It Started Behind the Stage

I'll be honest—I didn't start my career thinking, "I'm going to work in tech!"

Seoul High School of Performing Arts, Stage Design major. In high school, I was the one setting up lighting rigs, building stage sets, and dismantling everything until dawn after shows. Working behind the scenes in the dark was my comfort zone, not the spotlight.

Looking back, I learned one thing there: "The audience sees the result, not the process behind it." This mindset proved surprisingly useful when building products later. Users don't care about the spec document you agonized over all night.

They just want the button to work when they tap it.

First Job: Wrestling with Traffic Lights (Suhdol Electronics, 2018)

I got a job right after my first year of college. My family's financial situation meant "earn money first" was the reality.

At Suhdol Electronics, I worked on traffic signal controller database modifications and development. Calling it "development" is generous—90% of it was fighting legacy systems. Undocumented code, logic that nobody understood why it was written that way, no one to ask.

What I learned: Perfect environments don't exist. Making things work in whatever situation you're given is what matters.

What was hard: For 9 months, I kept thinking, "Is this all my career will ever be?"

Two Years in Defense (SeA Electronics, 2018-2020)

I moved to SeA Electronics, working on defense product development and CAD design. About a year and a half before military service, and a bit more after discharge.

Defense industry means strict security and zero tolerance for mistakes. One wrong line on a drawing gets manufactured into a real product that ships to the military. This is where I truly learned what responsibility means.

I got my IPC/WHMA-A-620B international certification here. It's a wire harness quality standard—at the time I thought, "Why do I need this?" Turned out to be unexpectedly useful for manufacturing-related projects later.

What I learned: Details matter. 0.1mm can change everything.

What was hard: Almost no room for creativity. You just build to spec.

The Turning Point: Jumping to a Startup (Gatda, 2020-2021)

After military service, I returned to Kaywon University while simultaneously joining the startup "Gatda." This was my first PM role.

Project: Naeryeodrim Day

"Naeryeodrim" was a large-item waste pickup service. The problem? The price per use was too high—over 100,000 KRW (~$75) per transaction made it hard for users to approach.

During field research, I discovered something: most areas had similar pickup schedules. "What if we batch requests from the same neighborhood on the same day to lower costs?"

That's how "Naeryeodrim Day" was born. We targeted large apartment complexes like Songpa's Helio City, marketing through local mom cafes to create a group-buying model.

Results:

• 180% increase in same-area requests

• 128% improvement in overall application rate

• Contributed to securing 2.5 billion KRW (~$1.8M) follow-on funding

Failure/Regrets: I left for another opportunity right after launch. Missing out on service refinement and long-term metrics tracking still bothers me. That feeling of "not seeing the fruit of seeds I planted."

What I learned: Defining the user problem is half the battle. Once you nail the problem definition, solutions can be surprisingly simple.

Joining as a Founding Member (Memory of Love, 2021-2023)

I joined "Memory of Love," a Kolon Group subsidiary, as the second member. Co-Founder sounds too grand—"founding member" is more accurate.

Project: 1PEACE

An ESG fashion platform reinterpreting secondhand clothing not as "thrift" but as "new value."

Problem definition: In Korea, used clothing still carries the negative stigma of "secondhand." But overseas, vintage is a culture—sometimes even symbolizing wealth and taste. How do we bridge this gap?

Solution approach:

• 3D model-based virtual fitting and AR technology for "tech-driven premiumization"

• Strategy to gain traction overseas first, then reverse-stimulate domestic consumption

• U.S. subsidiary establishment, Amazon listing, UK vintage platform partnerships

We grew from 2 to 25 people. Domestic online mall, app service, global e-commerce. We hosted a digital fashion designer contest with 140 participants and even issued NFTs (ERC-721).

Results:

• Apple App Store Lifestyle category free app Top 10

• Advanced to 20 billion KRW (~$15M) follow-up investment discussions with KT

• 20+ global partnerships (US, UK, Vietnam)

• Successfully acquired by Kolon Industries (M&A)

Failures/Difficulties: HR issues emerged as the organization grew rapidly. Running a 5-person team and a 25-person team are completely different games. Without proper HR systems, we tried to survive on "passion" alone, and burnout erupted everywhere.

There's also the unique challenge of being a new business unit within a conglomerate. Existing departments view you with a mix of envy and suspicion. "What are they even doing?" and "Why do they get to operate so freely?" coexist.

