[IT Cafe] Upstage Takes a Year to Hire, CEO Sunghoon Kim Is a Developer to the Core

Key Developers from Naver, Rumors of "Daum" Acquisition
Fully Remote Workforce, Emphasis on Developer Culture

Sunghoon Kim, CEO of Upstage

"Passing the CEO interview is as difficult as picking a star from the sky. Many candidates stumble at the final stage."

Sunghoon Kim, CEO of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Upstage, has become a hot topic among developers for his "microscopic talent screening." Upstage, which has its own large language model (LLM) called "Solar," has been selected as one of the five national AI challenge teams and is considered a strong contender for the final selection.

Kim is a well-known figure among developers. Previously, he founded the once-popular search engine Kkachine and KkaebiMail. As a core member of Naver Clova AI, Kim left Naver and founded Upstage in 2020. With his thorough developer DNA, he has taken the lead in shaping Upstage's unique development culture. Both CTO Lee Hwalseok and CSO Park Eunjeong, who co-founded Upstage with Kim, also came from Naver. At the time, the departure of these three key developers reportedly caused a significant shock within Naver.

An Upstage representative said on the 23rd, "Because the interview process is conducted in multiple stages, departments in urgent need of new hires often face challenges. The CEO conducts a thorough evaluation, not only of the candidate's technical skills but also of their compatibility with Upstage's unique corporate culture." The interview process involves in-depth questioning about research areas, and because the hiring process is multi-layered, it can take anywhere from six months to over a year to hire a single developer.

Despite the rigorous hiring process, there is no shortage of applicants interested in joining the company. All of Upstage's approximately 150 employees work fully remotely. New hires receive a corporate card worth about 5 million won to purchase office equipment such as computers, and each new team member is given a "welcome kit." The welcome kit includes books, a mat, and seeds. The mat signifies that "anywhere can be your office," while the seeds are a reminder to maintain the startup spirit and nurture hope.

Kim himself pursues a lifestyle that is not tied to a specific location. Because he oversees overseas operations in the United States and Japan, he does not have a permanent residence in Korea. Domestically, he frequently travels between Seoul and Jeju, often using Airbnb. It has been reported that Kim's trips to Jeju have become more frequent as Kakao continues discussions with Upstage to sell "AXZ," the operator of Daum.

Upstage has set a goal to go public by the end of next year and earlier this month selected KB Securities and Mirae Asset Securities as lead underwriters. The company's valuation is expected to reach at least 2 trillion won.