Record and Share Books Read with the 'Leaders' App... Build Reading Habits Automatically

[Solution Report] Their Startup and Future <13> CEO Yun Younghoon of Assi
Book Club Completion Rate Reaches 90%... 50,000 Members and 500,000 Books Registered

Yoon Young-hoon, CEO of Assi

"I wanted to solve the problem of 'How can people consistently read books?'" said Yoon Young-hoon, CEO of Assi. He did not believe that people do not read books because they lack books or time. With the emergence of services like e-books and audiobooks, there are actually more affordable and diverse ways to access books. However, last year, the average annual reading volume of Korean adults, combining paper books and e-books, was 7.5 books. This is two books less than two years ago. When limited to paper books, the reading volume of Korean adults shrinks to 6.1 books. CEO Yoon believed that creating an environment where continuous reading is supported through services could solve this problem. That is why he launched the reading community platform 'Readers.'

On the 29th, in an interview with Asia Economy, CEO Yoon said, "While it may be difficult for a single book to change one's life, a proper reading 'habit' can definitely change life." 'Readers,' officially launched by Assi in January this year, focuses on creating this 'habit.' The platform has two main functions: reading records and online book clubs. First, Readers is optimized for recording and organizing books read, helping users manage books on mobile and make reading a daily habit. Using the camera function embedded in the app, users can take pictures of impressive passages or pages, underline them, and record their thoughts. Another feature is sharing reading records among users and recommending or receiving book recommendations from each other. CEO Yoon explained, "You can look up books and thoughts you encountered anytime and anywhere through the app. Even when reading the same book, people like different parts and feel differently, so through others’ records, you can encounter various thoughts that you wouldn’t know when reading alone."

The online book club motivates reading by requiring a deposit that is refunded upon completing the mission of 'finishing the book.' CEO Yoon said, "When you register for the book club, devices such as notifications and weekly essays submitted every Sunday encourage continuous reading," adding, "The completion rate of the book club reaches 90%." Another advantage is that participation is possible anytime and anywhere without restrictions of time and space. Assi explained that among book club participants, there are users residing in the UK and Singapore.

Assi’s Readers is rapidly achieving results amid the spread of non-face-to-face culture due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Yoon said, "Currently, we have secured 40,000 to 50,000 users, and over 500,000 books are registered in users’ bookshelves," adding, "The cumulative number of online book club participants has exceeded 2,000."

Assi’s service reflects CEO Yoon’s experience. After graduating from university, he read about 100 books a year and focused on the questions, "How should I read books going forward?" and "How do people read books?" Later, through processes such as co-founding the self-development investment app 'Challengers,' he incorporated the solutions he found into Readers. He introduced, "Readers focuses on helping people read books better and solves things that are difficult to do alone through community. For example, readers can see what books others are reading, how others felt about the book I am currently reading, and easily find good books for my situation. We are creating this collective intelligence of the community as a service."

CEO Yoon named the company 'Assi' by taking the first four letters of the English word Assistant. It was to embody the meaning of helping people who pursue self-development. Now, the goal is to help more people. CEO Yoon emphasized, "Our goal is to improve the service so that many people can use the Readers online book club when they make their 'reading' plans in January next year."