Press

Underdogs, a startup education specialist founded in 2015, has grown rapidly and emerged as a game-changer in the industry. CEO Cho Sang-rae of Underdogs explains the company's strengths.\n\n"Making the world a better place to live is innovation, and innovation starts with entrepreneurs. Supporting startups ultimately means moving toward a better future." Cho Sang-rae, CEO of Underdogs, whom we met at the company's headquarters near Anguk Station on Seoul Metro Line 3, expressed his pride in startup education with a serious expression. Wearing a t-shirt with the company name, he radiated bright and healthy energy throughout the interview.\n\nUnderdogs, a startup education specialist, has grown rapidly since its founding in 2015 and emerged as a game-changer in the industry. It is evaluated for transforming the startup education field (Startup Education 1.0), which was centered on one-way lectures, into practical coaching education (Startup Education 2.0).\n\nCEO Cho said, "'Underdog' at Underdogs refers to the weak who are expected to lose rather than win in competition," and added, "Innovative entrepreneurs are the weak who believe they can do what others say is impossible and execute it. Our role is to cheer for and help those people."\n\nCEO Cho consistently emphasized 'execution power.' When asked about the difference between innovative entrepreneurs and others, he immediately pointed to execution and drive.\n\n"Rather than worrying, you must take action. Entrepreneurship is walking a path no one has taken before. It can definitely fail and is never easy. But the possibilities are infinite. Over 40% of Underdogs team members have entrepreneurial experience. We look at problems together and work on the ground together to find new answers."\n\nUnderdogs conducts education using its proprietary startup education content called 'Entrepreneurial Perspective Derivation.' Through Underdogs coaches, they draw out growth through entrepreneurs' execution, much like a pacemaker. As they gained a good reputation for clear educational effectiveness among entrepreneurs, educational requests began coming from startup support organizations and companies. Currently, they conduct startup education with over 160 companies and have produced over 10,000 entrepreneurs as of March.\n\nIn 2017, Underdogs conducted a 14-week intensive startup education program with KT&G called 'Imagin Startup Camp.' With GS Retail, they are jointly operating the 'Eco Social Impact Project' for its fifth term. Recently, they also started 'Eagis Impact Stage' startup education with Aegis Asset Management.\n\nCEO Cho said, "Companies seeking to discover and nurture entrepreneurs within their business scope are working with Underdogs," and added, "Some companies are also looking to break through regional decline issues by nurturing entrepreneurs."\n\nUnderdogs is keeping pace with these trends. With SK E&S, they nurtured region-settling entrepreneurs in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do for three years. With Hana Financial Group, they are conducting a large-scale nationwide project that designates 10 universities across the country as startup ecosystem hubs and provides job and startup education to young people in the regions.\n\nThe recent ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) management trend gives Underdogs additional momentum. There is increasing demand from companies to address social problems and create social value through startup education in their specialized fields or nationwide. With this support, they are conducting 'Underwoman,' women's startup education with Cartier, and 'Jump Up 5060,' senior startup education with Seoul 50+ Foundation.\n\nMaking Entrepreneurship Bloom Through 'Practical Education'\n\nPaper Pop is a representative case of startup founders discovered and nurtured through Underdogs' startup education program. A company that makes furniture from paper, it is solving the problem of short-lived furniture waste. Starting as a sole proprietor within the company building of Newblack, Underdogs' parent company, it has grown into a corporation.\n\nThrough the 2nd term of KT&G Imagin Startup Camp, it completed a 12-week Underdogs startup education course and was directly discovered by Kim Jung-heon, CEO of Newblack (an Underdogs entrepreneur), who was an education coach at the time.\n\nPaper Pop CEO Park Dae-hee worked at a paper company and decided to start a personal business with his younger brother because he liked making things from paper. CEO Cho said, "In the case of Paper Pop, sales and scalability were weak, and the structure of how to work as a 'company' was not established. Underdogs intensively coached and developed sales, opening new paths."\n\nPaper Pop was included as a Newblack portfolio company in 2019 and underwent repeated growth through the company building process, converting to a corporate entity. The team size increased from 3 to 20 members. It has attracted investments from Bluepoint Partners, Yoon Min-chang Foundation, Mark & Company, Credit Guarantee Fund, and Hansol PNS.\n\n"Underdogs' startup education is practical. When you bring an idea, we first identify the problems when that idea is commercialized. Then we put it into the field and have entrepreneurs find their own answers, with coaches thinking together to quickly materialize it. If a lecture is one hour, 45 minutes are structured as executing ideas and repeated testing. When education ends, a business plan is completed with insights gained from the field, containing the 'actual' business plan. Satisfaction is quite high."\n\nAnother case discovered through the Imagin Startup Camp is Tread and Groove. It is growing rapidly with an idea of using waste tires as shoe soles. After Underdogs education, Tread and Groove won the Chung Ju-young Entrepreneurship Competition and is currently partnering with Korean Tire. It is showing active activities, including opening a pop-up store at Hyundai Department Store and listing on Musinsa.\n\nCEO Cho said Underdogs' role could expand infinitely. In particular, he explained that as the company partners with corporations, the positive function of solving social problems through entrepreneurs is being highlighted.\n\nTrue to his role as a startup education expert, CEO Cho does not settle for the present. In preparation for the future Startup Education 3.0 era, he is preparing for a beta test of a startup data-based mutual learning platform by the end of the year.\n\nHe said, "Entrepreneurship is a process of presenting better alternatives that can solve existing problems," and "the discovery and nurturing of entrepreneurs is a way to solve problems within specific industries or social problems."