The full interview, translated from Korean. Read the original (Korean)
Hi everyone! Today we’d like to share the story of ORBT, a team that completed Outsome Founder Sprint Batch 1.
After Founder Sprint, ORBT made a bold pivot in its business direction, generated real revenue, and went on to raise investment from Mashup Ventures.
Joshua first started dreaming of the global stage when he emailed Tim Draper directly at age 12. Appearing on Meet the Drapers gave him his first step into the US market, and he is still carving out his own path toward global markets today.
In this interview, he talks candidly about which problems Founder Sprint helped him solve, why he decided to pivot, how his view of customers and investors changed, and how it all led to an investment from Mashup Ventures.
We hope ORBT’s own story of Founder Sprint is helpful to early-stage founders dreaming of global markets, and to anyone thinking about applying to Founder Sprint.
Q. Can you describe your company or product in one sentence?
We’re an AI-native consulting firm that helps consumer brands find new growth opportunities across borders.
Q. In one sentence, where were you before joining Founder Sprint?
We were at a really early stage. We weren’t even working on what we do now. We were working on a completely different idea. We were building hard, but we didn’t really know exactly what we should be doing.
Q. What was your biggest concern before joining?
Our biggest concern was how to get customers and how to generate revenue. We were working hard on the product, but we had never properly marketed it or sold it even once. So the biggest questions on our minds were “How do we meet customers?” and “How do we do sales?”
Q. Why do you think that concern wasn’t getting resolved?
I think we lacked experience and didn’t really know the right direction. We had learned about startups, but we had never actually done it, so things like how to define the problem and how to meet customers weren’t easy to figure out.
Q. Was there a wrong assumption you were holding at the time?
Our mindset was very much “let’s just build it first.” Without any customer feedback, my co-founder and I just kept talking to each other. I’d think something was good and my co-founder would think it wasn’t, and then my co-founder would like something and I’d see it differently. In the end, I think our biggest mistake was building based on our own opinions instead of focusing on the customer.
Q. Before Founder Sprint, how were you approaching getting US customers?
I’ve sent a lot of cold emails since I was a kid. When I was 12, I even reached out to Tim Draper in the US and asked him to invest, and I kept in touch after that. Before going to the US, I asked Tim Draper and other people I’d contacted before for advice, and luckily I was selected for a Draper-related program as the youngest participant ever and the first Korean. So I tried to create as many opportunities as I could once I got to the US.
Q. How did you hear about Founder Sprint?
While I was getting ready to start a company, I read a lot of Peter’s LinkedIn posts, so I already knew about it. I had applied to a 500 Global program before and didn’t get in, and then I saw the Founder Sprint announcement and applied again.
Q. What was the deciding reason you applied?
First, Peter is a YC alum, and I heard it could lead not just to mentoring but to an investment review as well. So I thought it wasn’t simply mentoring, and that there could be a bigger opportunity.
Q. What results were you hoping for before joining?
I hoped we’d generate revenue and be able to raise investment based on that revenue.
I thought we might even be able to raise a pre-seed round through Peter or Outsome.
Q. And you actually did raise your first investment, right?
Yes. We raised our first investment from Mashup Ventures.
Q. What were the 3 things you did most during the 4 weeks?
Customer interviews, changing our BM (business model), outbound, and building. In particular, we spent a lot of time meeting customers, redefining their problems, and changing our business model to match.
Q. Did you pivot during the program?
Yes. We pivoted within the 4 weeks. We started out building a news app, pivoted to finance, then changed again to a finance platform. We kept changing direction. It was a tough process.
Q. What was the hardest assignment or mission?
US customer interviews. Peter told us to interview 5 people a day, and since we were aiming to enter the US, we felt interviews with US customers were important. But actually getting interviews with Americans on the calendar was really hard.
Q. How did you run the US customer interviews?
We did them over Zoom, and we sent a lot of cold emails. Since I’ve lived abroad for a long time, I also asked friends around me to help set up interviews.
