'I want to be Jack Ma of YouTube'

Mobile content startup Next Makers provides a YouTube "marketplace platform service" that helps both brands and creators. / Screen capture from Next Makers homepage

Next Makers CEO links UCC to sponsors

By Lee Min-hyung

Next Makers CEO Joey Lee

With the advent of the Internet, traditional marketing tactics, such as television commercials featuring celebrities, became less effective as customers started turning to online reviews, says Joey Lee, the CEO of mobile content startup Next Makers.

He believes in the power of YouTube as a trusted source for product reviews.

“A teenage girl can have as much impact as a global celebrity on YouTube,” Lee, 32, said.

“Brands are realizing the importance of YouTube content creators, as they create positive word-of-mouth on the Web. Meanwhile, such creators also want to make money with their videos. Next Makers provides a YouTube ‘marketplace platform service’ that helps both brands and creators.”

Creators who sign up on the Next Makers website can make their contents available for purchase to advertisers, Lee said.

After launching in May 2015, Next Makers first attracted investment from global venture investment company Sparklabs. Since then, domestic firms have shown interest in the business. “For now, our biggest partner is LG,” he said.

“About 99 percent of companies around the world do not have significant brand value like Samsung or Apple,” he added. “That’s why a product distribution strategy is very important. I hope that more Korean companies can compete on the global stage with our service.”

Before founding the company, Lee worked at Samsung Electronics’ marketing department for six years, during which he achieved some great feats: winning first prize at the company’s venture competition and making yakgwa (traditional Korean deep-fried cookies) with a 3D printer.

“My experience as a Samsung global marketer helped me launch the service,” he said. “Conglomerates like Samsung spend an enormous amount of money on marketing and advertising. But later, I realized that people do not enjoy watching well-made content, but rather are attracted to funny and informative YouTube videos. That’s when I decided to leave the company and start my own business.”

He said his ultimate dream is to become the Jack Ma of the content industry.

“Like what Jack Ma did with Alibaba, we want to build a new ecosystem, where small content sellers can grow and buyers can benefit from quality contents,” he said. “For the time being, we are focusing on building the ecosystem. We don’t want our business to become too commercialized.”

“Singer PSY’s videos have garnered more than two billion views on YouTube. I hope that Next Makers becomes a platform on which a second and third PSY can emerge.”

Lee also shared some tips for young aspiring entrepreneurs.

“The government is encouraging more young people to run startups,” he said. “I don’t want them to lose this opportunity to start businesses. Creating startups has become something of a trend around the world.”

“The manufacturing industry in Korea is declining, as we cannot compete with our Chinese counterparts’ cheap labor. That’s why I turned my eyes toward the content industry.”