Business Startup

Created 8 years ago in Business / Getting Started

In 1997 I left for Korea to live for a year. I stayed 20.

I arrived at a time when the Korean Won traded at 900 KRW to $1. Within 3 months the KRW would nosedive to 1,800 KRW to the $1. I was brought over to teach along with five other teachers. Eventually all five were sent back home. I was the only one to stick. I went from teaching classes to launching a brand new institute in three years. Facing competitors with 10x the budgets and resources, we applied lean startup methods to grow, chief among them was providing the best products and services. My partner and I grew the business 20x!

I also faced the downiside of success. We expanded during the post 2008 Crisis years, only to find ourselves without enough brand recognition for it to work out. We went through layoffs and restructuring but we downsized, reorganized and became stronger than ever.

Let me help you work through your own questions!