In the popular drama <Startup>, young people dreaming of starting a business appear. Behind those full of enthusiasm, there are hidden helpers and mentors who help those who are first to challenge themselves, such as business and organization.
Smilegate operates a variety of mentoring systems for the growth of those who are taking their first steps toward their dreams in various fields, including startups in Orange Planet, young creators producing indie games, and college students dreaming of becoming IT developers.
There are those who participated in Smilegate's various creative creation support programs with special words to express their gratitude. That is Seung-Hwan Yeo, Director. I met him to hear about mentoring. (Director Seung-Hwan Yeo is also in charge of data lab of Smilegate.AI Center)
[interview] Seung-Hwan Yeo, Director of Technical Support, Smilegate Holdings IT Technology Division
Q. Please briefly introduce yourself.
Hello. This is Seung-Hwan Yeo. At university, I majored in computer engineering and joined Smilegate in December 2003. Officially, except for Chairman Hyukbin Kwon, he is also the person who has worked the longest. (laugh)
Q. Do you have any special reasons for applying to Smilegate, which was a startup at the time?
First of all, I really liked the people I worked with, and the company atmosphere that wanted to bring fun games to the world was good. I started working because I had a dream that I wanted to complete the game together at Smilegate, which has a good atmosphere rather than a large company.
Q. What kind of job are you currently in charge of?
As a technical support manager, we solve technical issues of the group and operate and support creative programs. In addition, it is responsible for supporting the technical issues faced by the Smilegate Group, such as reviewing technologies that require prototyping or applying them in-house. He is also the head of the data lab at Smilegate AI Center, so he is also setting up tasks related to data integration.
Q. How did you start mentoring in the first place?
Since I was a child, I have loved to chat with people, so many people come to me for conversation. As a result, I naturally got used to talking and communicating with people. I listened to other people's worries and became sympathetic, and I was able to talk naturally based on the experiences I have accumulated and the times I have been thinking about myself. I started with the idea that it would be possible to share my experiences with others.
Q. Do you have another motivation for mentoring?
The biggest opportunity was that there were not many mentoring activities for non-representative members in startups. Obviously, there will be concerns that arise while attending a startup, and the CEO thought that there was not enough opportunity to hear stories about how to care for them. In fact, in the case of Orange Planet mentoring for start-ups, we are mentoring the most in this area.
Q. Why did you focus on the members rather than the startup representative?
The person who represents the company probably suffers the most, but also receives the most illumination. I had a lot of things I wanted to tell the members who were with me and the developers who made up a high proportion of the members. I can't say that I'm an excellent person, but at least I thought I was a person who could talk about their concerns.
Q. Is there a reason for mentoring not only startups but also various mentees?
As I was mentoring, my area gradually expanded. We are mentoring for the Smilegate Membership (SGM) junior with young friends and mentoring for the server development camp from the perspective of a senior engineering student in the entertainment industry.
The full interview is at the link below:
