2022/11/04

⏱ 3mins 

A SECRET WEAPON THAT GROWS INTO A TRUE AI PARTNER... CONFIDENCE, POSSIBILITY AND CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE!

Nice to meet you down. Please introduce yourself.

My name is Joo Daun, who is the sales leader upstage. Previously, I was in charge of sales and business development at Unity, AWS, KT, etc., and joined Upstage for about 6 months.

What motivated you to join Upstage?

AS I WAS EXPOSED TO THE AWS CLOUD AND MET GAME COMPANIES IN UNITY, I REALIZED THAT THE DEMAND FOR AI AND MACHINE LEARNING FROM VARIOUS COMPANIES IS GROWING. HOWEVER, AT THE TIME, IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO CLEARLY SATISFY SUCH NEEDS.

Then I learned that Upstage could help various companies with AI and machine learning across multiple industries. (As shown in the mission) I was convinced that 'by making it easier for customers to access AI, AI can directly help customers with useful services' . So I joined.

It is impressive to say that you have confidence. At what point did you become so confident about upstage?

Upstage knew exactly where customers were having difficulties with AI/ML. After customers build an AI-related system, it is important for continuous learning to occur, but I have seen many cases where it is neglected after 6 months or 1 year. However, I was very impressed with the concept of a 'pack', which allows beginner engineers to learn directly by lowering technical hurdles in a sustainable form . So, the idea and belief that customers can directly help their business by introducing AI services through 'pack' has arisen.

Down's sales activities are prominent ahead of the product launch in the second half of the year. Are there any sales areas or clients that you are particularly focusing on these days?

As we prepare to launch Upstage Document AI , the industry we are most focused on is finance, with a particular focus on insurance/banking . Several banks and insurance companies, including Kookmin Bank, are interested. Next are logistics companies . Logistics continues to discuss ways to collaborate to automate and streamline the process of sending and receiving documents. Third, I can tell you about companies that are undergoing DT or DX digital transformation in the manufacturing industry . On the DT side, we have begun little by little talks with Upstage to digitally archive the materials we have accumulated so far. In addition, we are gradually confirming its potential in the media and e-commerce fields by conducting PoCs with various customers such as LG U+ for personalized recommendation/search services.

And although it is not yet released, the reason for the performance in terms of sales is that customers are verifying our technology and verifying our capabilities through various PoCs or tests. As customers continue to show interest and continue to test the performance, we plan to meet and meet customers a lot and widely.

I would like to ask what direction or growth potential our service will have in the future. What are the reactions/expectations of us after future product launches?

In order to solve customer difficulties, it is very important to understand customers technically/businessally. In the past, when I was at AWS and Unity, I experienced various industries and improved my understanding of the problems or difficulties that customers may have due to the nature of the industry. At the same time, our product team and development team are very focused on lowering the hurdles on how to easily introduce AI. I think that 'understanding the customer' and 'lowering the hurdles' are creating a very good synergy.

As a result, we gained more attention from our customers, and through this, we were able to experience various industries and approach common problems in each industry. By repeating this cycle, we meet more customers and we can help. It is expected that this virtuous cycle will lead to repercussions and success in the market.

Please introduce the most memorable or lesson-run project in the past 6 months.

There was an opportunity to open a new door to the logistics field. Last summer, I had the opportunity to meet a company in the maritime logistics field. At first, it was a field I wasn’t interested in. This is because Upstage’s Document AI targets finance as its primary goal.

Luckily, when I was at AWS, I had experience with logistics companies in their field and I understood their pain points. From the beginning, I approached it with the attitude of understanding the pain points of maritime logistics. They viewed me very highly in terms of 'Upstage has a high level of understanding of our industry' and 'I am trying to approach it from the customer's point of view'. And with the addition of 'the barrier to entry is very low when the upstage AI service model is introduced', it was the beginning of opening a good sales opportunity. It is very memorable that we were able to set up an opportunity for discussion and collaboration in a good way.

On the one hand, I think sales can be difficult at times. Product status, contract size, customer networking, etc.. I think you will continue to try sales even in an environment where restrictions follow. I wonder how you are pioneering such a challenging situation.

I believe in 'finding the right path within a set resource' and 'our upstage is doing it together as a team' and I am meeting with customers. No matter what you do, your resources are limited. It could be the cost, it could be the time... The important thing is to find the best way within limited resources, I think it is meaningful. If it's unlimited in terms of resources, there's no need to put in any effort. So, in any job or any company, there will be limited situations, and I think the key is to find positive aspects and find suitable methods.

And I'm not the only one selling. There are stars behind me who can help me in my work. Starting with the PC team, which is the basis of the company culture, the marketing/business/development teams are creating products and markets together. So I never thought of running alone. I'm just acting as an agent who meets customers in person, and I never thought I was going alone. And the team is looking for people to work with, and I think that if we add a team member who will show good capabilities in the sales area with all the stars, I think we will be able to get stronger.

When I meet Down, I get the impression that he is a 'born salesperson' and 'a talent specialized in sales'. I sometimes think that Down's own sales strategy or secret tricks might exist.

