[thebell interview] Yi Won-chae, CEO of Podium & Company, “We will become a startup general trading company”

A general trading company is a large-scale general trading company that imports and exports domestic and international products, and conducts overseas investment, distribution, production, and project orders. It designs business comprehensively, including financing and infrastructure, beyond just buying and selling products. Here, a company that aims to become a general trading company for startups has emerged.

Podium & Company is a company that provides specialized services for the expansion of sales of startups and small and medium-sized companies. Yi Won-chae, CEO of Podium & Company (pictured) , was born in 1968 and joined Daewoo Group in 1994, where he worked in overseas sales for about 29 years. He served as the head of Africa and the Middle East, the head of Northwest Africa, the Argentina branch manager, and the head of the new business promotion team at the Malaysian branch, and was even an executive at POSCO International.

Based on his long overseas sales experience, he founded Podium & Company this year to practically help startups increase their value and enter overseas markets. Its main business is from startups’ PoC (Proof of Concept) to overseas sales and trade brokerage. The company aims to register an accelerator (AC) within 1-2 years and expand its business area to include investments by creating a private investment fund.

◇Performing the role of startup sales headquarters manager… Geogrid and Angle Company are representative examples

This representative is currently the sales director of Geogrid, Angle Company, Caramel Bay, and Zero One. The unique feature of Podium & Company is that this representative is directly responsible for the company’s sales as a sales director. “The most important thing in the process of an early startup increasing its value is sales,” said the representative. “We work together to breathe and create results together.”

Podium & Company provides services based on actual performance through customized consulting services for each stage of startup growth, marketing, IR/investment attraction, M&A, and joint commercialization.

Geogrid is a startup that CEO Lee has been managing since last year through Podium International. Podium International was a company that CEO Lee established before he founded Podium & Company, and the companies that received orders from Podium International are currently managed by Podium & Company.

The representative introduced the achievements made since he took charge of Geogrid’s sales headquarters last year. He said, “Geogrid is a water treatment solution specialist,” and “Last year, we participated in the Indonesia, UAE, and CES exhibitions and conducted our first export to Indonesia. We also signed a business agreement (MOU) with AGCC, a global accelerator headquartered in Dubai, UAE.”

This year, Geogrid signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Indonesian Parador Hotel. It also signed business agreements with the U.S. semiconductor production startup TD7 and Taiwan's JNT.

He is also helping Angle Company, which provides artificial intelligence and digital platform technologies, expand its global capabilities. The CEO said, “I helped Angle Company negotiate PoCs with global consulting firms,” and “I recently supported the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) Uzbekistan Global HR Platform R&D program.”

He is also participating in the domestic and international PoC development and seed round corporate briefing session of Caramel Bay, a trade document automation company. He said, “Caramel Bay is promoting PoC development with POSCO International, domestic commercial banks, Korea Logistics, and trade associations, and is currently conducting the company’s seed investment IR.”

◇Most members have connections with POSCO Inter… Rich overseas network

The CEO cited the fact that the key members of Podium & Company have extensive overseas experience and networks as strengths of Podium & Company. Most of the members are people who have a relationship with CEO Lee at POSCO International. CEO Lee owns 85% of Podium & Company. He plans to distribute the remaining 15% to the current staff.

Chairman Jeon Byeong-il of Podium & Company served as the president of Daewoo International. He is currently a member of the CEO Knowledge Sharing Foundation. He served as the head of the machinery plant division, the head of the textile light industry division, and the head of the US, Germany, Poland, and Uzbekistan corporations. Afterwards, he served as an outside director of Lotte Corporation, an outside director of Seoul Semiconductor, and the chairman of the Aluco Group.

When this representative was working at Daewoo International, the predecessor of POSCO International, he met Chairman Jeon Byeong-il. “Chairman Jeon, who has a wealth of industrial experience, is a master of management strategy consulting and coaching,” said the representative. “I persuaded him for a month to join Podium & Company.”

CFO Song Myung-seok is currently serving as the CEO of FB International. He is a former executive of POSCO International and has served as the head of Northwest Africa and the Algerian branch. The CEO said of CFO Song, “We met at POSCO International,” and “He is an accounting expert.”

I also met Vice President Jang Se-hoon and Executive Director Hwang Chan-gyu at POSCO International. Vice President Jang Se-hoon was formerly Vice President of Daewoo Electronics and served as General Manager of Central and South America and the Americas, Head of Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, and Head of Argentina. Executive Director Hwang Chan-gyu served as Head of POSCO International’s Automotive Parts Group and Head of Hyundai Materials’ Sales Planning Office and Trade Business Office.

Executive Director Kim Jeong-won is a former flight attendant at Korean Air, a service instructor at the National Intelligence Service, the National Police University, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gyeonggi Province Civil Servant Training Institute, and a full-time instructor at GM Korea and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives Training Institute. Previously, he served as the director of the Jedplan sales strategy team.

CEO Yi Won-chae’s goal is to make Podium & Company a general trading company for startups with excellent human resources. He said, “A general trading company must encompass both finance and investment,” and “I want to complete accelerator (AC) registration within 1-2 years and create a private investment association to discover promising startups.”