[Book Sip] Startup Survival Struggle 'Rocket Paradox'

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

This is a storytelling business management book vividly depicting the fierce survival struggle of a startup C-level executive. The setting, Mobidic Labs, is a startup established five years ago with an annual sales scale of 8.4 billion KRW. The company experiences constant turmoil like a roller coaster due to management positions, financial difficulties, conspiracies, and betrayals. Through the eyes of Director Dohoon Jeong, one of the co-founders who serves as both COO and CFO, we examine the reality of startups in South Korea while delivering insights and valuable business principles to upgrade survival skills in social life.

Due to staff turnover, I was recruiting while simultaneously taking on the tasks of existing employees. Through this process, I definitely learned something. If someone asks, "What should you learn when starting a startup?" I can confidently answer now: You must know how to do everything necessary to survive. A startup founder has only one specialty: survival. (p. 83)

If I cannot trust the other person, I cannot rely on them. Then, I have to waste time worrying about how everything except my own work is going. Therefore, partnership must be based on trust in the other person. However, unilateral trust without evidence often does not rest on actual facts. The image of CEO Park, whom I trusted and followed so much, was actually just what I wanted to believe, not his true essence. The many pieces of evidence and memories that made me trust CEO Park in the past were what I believed and relied on, and they might not have actually existed. (p. 160)

The employees reported CEO Lee to the Labor Office for unpaid wages. Creditors kept looking for him. He said he avoided going home because he felt sorry to see his family.

"CEO, the ending has to be good. The ending."

Suddenly, Seongjun Kwon’s words, said jokingly, flashed through my mind. Everyone tells you to run toward your dreams, but no one worries about failure. Among those who say "Don’t worry about failure, just run," none have actually ended in failure.

Will I end like this too? In failure? If I fail, what happens afterward? What about my wife and children who always believed and relied on me? What will I say to my parents? I had no confidence. (p. 195)

Rocket Paradox | Written by Jeongwoo Choi | Happy Book Club | 340 pages | 17,000 KRW