"Venture, Life, and Investment... Like Growing Ginseng, It's a Continuous Wait"

Interview with Seong Janghyun, Chairman of Daseong Ventures
Founder of Price Comparison Site 'Danawa'
Recently Published 'One Step at a Time, All Together'

"When I was young, my family grew 6-year-old ginseng at home. Every year, we planted ginseng, then planted again the next year, and it takes planting five times before the first ginseng planted is ready for harvest. I think venture capital is like growing ginseng. Basically, it takes about five years of investment. I approach it as if I am planting ginseng. Since I started last year, this year is the second year of planting ginseng."

The person who compared the venture capital business to ginseng cultivation is Seong Hyun, chairman of Daseong Ventures, who has just entered the venture capital business. Daseong Ventures was established in May last year. Chairman Seong is the founder of the price comparison site 'Danawa.' He worked for 12 years as a staff member in the IT department at Korean Air before founding Danawa in 2000. He wrote a venture success story with an IPO in 2011 and a sale to a private equity fund in 2021. In 2021, Seong sold 51.29% of Danawa’s management shares, held by himself and related parties, for 398 billion KRW to Korea Center, an e-commerce company with MBK Partners as the largest shareholder. After parting ways with the beloved Danawa, he took about a year off and then established Daseong Ventures. He lived Act 1 as a salaried worker, Act 2 as a startup founder and CEO, and began Act 3 as a startup investor and mentor to younger founders.

Seong recently published a book titled Step by Step, All Together (Pureunsol), summarizing his life up to Act 2. The book sometimes reflects the author’s personality, and this feeling is particularly strong. Although he is the protagonist of a glamorous venture success story, he never adorns or boasts about himself in the writing. He shares an anecdote about how six months after officially launching Danawa, his wife said, "We’re out of rice," and he even mentions the specific amount of 35 million KRW to express that he spent all his severance pay. This passage reveals his modesty. It is not a literary masterpiece, but its straightforward and honest tone makes it feel like one. I called the author on the 2nd. Seong said he dislikes flowery language and hoped the article would be written sincerely.

When Crisis Comes, Wait Rather Than Rush

"Whenever a crisis came during my business, I always adhered to the principle of waiting and observing the situation. I judged that if I couldn’t control my impatience and pressured employees or invested in the wrong places, it would only worsen the situation." (p.137)

This was the most eye-catching sentence in the book. Seong said he wanted to emphasize 'waiting.' It was surprising because one might think that to succeed in a startup, you need to detect changes faster than anyone else and make quick decisions.

After Danawa was listed on KOSDAQ in January 2011, a crisis hit. Danawa was born during the heyday of personal computers (PCs). It created a new market by comparing PC component prices in detail and enjoyed a successful run. However, in the 2010s, dominance shifted completely from PCs to mobile. The changing world shook the organization.

"Danawa’s business was closely linked to the PC parts market in Yongsan, so it was very sensitive to economic cycles. The economy repeated in cycles. I couldn’t solve it alone, so squeezing employees wouldn’t have helped. Waiting was the only way. When you wait, good results often come again." By waiting and working hard, Danawa transformed into a site providing price information for all products, not just PC parts. The crisis became an opportunity to enter a bigger market.

Seong’s method of recruiting talent was also about waiting. The hiring process was a persistent waiting process. When he offered a position to Son Yun-hwan, a university alumnus and former co-CEO of Danawa, Son was preparing to emigrate. Seong gave his friend enough time to think and succeeded in changing his mind. He visited a student at Kangwon National University three times to recruit him and observed a sharp IT journalist for several years before recruiting him.

Most Drawn to Liu Bei Among Three Kingdoms Figures

Seong devoted time and effort to recruiting talent because he believed business is fundamentally about working together. He thought management cannot be done alone.

"I only started the business because I knew how to handle programming and built the Danawa site, but I don’t think I’m an outstanding person. There were many things I didn’t know about management, so when I started, I brought in a friend named Son Yun-hwan, and later, when finances allowed, I kept gathering people. By recruiting people who could work together, I made the company bigger and thought it was right to share the company I grew appropriately. So I put effort into recruiting. As a result, I built a bigger company and created wealth. Among competing company CEOs, there was one very capable person who did many things alone. I thought he would burn out quickly, and indeed, he left the industry early. I had many helpers, so I didn’t get tired and could last long."

Seong compares Mokdong, where Danawa was established, to Yangsanbo in Water Margin. Yangsanbo is where the 108 heroes gather in the story. Mokdong may be a suburb of Seoul, but like Yangsanbo in Water Margin, talented people gathered and led Danawa’s success. Seong’s favorite character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is Liu Bei, who received much help from many people. "Liu Bei is not an outstanding figure. He works with Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhao Zilong, and Zhuge Liang, and I always thought about that in business. Ultimately, business is not about being good alone. It’s about working together."

Letting Go of Many Things While Delivering Briquettes

Seong said, "I let go of many things while delivering briquettes," and "I tasted much bitterness in life."

Seong lived comfortably without envy until his first year of high school when his family grew ginseng. But when his father ran for election, the family’s fortune declined. After entering Inha University, he submitted a leave of absence after just one week to help with family matters?delivering briquettes. After becoming self-made and regaining enviable comfort, Seong wanted to live well together with those around him. "I often think about living well with those around me like flowing water. I try not to miss the gestures of those needing help and to assist when there are difficulties."

Seong’s choice of venture capital as a new business can be understood in the same context. He said the startup environment has become tougher than when he founded Danawa. "At that time, not many people were obsessed with startups. Back then, graduating from university meant thinking about working for a company. Now, more people dream of starting a business than working for large companies. In that sense, competition has become much fiercer. It’s harder for startups to survive."

However, he said there are definitely opportunities. "I started a business in the 2000s internet era, then there was the mobile boom, and now it’s the AI era. Such transformative periods can be the best situations for startups. What matters is whether you are prepared to ride this trend." He expressed concern about the rapid changes related to AI. When asked whether AI will help humanity or pose a threat, Seong answered that it is dangerous.

"If we can’t control AI, we could suffer like in the movies. But looking at the current situation, it seems like we are rushing forward without preparation or readiness." This answer clearly reflects his value of observing the situation, preparing, and waiting.

Step by Step, All Together | Written by Seong Hyun | Pureungil | 248 pages | 16,800 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.