Venture Start-up Club 'IT's Outdoor' registered the patent for the new technology and prepares to start up new venture
Developed 'Phone-Plus-Phone' that integrates smart technologies in intercoms, begin spread of intelligent security system
After beginning as academic club, now reaching out to the real world
[April 8, 2013]
"If you're going to play and sleep like everyone else, just get a job!"
This is written in large letters on a white board on a wall in room 206 of the YU Center for LINC Project Venture Start-up Education Center. This shows the strong will of the venture start-up club, 'IT's Outdoor' that moved in here in July of last year.
IT's Outdoor preparing for starting up a venture within the first half of this year
(from left to right: Woo, Sang Beom, Shin, Hyeon Taek, Kim, Man Seok, Kim, Ryeong Gyun) 'IT's Outdoor' initially started as an academic club of the Department of Information and Communication Engineering and was named 'IT's' (Advisor, Park, Yong Wan). Seniors Woo, Sang Beom (25) and Kim, Man Seok (24) and a junior Kim, Ryeong Gyun (23) of the Department of Information and Communication Engineering added smart phone technologies to intercoms to develop an intelligent security system called 'Phone-Plus-Phone'. In order to introduce this to the world, they made a business start-up club called 'IT's Outdoor'.
'Phone-Plus-Phone' that completed patent registration on February 18 is a new technology that completely controls home intercoms with a smart phone. It can control entrance of visitors using a smart phone whenever and wherever the user is, and it can also prevent crimes committed by fake deliverymen using a delivery billing number query application. It not only automatically captures images of the visitor, but it can also change the voice of women or children to that of adult men as it uses advanced technologies to prevent crimes. It is expected that with more people using Phone-Plus-Phone, crime rate of breaking and entering of homes will be reduced.
To live up to its team name to reach out to the outer world, IT's Outdoor recruited Jung, Si Hoon (27), a senior majoring in the School of Mechanical Engineering(major of Mechanical System Engineering) and Shin, Hyeon Taek (25), a senior in the School of International Economics and Business. This was for improving the market competitiveness of the product by upgrading marketing and design.
In November of last year, they participated in the 'Start-up Business Contest' hosted by the YU Business Incubation Center and took a cash prize of 5 million won. In December of last year, they also participated in the '2012 Daegu-Gyeongbuk Student Business Start-up Contest' hosted by the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Small and Medium Business Administration and won the grand prize for university students. The potential for 'Phone-Plus-Phone' was also recognized 'outdoors'.
In February of this year, they also participated in the 'University Student Business Start-up Club Camp' hosted by the Small and Medium Business Administration and sponsored by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development. Over 200 business start-up clubs around the nation joined and after preliminaries in a total of six regions, only 38 teams including IT's Outdoor were given the opportunity to compete in the national competition. On February 19, IT's Outdoor was ranked fourth overall and placed its name on the list of 8 'top clubs'. Venture investors and business start-up experts who were judges in the contest judged that there was high potential for success as a start-up business.
As a prize, they were given the opportunity to go overseas for venture start-up training. IT's Outdoor members, excluding the team leader Woo, Sang Beom, went to Silicon Valley in the US from March 26 to April 3. They said, "It was an opportunity to once again check our will for venture start-ups at the exact place where ventures had first sprung up. We will succeed and do our best to create a company that can also branch out to Silicon Valley."
Woo, Sang Beom, who is also the chairperson of the Daegu-Gyeongbu chapter of the collegiate venture start-up club 'N.E.S.T', participated in the '2013 MIT Global Startup Workshop' (MIT-GSW) held in Tallin, Estonia from March 25 to March 27. MIT-GSW is an annual event hosted by MIT with the goal of sharing information on corporate mindsets and start-up businesses among instructors, investors and students. It was first held in Cambridge, USA in 1998 and has been held in a total of 15 countries until now.
IT's Outdoor also received awards at the '2013 MIT-GSW'. They received the popularity award at the 'Elevator Pitch Contest' that introduces start-up business items by over 60 people. They were also exempted from admission fees for the world's largest start-up business contest that will be held in the US and also received a cash prize.
A day at IT's Outdoor begins with a meeting for coming up with success strategies for venture start-ups and new items. The members of IT's Outdoor once again gathered together. They frequently stay up the night to conduct market trend analyses, idea meetings, and production and tests of prototypes in order to start up their business in the first half of this year. For this, they rented a studio apartment and are working together day and night near school from this semester. While they raised a bit of start-up capital with 15 million won that they won in various competitions, they are also working hard to attract investments from venture capitals and government support projects. While doing all this, they are continuing to come up with new items for their next venture, and 24 hours in a day is just too short.
Woo, Sang Beom, the leader of 'IT's Outdoor' that is ready to navigate into the outdoor world, said, "I am well aware that unimaginably difficult courses must be overcome in order to successfully start up a business. I would have given up long ago if I started with the notion to start up a business since finding employment is difficult. But, we chose this path because it is exciting to come up with our own creative ideas to start a business, so we will continue to overcome challenges until we are successful. I am not afraid of failure. I believe that since we are still young, the experiences that we gain from failure will be a basis for other challenges in the future. We will find the best answer for the creative economy."
