If You Know the Fundamentals Well, Stay True to Them
As I stepped onto the stage, our team members all started making some kind of motion, waving their hands awkwardly here and there.
They seemed to be trying to cheer me on, but because they were doing it so timidly, it just looked like nervous flailing.
Still, the sight of everyone doing it was so endearing that I couldn't help laughing.
Thanks to that, all the tension had gone out of me completely.
"Good afternoon. I'm Kim Siwon of TA Medical."
My presentation began with a confident voice, and from there it flowed smoothly.
Even without turning around, I could picture exactly how the slides behind me were arranged in my head.
They weren't slides I'd made in silence by myself; they were slides we had built together through repeated discussion with Seonghun-hyung, which made the content feel all the more thoroughly settled in both my head and my mouth.
"The pain points within health screening centers can be broadly divided into two categories."
More specific targets, and thanks to that, more specific strategies.
All I had to do was deliver those points one by one.
"From now on, through TA Medical, the early detection rate for cancer will rise further, as shown in the figures on the screen."
There were no grand claims about changing the world or bringing innovation to the medical field.
Specific market, specific target, specific goals, specific messages, specific actions, specific results.
And from that current situation, what strategies we had planned and how far we were actually carrying them out.
"Based on the strategies I have just outlined, we expect to surpass break-even within the next year, as the graph shows."
Even if I couldn't fill the room with dreamy talk because I was only dealing in evidence-based material, I could still use solid substance to carry the entire presentation slot.
"That has been TA Medical, opening a new chapter in medical diagnostics. Thank you."
I only slipped in something a little cringey at the very end.
It was a line Seonghun-hyung had insisted on including, so I added it at the last moment.
"It really does sound like technology that's opening a new chapter in medical diagnostics."
That was the first piece of feedback that came back.
Not bad.
"You said that with 2D images, you could diagnose cancer and other diseases, but what would you think about a technology that could render lung images in 3D and visually show the disease as well?"
The first question turned out to be something that sounded like it should have appeared much later.
It seemed the team that had just spoken before us had stuck in their minds and shaped the question they asked me.
"For us, the company that first firmly established the concept of diagnosing disease with AI, expanding our product lineup to 3D images would be more marketable. In hospitals, the most important thing is the basic ability to diagnose disease well."
At my answer, all the judges nodded.
Our company did not make products that boasted flashy visuals or generated huge profits right away.
But because our fundamentals were solid, our credibility didn't easily drop no matter which direction we expanded in.
That was our company's greatest strength.
"TA Medical probably can't charge very high fees for AI analysis. Will you be able to generate stable recurring revenue to sustain the business?"
"Yes. First of all, overseas medical volunteer organizations that are short on volunteers, health screening centers that have to review an overwhelming number of imaging files every day, and university hospitals that need higher diagnostic accuracy even if that makes the screening cost non-covered all seem to be showing active interest in TA Medical."
Every question that came in set off a flood of answers from me.
No matter how much I trimmed it down, there was still a lot to say.
Since none of it was nonsense, the judges had no reason to cut me off.
That meant there was no chance of a surprise follow-up question, either.
"All right. Thank you for your hard work."
As soon as the Q&A ended, I smiled and bowed.
It would have been hard to do any better than that.
"As expected, Siwon."
"How can you keep getting better?"
"That must have been tough. You worked hard."
As soon as I returned to my seat, everyone leaned over to offer me quiet words of encouragement.
The next team was almost immediately called up, so I didn't say much in return and just smiled at them.
"Our goal is to upcycle colored plastics that are being discarded all over the world but are difficult to recycle."
A lot of the teams' ideas were genuinely public-minded.
There were many concepts centered on the environment, on the poor, on the world's problems.
"But would people who don't care about the environment actually use this product?"
Yet most of those ideas lacked business viability, or else had flaws in the product itself.
In effect, they were trying to patch over their own shortcomings with a noble cause.
On the other hand, there were also ideas with strong business potential but no larger mission behind them.
Of course, many of those still had good ideas.
"QF Technology. I understand you have similar competitors in logistics. What is QF Technology's advantage over them?"
"It recognizes objects faster and more accurately. I'll show you through Appendix 2 of the supporting materials."
QF Technology, which had already stood out during the preliminary round, was also putting on a strong showing this time.
Clearly, their materials this time were much more solid and of higher quality than the ones they had presented before.
"A six percent improvement over competitors is a bit vague."
"Exactly. Didn't TA Medical say something about nearly a thirty percent improvement in accuracy over competitors?"
Unfortunately, the reaction around me was not especially positive.
