PSC by Daniel Shin

The term for our live check-in on Tuesday morning was BATNA, an acronym for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. It's a term used in negotiations, referring to the fallback option in case the negotiation fails. Linked with this term, we engaged in an activity in this PSC session of trying to sell bananas. The topic was: what if you had to sell 3000 tons of bananas? We each assigned roles - salesperson, influencer, gatekeeper, and decision maker - to see how to persuade and negotiate. We learned how many stakeholders are needed in a negotiation, and the biggest insight was that we ended up politicking without even being able to talk about bananas. We learned through experience that when making decisions if you focus only on the communication process around the topic you want to discuss, you can face various difficulties. Let's think about how we can negotiate better!

A Startup is an Experiment, Not a Job

by Youngmin Joo

On Tuesday afternoon, we invited Youngmin Joo, who left Google and is now running the investment management app, Domino. He seems to have had many trials and errors while publishing a magazine like "University Tomorrow(대학내일)" during his undergraduate studies. It was fun, so he took a break from school and tried various things on his own, which helped him a lot when he started his business. Also, while at Google, he ran a 'Youngmin Joo Research Institute' personally, sharing the insights he gained from the tech industry and even publishing a book called 'Virtual is Reality'. He then attended the Davos Forum, overcoming a competition rate of 400 to 1. One of his insights there was, "It would be great if many famous leaders in Korea also come to such a place." This made me think that Makers in METES should someday be there to express Korea's voice. Now he's founded an app called Domino, and his realization after undergoing various pivoting processes was, 'Let's launch a service that people use every day.' He launched an app that caters to user needs and manages investments or assets in real-time. Actually, running a business is 'hard every day', he says, but the reason it's hard every day is because we're moving forward, and aligning directions with the team members who are working with the one representative who sets the direction is the most difficult task. Also, the most impressive saying was that a startup is an experiment, not a job. When he faces new challenges, he seems to take them on one at a time with the belief that it will definitely work, considering it as a social experience. With sincerity, he is moving forward every day with a belief in loving what he wants to do, just like the company name, Fast Forward. Let's move forward too!

'Love and Challenge' by Julie

Living Library by Heejin Choi

On Thursday afternoon, we had the Living Library session with Heejin Choi. This block is a time to introduce yourself with a book title and share your life book with others. This week, Julie introduced the book 'Communication Techniques' by Robert Greene under the theme of 'Love and Challenge'. She had a lot of concerns about human relationships from a young age. Especially in unrequited love, she often failed, so the book of communication psychology was a great help in her building relationships. In the process of attracting people, charm is a necessary element, and she introduced a few techniques of temptation that can be used well in business relationships, and private relationships. “You should not be impatient, you should not be unable to give, you should not be timid, and you should not complain or talk too much. If you can't attract, you'll be dragged, so to attract, you need to strategically stimulate anxiety, fill in the gaps, and pay attention to minor preferences.” We talked in groups about whether we had any experience of tempting someone and how to use these strategies, and everyone seemed to find this topic very interesting. Let's become attractive people and try to tempt others once!

You Should Be on TikTok Now!

by Gahyun Kim

On Thursday afternoon, we had time to learn about trends through Gahyun Kim, the CEO of Shorts Form MCN Majors, NEWZ. These days, many people of this generation are crazy about short-form, TikTok, and I was able to learn the importance of quickly following trends by watching the success of NEWZ, which provides news on the TikTok platform that matches the characteristics of this generation. Eventually, if you have your own expertise and grow that field firmly, fans will naturally increase. However, remember that it's short form, not long form, so in order to gain popularity among young people, the conclusion must come out first from the beginning, middle, and end! In fact, the impressions she got from interviewing famous influencers are 'Global First', 'Test & Iterate', 'Virality Mindset', and '1 out of 10's'. In this world where anyone can become an influencer, it seemed like she was challenging one by one with the belief that she should try it quickly. We are also not too late! Let's quickly get to where the future generations are and try to earn passive income by using what we're good at!

Looking back at the sessions held this week at METES, we learned a lot. METES continues to offer various sessions to support the growth and development of makers and help with their projects and businesses. We'll keep you updated with METES’s news every week and support your challenges and growth as a maker! Let us know if you need anything! Thank you.