Sad Korean Soldier Trying to Be Productive

Product Designer

Dev Log

The life and tales of a lonely Korean soldier determined to transcend his melancholy by recording the progress he fails to make on his many projects.

Sad Korean Soldier Trying to Be Productive: Log #0

8th Place at SUS Pitch Competition

Selected to participate in Y Combinator's first SUS Virtual Pitch Competition. Pitched my project "Dongari" in front of YC staff and various members of the Startup School community. Ranking was determined through aggregate feedback score. Top ranked founder granted live office hour with YC Partner Jared Friedman (CTO, Scribd).

1st Place

Global Business Case Competition organized by UC Berkeley, sponsored by LOVO, an AI Voiceover & TTS Platform backed by SkyDeck, Kakao, LG, and AWS. Offered full-time internship at LOVO AI.

Medici Grant

Research grant awarded by Danielle Strachman, general partner of the 1517 Fund and co-founder of the Thiel Fellowship (early backer of Figma, Ethereum, Loom, and more). First Korean to receive grant.

Nominee for Framer Site of the Year

Personal portfolio site selected as nominee for Framer's Site of the Year 2023 Awards.

2nd Best Speaker and Semifinalist at Korea Debate Nationals

Represented Yonsei Underwood Union at the 2022 Nationals. Asian Parliamentary Format.

Grand Finalist at Northeast Asia Debate Championship

Represented Yonsei Underwood Union. British Parliamentary Format. NEADC is one of the largest debate tournaments in Asia.

Grand Finalist at Korea Debate Nationals

Represented Yonsei Underwood Union at the 2023 Nationals. Asian Parliamentary Format.

Special Warrior

Battalion's highest honor. To be named a special warrior, a soldier must complete 86 sit-ups in two minutes, 72 pushups in two minutes, run 3 kilometers in twelve minutes and thirty seconds, hit at least 18 out of 20 targets in the shooting range, and pass the combat emergency first aid and chemical warfare assessments.

Dongari Pages

A space of my own to house my projects, stories, hobbies, jokes, and wandering thoughts.

Digital Treehouse (Portfolio)

Sunbae

Certee

I worked on registration and communications for the 41st World Universities Debating Championship hosted by Debate Korea.

Program Associate

I had the honor of leading South Korea's oldest and largest competitive debating society, with over 50 active members and 500 alumni. Some of the initiatives I organized included convening Korea's first ever online debate tournament (100+ participants), collaborating with McKinsey & Co. on a virtual career fair, and securing over $4K in grants from the Institute of Higher Education. Also oversaw the first ever YUU vs YUU Finals at the National Rookie Tournament (#prouddadmoment).

President

Worked closely with the founding team to help scale their expanding suite of enterprise voiceover software used by companies like Kakao, LG, Shinhan Bank, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, and others.

Product Growth Manager

Led a team of six clerks who are responsible for unit logistics, armory and supply management, human resources, and finances, supporting over 50 combat personnel.

Joon 준

2023