SeoulTech hosts startup execution verification event, emphasizing customer definition

SeoulTech's startup support group hosted an "Execution Verification Package" event for the first cohort of the "2026 Everyone's Startup" program on June 27. This initiative is part of a nationwide entrepreneurship support project led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, with SeoulTech serving as the primary institution for discovering and nurturing selected participants.

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The level of all applicants has been uniformly raised, so there were many sufficiently excellent ideas among those who were not selected. Ultimately, the results were decided by a narrow margin, a relative evaluation.

The "2026 Everyone's Startup" program received 907 project ideas, with 43 ultimately being chosen after evaluation, reflecting a competitive selection process with a ratio of approximately 20 to 1. The event featured an advanced business model (BM) lecture in the morning, followed by team mentoring sessions in the afternoon.

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The experience of being with the responsible mentors for two months, regardless of the outcome, will be a great insight.

Jeong Kyung-hee, standing director of SeoulTech's startup support group, emphasized the close competition, noting that many excellent ideas were not selected due to marginal differences. She highlighted that the participants present had overcome intense competition to be chosen. Jeong also explained the program's structure, which narrows down participants from an initial 3,000 to about 500 over two years, with only about 10% advancing at each stage. She stressed the importance of both business plan writing skills and progress made during the two-month mentoring period, urging participants to use the initial 2 million won in seed funding systematically.

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If you narrow down the customer base sharply, you can accurately pinpoint the intensity of the inconvenience experienced by those customers and the limitations of existing alternative solutions.

Lee Dong-gun, managing director at Nanam Angels, a venture capital firm specializing in scaling up startups, delivered the main lecture. He advised entrepreneurs to "sharply define their customers" to survive in the market. Using examples like the food ingredient delivery app 'Q-Mart' and the auto parts data company 'Ames,' Lee illustrated how successful startups continuously evolve their business models based on customer development. He also shared his own past failure with a home-visit play service for young children, explaining how customer interviews revealed that their true competitors were not other service providers but 'kids cafes,' leading to a pivot in their business strategy.

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The core value proposition must be 'must-have,' while the added value is 'nice-to-have.' For example, with Jiptos, tenant reviews are added value, but eradicating fake listings is the core value. Accurately identifying this core value is the key point that catches the judges' eyes.