I don't really think of myself as a 'good, natural salesperson'. There are people who have been involved in sales for more than a decade in the industry, so it is difficult to compare myself with them. However, starting as a developer, I have experience in various jobs and industries such as marketing and business development, so I think I was able to approach customers in a slightly different way.

First of all, 'Rather than selling our products to customers, we accurately understand their needs and as an AI partner, we help them grow their business and solve their problems'. Once the customer understands that 'we are serious about their success', the channels and diversity that we can talk about after that expand a lot. In that respect, I am thinking and trying to think about sales with a slightly different texture.

I said, 'That itself is a differentiated strategy. I think it's cool too. What is your definition of business?

I think of it as a bridge between our company with technology and our customers. The bridging role is to clearly understand the will of the customer and bring a solution that suits them through our solutions and products. So, it becomes the value that the company brings to its customers, and on the contrary, it is a person who helps in the two-way communication between the company and the customer, who helps the development of our products by conveying the voice of the customer, their needs, and various matters to the company. I think.

Sales made 'together' rather than alone, one team

What do you consider most important among the Upstage Way items in your daily work?

As someone who values company culture very much, I think 'one team' is the most important.

FOR SALES TO SELL AND SUPPLY PRODUCTS TO CUSTOMERS, THERE IS NOTHING THAT SALES ALONE CAN DO. FIRST, THE PC TEAM BUILDS A GOOD COMPANY CULTURE, THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM MAKES GOOD PRODUCTS, MARKETING SPREADS IT TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, AND SALES VISIT CUSTOMERS… IT'S KIND OF A LONG CYCLE. SO, I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING AND BELIEF IN WHAT I AM DOING AND WHAT EACH OTHER IS DOING, AND THE SPIRIT OF 'ONE TEAM' IN WHICH WE WORK TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL.

Do you have any efforts to practice the Upstage Way?

' Sharing' is what I think is an important factor in becoming a 'one team'. Transparent sharing of what I am doing outside is important. Because it is not possible to deliver all information 24 hours a day, it is necessary to think about which information is important to which team and how to use which tools to communicate it.

I worry a lot about when and how the necessary information will be available, what kind of activities I am doing, and how to inform it. Through this process of contemplation, I think that the spirit and goal of being a one-team can be achieved. Being able to align 'we are going towards one goal' is 'sharing' and I think it is an important premise for 'one team'.

Can you share some of Down's tips for practicing 'sharing'?

Once the team meets with customers, they always share what conversations and topics they have discussed with customers through business channels . With other teams, we take advantage of our company's culture and system, backstage and bobstage opportunities. We value opportunities such as backstage, where we do one-on-one once a week, or bobstage, where four people gather to eat together a month. In fact, when I meet other team members and have a better understanding of what the team does, when I come to meet with customers, it becomes clearer and more efficient to share what I need to convey to them.

So, just as I understand customers well and give them the answers they want, I am also making an effort to continuously share necessary information while increasing the understanding of our team and each team in the company .

I would also like to hear about your future plans.

THANKFULLY! OCR-RELATED, IT IS ATTRACTING ATTENTION FROM MANY CUSTOMERS, AND IT IS PROVING GOOD RESULTS SUCH AS BRANDI IN THE PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION SERVICE. (BRANDI FOUND A COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH COMPANIES TO DEVELOP THROUGH COMPARATIVE VERIFICATION LIKE US, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE AI-BASED PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION TEAM AND SYSTEM ARE INSIDE.)

In the future, we plan to contact as many OCR-related financial companies as possible, and we plan to expand contact points with e- commerce and content platform companies for personalized recommendation services . Along with marketing, we plan to discover customer needs and meet them as much as possible, and next year, we plan to try to draw customer needs from OCR to personal travel recommendation services.

Lastly, please say anything you want to say to the stars or the team.

From launching a product to signing a contract with a customer, it takes time now, so I think many people are probably having a challenging time.

However, the fact that customers wait with interest even when the product has not been released means that there is a clear expectation from the market. Customers do not wait and work together while verifying/confirming various opportunities through opportunities. So, I think that 'the customer saw the potential', as long as we make great products as we talked with our customers, the ripple effect in the market will be even greater. We are on the ridge right now, but I believe that as soon as we cross the bend ridge, many better opportunities will open up for us.

Please say something to the aspiring stars. (aka, if you are like this, try sales!)

If you say, 'I believe in the potential of AI and are interested in the AI industry,' and 'I want to meet with customers and confirm that their dreams come true,' I would like to say that anyone can start with . If you have such interest and faith, not only me but everyone upstage can help prospective stars with the goal of 'realizing customers' dreams'. And it is even better if you have 2-3 years of experience in sales, business development, and technology consulting in the IT field . I hope that the upstage sales team creates opportunities to contribute to the growth of the company as well as career development. Please try a lot! Recommendation is also good. Seon Ji-won and Hu Go-min!!

AI THAT MAKES THE WORLD MORE BENEFICIAL,

We are looking for a colleague to build with Upstage.