the show. Each episode began with a start-up term along with a one-liner for easy digestibility. Throughout the show, new terms were introduced and a few that were mentioned are: Round financing, MVP, burn rate, unicorn and the list goes on.

Source: Netflix

With most of the storyline focusing on Dal Mi and Samsan Tech’s story to success, it was safe to assume how heavily the show would romanticize the start-up journey. However, with scenes displaying Dal Mi’s scrappiness and constant self-doubt, the show did a fair amount of justice to the reality of being a founder too. Another example of this was Dal Mi’s father, a first-time founder who quit his corporate job to pursue his “crazy” idea. The show made sure to give him enough screen time to allow viewers to empathize with his struggles right up to his successful fundraising pitch.

A hugely important factor to a start-up’s success, especially at an early-stage venture is the quality of the founding team. Dal Mi was recruited as the CEO of Samsan Tech despite the founding team comprising of 3 award-winning developers. It was her vision, passion and knack for strategic planning that brought the company to scalability.

A mistake when searching for investors for any venture, is taking money from anyone who is willing to write a check. At first, the team at Samsan Tech also fell victim to the herd of investors that were lining up outside their door (literally). The team soon learnt that none of these investors were actually right for them and their most valuable investor and mentor was Ji Pyeong all along. Despite his romantic relations with their CEO, Dal Mi, (totally not something I would recommend doing from both legal and emotional standpoints), he has been with them through the entire ride. Which is what a good mentor and advisor does. Although, I question his intentions which were mainly stemming from romantic interest but that is besides the point. Bottom line is: You’d want mentors and advisors who will stick with you not only at your highs but also through your lows.

Samsan Tech team. Source: Netflix via Dramabeans

The first product that Samsan Tech developed using their AI and image recognition technology was Noongill. It was created with Dal Mi’s grandmother in mind. She confessed to Do San about her fading vision and that catalyzed the mobile app’s creation. In the later episodes of the series, the team developed a self-driving car which was an ode to Dal Mi’s father who died in a car crash. Often times start-ups are born out of a founder’s personal problem or passion to solve one for someone close to them. It’s this inexplicable passion that makes successful founders resilient even during hard times.

The drama did a lot to spotlight the founder life but there were some areas which were a little questionable and probably would have many actual founders to raise an eyebrow.

If you are a regular K-drama connoisseur, you may know by now that it’s common to have a love triangle (sometimes rectangle or pentagon) throughout the story arc. That being said, in a real-life start-up I don’t recommend having a relationship with your direct mentor and investor — for reasons that are pretty obvious and don’t need an explanation. Secondly, most early-stage start-ups that are raising venture capital have many investors on their cap table (investing in them). And by many, we’re talkin’ double and triple digits worth of investors depending on how much your start-up is raising or what round your start-up is at.

And my last bone to pick is the misconception that there is a “right” or “wrong” reason to start a company. I, for one, am a firm believer that you can do good AND make money. But it’s obvious that there’s many businesses out there which prioritize that cha-ching more than saving-the-environment-and-not-blowing-up-the-planet. But I digress. I am aware that the show created that good v.s. bad narrative to show how altruistic Dal Mi and Samsan Tech are in order to get viewers empathizing with their cause and mission. Even then, it’s totally okay to start a business in order to create an income for yourself and be jumping at a money-making opportunity — unfortunately, we all need money to live.

In the end, I have to give credit to a show that manages to pull off puzzling in educational components while sticking true to the plot. I also could go on and on about how I wish Ji Pyeong ended up with Dal Mi but that’s for another day. I totally recommend this show to anyone who wants to learn more about the start-up space but in a lighthearted and fictional setting. If you are a VC yourself and dabbling into the K-drama world then this show might also do it for you!

Seo Dal Mi (Bae Suzy) Source: Kpopmap

Want to hear me discuss more about K-dramas? You can check out a podcast episode I did with my friend, Sangi, on our winter K-drama recommendations for this holiday season! See you in 2021.

What are your thoughts on Start-Up?