Beom-soo Kim
Co-founder 2010Background
Beom-soo Kim was a brilliant, determined serial entrepreneur who recognized that the South Korean mobile market was broken by exorbitant SMS fees. His defining founding moment was the 2010 decision to develop KakaoTalk in just 49 days, establishing the free, data-based messaging platform required to destroy the traditional telecom revenue model and capture the entire South Korean mobile user base.
Role at Kakao Corp.
Kakao possesses a rebellious, entrepreneurial founding story, breaking the rigid, traditional mold of the South Korean chaebols (like Samsung or Hyundai) by building a digital empire through agile, user-centric software design. The company was founded in 2010 by Brian Kim (Kim Beom-su), a brilliant, intensely visionary software engineer. Kim was already a success; he had previously founded Hangame (a successful online gaming portal) and merged it with Naver to create NHN (the dominant search engine in South Korea). However, feeling stifled by the bureaucratic corporate structure of NHN, Kim abruptly quit in 2007 and moved to the United States. While in the US, Kim witnessed the foundational launch of the original iPhone. He experienced a 'eureka' moment: the entire future of the internet was not on a desktop browser; it was entirely mobile. He returned to South Korea and formed a small startup called IWILAB. In 2010, they launched KakaoTalk. Their foundational masterstroke was simple: while traditional telecom companies charged lucrative fees for SMS text messages, KakaoTalk offered fast, reliable group messaging for free over the internet. The app exploded in popularity, acquiring millions of users in weeks. Brian Kim's relaxed, Silicon Valley-style leadership (famously encouraging employees to call him by his English name to break down Korean corporate hierarchy) allowed Kakao to out-innovate the traditional telecom giants, establishing the foundational architecture of the modern South Korean mobile internet.