Somehow, we kept being compared to our own presentation, and the judges also expressed similar disappointment in that context.
The same was true for the other teams' presentations.
Regrettably, it felt as though all the other teams were being undervalued because of the luck of the draw.
"Could the award results be decided by whatever fields the judges usually care about?"
"Ah, what if we don't win anything? Would that put us at a disadvantage?"
"Come on, we'll win something."
Our team was worried again that we might not come in first.
The stronger competing teams' materials seemed to have rattled them more than the preliminary round had.
"Don't worry too much and just watch calmly. There are still two teams left."
I soothed my teammates as best I could while keeping my eyes fixed on the stage.
A lot of teams went up, and a lot of teams came down.
Overall, the quality of the presentations really had improved since the preliminaries.
There wasn't a single team in the Q&A who completely fumbled and stumbled over their words.
Everyone managed to build some kind of logic and answer anyway.
Still, we had improved too, so there was no reason to be afraid.
"Thank you to all the participating teams for your hard work. While the judges are deliberating, we will now watch interview videos from last year's Startup Competition award winners."
This time, instead of a break during the judges' discussion, they played interviews with the award winners.
“Hello, we are Penergy, a company reducing the carbon footprint generated by incinerating plastic.”
They introduced each team one by one, from the grand prize winners to the encouragement prize winners, and showed how those teams were doing now.
What impressed me was that every winning team from last year was still carrying on their business this year.
"It's almost all focused on barrier-free services or environmental issues, isn't it?"
"Then this year, the odds of that side taking the grand prize are lower."
"The fact that not a single medical team appeared at all also feels like a good sign."
I could hear Seonghun-hyung and Jaeyun-nim whispering to each other.
I smiled as if I hadn't heard them.
It wasn't an absolutely perfect inference, but it wasn't irrelevant either.
"Yes, the list of winners has now been handed to me."
The moment the video ended, the emcee came back on stage and got straight to the point.
Fortunately, there was no dragging things out.
"First, regardless of today's results, I'd like to thank every team here for giving such excellent presentations."
After a short cushion of courtesy, the emcee began calling out the winning teams one by one.
"The encouragement prize winners for this year's Startup Competition finals are MZG Company! Congratulations!"
Celebratory music rose in the background, followed by the winning team's trembling acceptance remarks.
"Thank you, sincerely."
They were a game company.
But they seemed to have earned high marks for developing educational games for people with developmental disabilities, and for raising the reliability of their games through the participation of experts.
Even the winning team sounded as though they couldn't believe they had won, their voices shaking violently.
"Then let's continue with the awards."
The next awards proceeded without incident as well.
Teams whose technology stood out and teams with guaranteed profitability were called up, and the ceremony went on in an atmosphere where everyone, though disappointed, could at least accept the results.
At last, the award presentation for the most important category we had all been waiting for began.
"And now, I will announce the team receiving the grand prize."
Now even I felt a little tense.
"In fact, this year, from the preliminary round onward, the competition had been so fierce that the judges said it was difficult to choose just one grand prize winner."
The emcee said a lot of nice things, but all of us were far more eager for the winner announcement that would come at the very end.
Fortunately, the emcee's chatter didn't last more than a minute.
"All right, then, the grand prize winner of this year's Startup Competition finals is!"
Drumrolls filled the hall, and everyone on site was holding their breath.
Then the emcee let the silence hang for a moment longer before pointing toward our side and shouting the winning team.
"TA Medical! Congratulations!"
Firecrackers burst and applause thundered from every direction.
My face immediately filled the live online broadcast screen, and I walked quickly toward the stage where my own face was now on display.
"Then let's hear the feedback from the chair of the judging panel."
"Yes. TA Medical seems to have presented a new paradigm in the field of disease diagnosis, something that truly anyone may need someday."
The chair's feedback went on for quite a while.
But the fact that all of it was packed with praise was deeply satisfying.
"As you said in your presentation, I hope you grow into a company that takes responsibility for patients, from early diagnosis all the way to early treatment."
"Thank you."
I bowed politely, and then a photo was taken of me shaking hands with the chair.
"You have all worked incredibly hard until now. Thank you for the wonderful presentations, and we all hope to meet every company that participated here next year with even better news. With that, the Startup Competition is now concluded."
Amid the applause, the Startup Competition came to a complete close, and then came a long photo session.
"Are we going to a party today too?"
"Going, going~"
"Is this a team dinner?"
The excited voices of my team members reached me, and I nodded with confidence.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll be busy again, so let's go eat something expensive today."
From tomorrow on, things were going to get unbelievably busy.
It was time for real money to start moving.