ABSTRACT
Aside from large and diversified business groups, highly competitive Korean venture firms and start-ups have emerged since the 1990s. The first venture boom occurred in Korea around the turn of the millennium when the government set up strong support policies for non-chaebol firms in an effort to revive and rebalance the economy after the Asian financial crisis. After a slump in the mid-2000s which was partially owed to the renewed attractiveness of strongly growing chaebol firms as employers, the number of venture firms began to grow again quickly, and Seoul has become a major global start-up agglomeration in the years after 2010. Successful Korean venture firms and start-ups operate in knowledge-intensive manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries such as IT hardware, software, Internet services, and entertainment. Many of them aggressively globalize their business from the outset by leveraging their superior products and technologies. Similarly to chaebols, they rely on Tiger Management in their strong growth orientation and dynamism. However, compared with chaebols, their leaders are younger and have very strong educational backgrounds and advanced professional skills. Furthermore, they have a more modern and less hierarchical leadership style, and the companies are more focused on activities where they hold clear competitive advantage.
