10 Things You Didn’t Know About John S. Kim
John S. Kim is a Korean businessman and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer of SendBird, a website, and mobile apps chat API. He is a successful entrepreneur who has an impressive history of success in the business world. If you’re not familiar with him and the contributions he’s made to the social gaming community, here are 10 things that you probably didn’t know about John S. Kim.
1. He’s a co-founder of SendBird
According to Crunchbase, John S. Kim leads the company that he helped to establish. SendBird is a Y Combinator and TechStars business that has achieved remarkable success since it was first established in May of 2015. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
2. Mr. Kim is from Korea
John S. Kim received his education in his home country of Korea. He enrolled in classes at Seoul National University. He studied both computer science and engineering disciplines for his majors at the institution. Mr. Kim completed his program of study and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor of science degree in both computer science and engineering. This early education helped to prepare him with the necessary skills to move forward with his ideas for providing solution-based services for customers in his own companies.
3. John is a serial entrepreneur
John S. Kim belongs to a rare class of brilliant business people who can start a new business and get it off the ground until it reaches high levels of success. He has a sharp mind with keen instincts for determining services or goods that help people to solve problems in their lives or careers. This rare ability allows him to take a good idea from a mere concept and transform it into a successful and profitable business venture.
4. He established two businesses
In addition to co-founding SendBird, Mr. Kim also started a social gaming company. He named the enterprise Paprika Lab. This was his very first startup, which turned out to be highly successful. It was such a desirable business that GREE acquired it from him. This provides John with the means for continuing to have a very lucrative career as he stands to make a tidy profit on every successful company that he sells. So far, he’s hanging on to SendBird.
5. He is also a regular guy with hobbies
Often, when you meet a person who is so good at business and making money, you discover that they’re absorbed with their careers and some fail to make time for other important parts of their lives. While he’s a big success, John S. Kim also makes time to pursue his passions. He enjoys a healthy balance of work and career. We earned that he is a big-time car enthusiast. He has been rated as the number one of all time in Korea and third in world ratings.
6. He worked for NCSoft
According to his LinkedIn page, John was employed by NCSoft from September of 2002 through August of 2005. He spent two years with the company working on plans for the Lineage II GPU game as a developer and planner. He gained some recognition for the game which became one of the best sellers in the MMO class in the world. In addition to developing the operations tool for GMs, he also participated in various customer event presentations, sales meetings, and global business partnerships. He also planned the world’s largest game show event called E3 Expo, overseeing the organization and coordination of the event. He also served on the expert panel for the game on live Korean television for half a year.
7. He is an international businessman
Mr. Kim has experience in international business relations. He has worked in the United States, Japan, and Korea. He has also dealt with business partners from all over Southeast Asia, and Europe. He is well-versed in international relations including sales campaigns and negotiations.
8. He co-founded Smile Mom
John is also a co-founder for a company titled Smile Mom. He established the new startup in February of 2013 in the San Francisco Bay area. He stayed on as the CEO of the business through May of 2015, leaving after working there for 2 years and 4 months. This company developed an app for local moms in the community to help these ladies connect to build relationships through its chat feature. This startup was the inspiration for SendBird which followed.
9. He’s a good fundraiser
According to SendBird, the company has recently completed a round of Series C funding for venture capital backing for expansion. SendBird was successful in raising $100 million from its investors. This took SendBird over the top in reaching a critical milestone in its development. The company is now at a valuation of more than $1 billion. This puts it into the elite category of being a unicorn company. It’s been less than 6 years since SendBird first launched and reaching unicorn status in this short amount of time is rare, but it does happen. Kim is fortunate to have solid financial backing from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, World Innovation Lab, Emergence Capital, Steadfast Venture Capital, and more.
10. John S. Kim is building a massive business in SendBird
SendBird has defied the odds of new startups by achieving unicorn status in a short time from its launch. SendBird is only 5 years old going into its 6th year. He sits competently at the helm of the company, running the operations and leading it into further successes. The business has drawn in more than 150 million users to date, with more added regularly. The SendBird platform sends more than 2.5 billion messages monthly throughout the world. It’s grown into a large chat platform that helps to keep people connected for personal and business dealings as well as providing options for gaming, marketplaces, and more.
