CO-UP Co-working Space

CO-UP Co-working Space

Today, January 10th 2012, I had a meeting with Seokwon Yang, founder of the Gangnam based co-working space CO-UP. CO-UP is a space where entrepreneurs can get together to work on their own projects in a work friendly environment. People can share their ideas and receive advice from like-minded individuals (http://co-up.com/).

Mr. Yang gave me some great advice on building my brand in Korea. He stressed the importance of releasing information in a specific area, instead of jumping from topic to topic. The best methods for achieving this goal include podcasts (released in a consistent format) and twitter.

Mr. Yang (이장), CO-UP Founder

Mr. Yang also had a number of good ideas for bringing entrepreneurs together. His mentioned things like hosting a startup weekend, where businesspeople, developers, and designers come together in groups and are giving 48 hours to formulate an idea and build on it. Another idea; host a startup Starcraft tournament that bridges the gap between countries. You could have matches take place between start-ups in Silicon Valley, Seoul, China, etc. This would build excitement and give entrepreneurs a great excuse to meet each other.

Some of the trends he believes are building in Korea are 'Lean Startups' and 'Collaborative Consumption'. Korean companies need a way to expose themselves and connect with these ideas, and to that end he is focusing on creating a community of 'Collaborative Consumption' centered companies and individuals.

Mr. Yang envisions Korean products and trends playing a greater role in the outside world, and he is working hard to achieve this goal.

Myself