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Underdogs, a startup education specialist company, secured 13 billion won in orders in the first half of 2023, recording its highest-ever revenue. Since its founding in 2015, Underdogs has transformed the startup education market from one-way lecture-focused instruction to practical coaching-centered education. Subsequently, the company has been expanding its business scope across the entire startup lifecycle—including pioneering the startup education market, cultivating coaches and partners, developing startup-type talent, and establishing investment and company-building holding companies—to build an entrepreneur-centered impact startup support ecosystem. Underdogs' integrated lifecycle support service system is structured as a virtuous cycle where entrepreneurs, coaches, partners, and peers can all grow together. Beyond startup education alone, the company is cultivating facilitators and startup education coaches for local entrepreneurship education through its 'One Social Venture University' program. Additionally, recognizing that partner growth will create greater impact, Underdogs is planning and operating a 'Pacemaker Program' for partners. Launched in the first half of 2023, 'Underdogs Hustle' was designed by Underdogs to cultivate peers who grow alongside entrepreneurs. It is a startup-type core talent development program that discovers talented individuals with team-lead level experience and capabilities, rather than mere practitioners. To build a sustainable startup ecosystem, Underdogs has established an 'Entrepreneurial Virtuous Investment Consortium' with impact company builder 'New Black' and 'New Kids Investment,' which invests in and nurtures corporate micro-entrepreneurs, ultra-early-stage entrepreneurs, and local entrepreneurs. The company provides linked support to help startups establish themselves as firms after launch. Through 2022, 7 investment executions targeting Underdogs alumni have been carried out, and the total sales of 17 crew companies reached 46.5 billion won. Underdogs CEO Cho Sang-rae stated, "I am proud that the significance of building an entrepreneur-centered ecosystem, which we have accumulated since founding, has been proven by our record-breaking first-half revenue." He added, "Please continue to pay attention to Underdogs' progress as a pioneer in the startup education industry." Meanwhile, Underdogs announced plans to enter the Asian startup education market, aiming to cultivate 100,000 global coaches based on experience and expertise gained from building an integrated lifecycle support service system in Korea. Everyone speaks of crisis. As predictions of global economic recession are not uncommon, and with inflation and high interest rates, overall market conditions remain uncertain. News of startups unable to avoid negative growth due to the venture investment freeze continuing since last year persists. Making the decision to start a business during an economic downturn is not easy, given concerns that reduced consumer spending and a difficult investment environment would hinder corporate growth. Conversely, data shows somewhat contradictory results. According to the 'Startup Business Trend' released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups at the end of last year, substantive startup as of the second half of 2022 increased by 1.9% compared to 2020. The 'Entrepreneurship Reality Survey' published at the same time shows that the entrepreneurial spirit level of early-growth-stage startup companies rose notably compared to the previous period. Investment in early-stage startups within 3 years is increasing What does this data mean? As someone who is always close to early-stage entrepreneurs, I find the answer in the common attributes of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are fundamentally beings who take on challenges with low odds. For them, uncertainty is nearly a constant in solving the equation of challenge. When crisis strikes and gaps appear in the existing order and industrial landscape changes, it is entrepreneurs who capture new opportunities. So what specific opportunities does economic recession create? Through research, Professor Sarah Moreira of Northwestern Kellogg School of Management found that companies established during downturns have higher productivity than those established during booms. When times are difficult, investors and consumers crave innovation, and many companies downsize, making it easier to find talented personnel. Moreover, companies that survive by starting during downturns can enjoy priority investment opportunities during economic recovery periods. In that sense, the 2022 venture investment trends recently announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups reflect the startup market situation where crisis and opportunity coexist. While annual venture investment last year decreased by 11.9% compared to the previous year, investment in early-stage companies with a business history of 3 years or less increased uniquely by 7.8%, exceeding 2 trillion won for the first time. The interpretation is that the attractiveness of early-stage companies, which have much room for price negotiation and can be expected to deliver high returns in the medium to long term, has relatively increased. For Underdogs, which has focused on discovering and nurturing prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs, this trend is encouraging. The driving force behind Underdogs' 8-year entrepreneur development is the belief in the potential of early-stage entrepreneurs who find answers in what does not yet exist and explore problems by filling gaps in existing markets. Startups as catalysts for overcoming recession Underdogs has been present at the site where diverse groups—youth, seniors, women, artists, and others—realize their unique perspectives in problem-solving and their inherent potential through entrepreneurial ventures. Earlier this year, through its affiliate 'New Kids Investment,' which recently formed an investment consortium, the company established an investment pipeline to provide stable support until early-stage entrepreneurs who have sprouted potential through startup education bear fruit. The investment consortium is characterized by its specialization in ultra-early-stage startup investments and its structure where senior entrepreneurs who grew through Underdogs education participate as fund investors (LPs) to support junior entrepreneur development. Through this, Underdogs aims to build a virtuous ecosystem of startup development linking education, company building, and investment. Everyone speaks of crisis, but Underdogs looks to possibility instead. Paying attention to possibility in times of crisis is also the essence of entrepreneurial spirit that Underdogs always accompanies up close. And Underdogs does not seem to stand alone on this page. Companies and government share united opinions that startups are catalysts and subjects of innovation to overcome economic downturns, and these are being pursued in various forms including corporate intrapreneurship and open innovation, and government support for small business owners to revitalize local economies.