What I learned: Building a good product and building a good organization are separate skills. You need both.

Building Global Commerce from Scratch (Kolon FnC, 2023-2024)

After the M&A, I moved to Kolon Industries FnC division, where I led global commerce platform development.

Project: G-OMS (Global Order Management System)

Problem definition: Brands with enough international recognition to participate in Milan and New York Fashion Week, yet no overseas sales channel. When U.S. customers asked to buy products, the official answer was "Get it through someone you know." (I'm not kidding.)

Internal systems were also a problem. SAP, Salesforce, KOP... legacy systems that refused external integration.

Solution approach:

• Introduced "virtual warehouse" concept to avoid conflicts with existing systems

• Partnered with DHL Korea to design US-exclusive shipping/returns logic

• Weekly video calls with LA team to incorporate local context

Results:

• First-ever overseas direct commerce platform in Kolon's history

• 120% increase in US online/offline connected sales immediately after launch

• 2.4x increase in offline-to-online customer conversion

• 40% repurchase rate, 19-point improvement in customer satisfaction

• 12,000 additional page views, +15% conversion rate

What was hard: Meetings with the LA team at 2 AM, then Korean team meetings at 9 AM. The fatigue from time zone differences is bigger than you'd think.

And fighting enterprise systems wasn't easy. "Why can't we just use the existing system?" required constant persuasion. Explaining why it wouldn't work consumed more energy than actual development.

What I learned: Sometimes detours are faster than head-on confrontation. Don't try to change the legacy system—build a new path alongside it.

Present: Into Fintech and STO (Oasis Business, 2024)

Most recently, I worked as PO at Oasis Business.

Project: PICKPIE

A fractional investment platform based on offline restaurants. STO (Security Token Offering)—a whole new territory.

Problem definition: Korea's self-employment rate far exceeds the OECD average, but 80% close within 5 years. Individual capital funding unvalidated business models leads to repeated failures.

Solution approach:

• Data-driven selection of high-growth-potential restaurants

• Structure where regular consumers participate as investors and share profits

• Ecosystem distributing startup risk and sharing outcomes

Results:

• Met 60% of Financial Services Commission's regulatory sandbox evaluation criteria

• First investment structure design targeting non-financial consumers

• 1 billion KRW (~$750K) project validation completed

• 60% improvement in operational efficiency (reduced 2-week processes)

What was hard: Financial regulation is truly a different world. "Fail fast and learn" from IT doesn't apply. When policy changes, 6 months of preparation becomes invalid overnight. The helplessness of waiting for approval was substantial.

What I learned: Patience is mandatory in regulated industries. And so is the mindset of "if it doesn't work, find another way."

The Learning Continues

I went to school while working.

• Kaywon University of Art & Design (2017-2021): Digital Media Design major, ~20 million KRW in scholarships, Honor Student

• Korea National Open University (2021-2024): Business Administration, night classes while working

• MITx Statistics & Data Science (2024-2025): 24-month program covering probability, statistics, and machine learning—all in English

I won't hide that my KNOU GPA was not good at all bcz, Working 50+ hours a week while attending night classes and doing assignments has its limits. But at Kaywon I got middle score, and at MITx I scored 88% in Probability and 86% in Data Analysis. Different circumstances, different results.

I'm currently preparing for UIUC's Gies iMBA. After 7 years of learning in the field, I felt it was time to systematically organize what I know.

Looking Back at 7 Years

The guy who organized lighting cables backstage became a product owner.

Traffic signal controllers → Defense CAD → Waste platform → ESG fashion → Global commerce → Fintech STO

Looking at it now, it seems inconsistent. But in hindsight, there's a common thread:

I kept being placed in situations where I had to create something that didn't exist before.

Circumventing legacy systems, pioneering new markets, finding paths in regulatory environments. Ultimately, "making things work in whatever environment I'm given" seems to have been my role.

Going forward, I'm planning to start my own company. I set up an LLC in Wyoming in 2023. Calling the IRS at 2 AM to get an EIN, filing taxes on my own—that's how I learned how American business actually works.

The company isn't active yet. I'm preparing.

"If you do nothing, nothing happens."

That's the most important thing I learned in 7 years.

Contact

• Email: lee@injong.com

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/i-j