When Kevin Kim dropped out of college at 21 to grow to be an entrepreneur, it appeared like an enormous gamble.Â
“My mum cried a little,” Kim, now 33, mentioned with amusing.Â
But his confidence was not unfounded. Kim had simply sold his first company — which he began when he was simply 18 — for “six figures.”Â
That was no small feat, provided that his beginning capital was simply $2,000, which Kim mentioned he saved up from doing part-time jobs.
His e-commerce company imported streetwear from South Korea and sold it throughout North America, he advised CNBC Make It.Â
Achieving product-market match is basically onerous, it takes years. You have to ask your self … Do I actually like this trade? Can I see myself construct round this for 10 years?
Kevin Kim
Co-founder and CEO, Stadium Live
“After I sold my first company, it was easy to decide,” mentioned Kim, who emigrated from South Korea to Canada when he was 11.Â
“There was no vision or alignment … I was a civil engineering undergrad but I wanted to create services and products for different audiences.”
Kim then spent nearly 10 years constructing digital merchandise for different startups and firms, earlier than venturing out on his personal in 2020 with Stadium Live — a metaverse app for sports activities followers.Â
The app permits customers to customise their very own avatars, purchase digital collectibles, hang around with different followers in digital rooms, participate in interactive sports activities livestreams or play mini video games.Â
The startup has raised $13 million to this point, together with a Series A funding led by NBA star Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures, World Cup champion Blaise Matuidi’s Origins Fund and Dapper Labs Ventures.
CNBC Make It finds out Kim’s three suggestions for operating a profitable company.Â
1. Founder-market matchÂ
It’s frequent for entrepreneurs to attribute the success of their startups to discovering an excellent product-market match.Â
But for Kim, what he calls “founder-market fit” is much more vital. It means a founder is basically enthusiastic about what he is constructing.
“Achieving product-market fit is really hard, it takes years. You need to ask yourself, do I really like what I’m doing? Do I really like this industry? Can I see myself build around this for 10 years?”
They’re ready to enter it and generate income, however they burned out sooner than different founders who’ve founder-market match.
Kevin Kim
Co-founder and CEO, Stadium Live
Kim mentioned he knew he at all times wished to construct merchandise across the 4 areas that talk to him — sports activities, gaming, music and style.
“I know founders who, for example, [launched] a SAS startup with accounting, but they were not even into accounting,” Kim mentioned.Â
“They’re able to go into it and make money, but they burned out faster than other founders who have founder-market fit.”
2. Closing a spotÂ
Nevertheless, product-market match continues to be essential to a enterprise’ success, mentioned Kim.Â
“Without product-market fit, you wouldn’t be able to survive as a business due to there being no real demand or supply between your product and the audience.”Â
Meeting the wants of shoppers has enabled the success of his corporations. In truth, Kim began his first e-commerce enterprise as a result of he wished to seek out garments that match his “style and sizing.”Â
“I could never do that with brands in the U.S. and Canada at the time,” he mentioned.Â
“It really started as a personal hobby and need … I quickly saw that other people had the same need.”
Stadium Live is a metaverse app that enables sports activities followers to customise their very own avatars, purchase digital collectibles or play mini video games.
Stadium Live
That additionally utilized to Stadium Live — Kim observed that the sports activities trade was centered on constructing merchandise for a restricted demographic of “millennial or older fans.”
“I could see they were all focusing on one-dimensional content and building towards betting. This was an interesting opportunity for me to take a look at the next generation of fans and think ‘who’s building for these fans?'” he advised CNBC Make It.Â
“They didn’t have money yet, they consumed sports in a completely different way, they wanted to interact with others within a community and they wanted something new.”
Kim’s concept appears to have paid off — Stadium Live amassed over 750,000 customers who “spend over an hour a day on the platform,” mentioned the company.
Stadium Live can be valued at around $32 million, Kim advised CNBC Make It.Â
3. Don’t overlook company traditionÂ
According to Kim, setting a robust imaginative and prescient and set of values for your staff is “absolutely critical.”
“Why should talented people join your company and grow with you? This question cannot be answered by just the product that you are building, but also the company and culture you’re building,” he added.
The significance of company tradition can’t be underestimated, Kim pressured, if one desires to construct an “iconic long-term company.”Â
I noticed this first hand after I was a fifth worker and noticed the company develop to 50. The tradition morphs itself each time a company doubles in measurement.
Kevin Kim
Co-founder and CEO, Stadium Live