Q. Is there any feedback from Peter that stuck with you?
Honestly, we weren’t working hard on customer interviews. We were more focused on building. That’s when Peter told us: “You’ve lived abroad. You know how boldly Americans just go for things. You know how hard YC teams hustle. You need to do the same.” That was a turning point for us.
Q. What are the 3 biggest things that changed after Founder Sprint?
- First, our business direction changed completely. We switched from B2C to B2B.
- Second, we generated real revenue.
- Third, we created a real possibility of raising investment.
Q. When did your first revenue come in?
During the extension program after Founder Sprint, we got paid $200 for a pilot for the first time. 2 to 3 weeks later, we also got paid a design partnership fee. Big revenue didn’t come right after that, but we built a lot together with that customer. Then we had revenue in February, and we’re trying to generate revenue again this summer.
Q. What did your fundraising look like before Founder Sprint?
We had only received a grant from the Pre-Startup Package (예비창업패키지), and we were hoping to raise a pre-seed round. At the time, I sent a lot of cold emails to investors, but not many replied, and I spent a lot of time wondering what the problem was. Founder Sprint helped me sort a lot of that out.
Q. How did the way you explain your company to investors change?
We used the one-liner we built together with Peter. Even bigger than that was how we approached storytelling and building traction. I got a lot clearer on how to appeal to investors.
Q. What changed most in your pitch deck?
We put the one-liner on the first page and our story on the second slide. Peter said it would be good to hook people with a story early on. So we put things like the story of reaching out to Tim Draper as a kid up front, then explained the problem. Traction went toward the back.
Q. How did investors respond differently after Founder Sprint?
When I sent cold emails in Korea, the response was much better. January Capital even reached out to us first after seeing a LinkedIn post. We started getting inbound interest from investors, both in Korea and overseas.
Q. Did your pipeline metrics change after Founder Sprint?
Yes. In Korea, we created 6 meeting opportunities and got replies from 4 of them. After that, we actually met with 3 companies, and we also had meetings with partner companies and judges. Inbound inquiries started coming in from overseas too. That was the biggest change.
Q. Have you been through government support programs or other programs before?
I took part once in the pre-founder track of the Startup-Centered University program (창중대).
Q. What was the biggest difference from Founder Sprint?
Other accelerator programs often felt a bit like going through the motions. Founder Sprint, on the other hand, gave feedback tailored to each founder and each team.
Peter gives feedback in a really honest and transparent way, and that was the biggest difference.
You could feel that he genuinely wanted to help.
Q. How hard was the program?
It started out a bit easier and gradually got harder. Some weeks were really tough, and the next week would be a little more relaxed, so there was a rhythm to it. I liked that we got to experience a lot of different things.
Q. What would you say to a founder who is considering Founder Sprint?
Just do it. What you get out of it depends completely on how actively you take part. If you really want to go global, use Peter as much as you can. If you keep asking questions and asking for help, he’ll help you a lot. The more actively you take part, the more satisfied you’ll be and the faster you’ll grow.
Q. What advice would you give yourself before Founder Sprint started?
I wish I had asked Peter a lot more questions. I was a bit passive back then, and whenever I didn’t know something, I should have asked right away. I’m still asking him questions even now that the program is over, and I think being able to keep getting help after you become an alum is a really big advantage.
Q. What’s the biggest conviction Founder Sprint gave you?
- First, conviction in our business model and in the process of building a company. I don’t think just anyone can run a program like Founder Sprint. Because Peter had walked that path before us, we could trust the direction he gave.
- Second, we gained data-driven confidence. Not vague confidence, but the conviction that “we’re heading in the right direction,” backed by customer interviews and real traction.
Q. What did you like about the Founder Sprint alumni community?
The best part is that there’s a chance to get together once every 6 months, like in summer or winter.
Offline events like Founder’s Day were really great.
I also like that I can stay in touch with Peter and send him regular updates. While preparing to raise, I got a ton of feedback and help from Peter.
For someone meeting investors for the first time, or meeting their first enterprise customer, getting real experience and insight that’s hard to find on the internet is a huge help.