2025 Q2
Passed CFA Level III
On April 22, an email arrived. I passed CFA Level III. Of course, because I barely have any work experience in the finance sector, I’m far away from actually putting CFA on my business card.
I started Level I on February 2023. Didn’t put much thought into it, but I wanted to catch up to the fancy finance senpais that I had admired back then. Maybe because I’m used to studying for tests with the KSAT memories, It was an easy pass - was at the top 1%.
By mid 2024, which is when I passed Level II, my passion for startups was getting hotter than ever. So I pondered whether I should finish Level III or not. It was pretty obvious that I wouldn’t be working in asset management or banks. But oh well, Not going for it felt like not finishing up a master’s degree. Maybe it’s stupid to spend almost 10,000 dollars on a charter that I may never gain. However, I was sure that the knowledge (or its name-value) will help me out at some point. It was actually not such a hard study, because I had an easy semester planned out anyways.
So anyways, passing Level III has absolutely no impact on my life right now. Maybe I could’ve been bragging around a bit more if I was working as an analyst. However, what was waiting for me the next day was how to better ZUZU Investor Matching Service to increase its WAU. Maybe I should make it into some impact. What if I studied businesses in my own time, so that my knowledge of finance meets the area of application?
Becoming the head of Y-Ventures
Yonsei has so much potential. There are plenty of brilliant young minds that can make amazing products, service, and change in the way in which people live. There are already so many amazing early-stage teams that will become even more spectacular with just the right support. I believe so deep inside my heart, so I really wish to create an amazing institution that has the knowledge accumulated from inter-generational interactions.
Not only that, but I also believe that the time in university is the best period for anyone to become an outlier. With enough experience to at least begin with something, but still having some originality within them, whatever they want to accomplish could actually be carried out according to the methods that they feel is right.
Everybody knows Korean students are some of the smartest kids in the globe, right? If they were suddenly dropped amongst SF based founders, they would compete as hard as they can and become winners. We’re in the wrong environment. We live according to how the older generation wants us to. That’s not how we catch up with the modern world. I have a dream where universities could actually become a hub with overflowing new challenges and experiments.
That’s the goal I have with Y-Ventures. We don’t want to just make a cliche alumni fund. We are going to accelerate the school. Accelerate the bright minds to be able to use new technology like toys.
BTW, I didn’t overthrow Sunwoo. He’s just too busy right now, but he’ll come back once he finds his place.
Joining ZUZU (Kodebox) as full-time
I’m an economics major with a business minor. How in the world would I be able to work with SaaS products and brainstorm specs? That was my initial thought when I was looking for my first job. I love the fact that I’m not just able to run the product and speak with customers, but also grind on how to improve user flow, find appropriate query for data analysis, and decide on priorities of specs to be worked on.
My JD is CEO Staff, but I work like a product owner. More like, my CEO makes me work like one. That’s what I liked the most about working in ZUZU. So it was an easy decision to start full-time, let this place be my first official career. I joked around to my colleagues that I would learn to do product design, possibly commit to git, and then leave for another job. Of course, my decision to leave would only come when there is a better place for me to be, but I genuinely believe the fact that I can confidently say that I would learn to design and code in my workplace is an advantage very hard to find from any other.
Testing my bandwidth
I honestly have so many things I want to do right now. I think I would go as far as possible, testing my bandwidth. Let’s see how I end my 2025. Rather than feeling like I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do for this year, I would want to feel like there were so many thing I wanted to do more but couldn’t finish.
Watch me. I’m going to do it well. “Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”
Best,
Bosung
2025 Q1
The restructuring of Y-Ventures
I'm a late joiner of Y-Ventures. The student-run accelerator of Yonsei was founded in March 2023 by my dear friend Sunwoo Park. Since then, it has accomplished great things: getting half of the teams from our own accelerating program, Boost, funded from amazing early-stage VCs of South Korea, founding two teams from Yonsei via a startup school program Y-Startup, and creating a network of Yonsei founders. I was granted a chance to be a part of the mission: facilitating Yonsei as a hub for startups, since November 2024.
Going forward, we had so much we wanted to do but had no one running the group full-time. Therefore, we needed a systemized structure and plan to make the best use of our time. So I asked our members if I could restructure the group into three parts: Accelerator, Academia, and Fund. Accelerator continues to do what Y-Ventures has been doing so far. Academia is working as a league of students who want to hop onto the study of venture capital. Fund is a more long-term project, but it will be in the form of an individual investment association.
So far, not much coming up from Accelerator. Academia, on the other hand, has been very busy. We recruited seven members as the first generation of YVA (Y-Ventures Academia in short). We had three sessions a week, diving into defining problems, testing out hypotheses, studying business models, and profound startups' journeys. Every member in our group was smart and unique, which led any discussion we had to be very fruitful and insightful. With Fund, three of the Accelerator members gained GP licenses, which now allows us to open a fund and gather LPs. We're creating a list of Yonsei founders and potential investors.
In the second quarter, venture scout project from Academia and VC Career Session from Accelerator are upcoming. Let's see how it goes!
Taking the last CFA Exam
On February 13, a day before my birthday, I took the CFA Level III exam. It wasn't as difficult as I have imagined. My guess is that I would safely pass. I started to prepare for CFA Level in January 2023. Back then, I had little to no understanding of how the investment ecosystem looks like. The only reason why I decided to take the exam was because I had enough time to, and a lot of my senpais recommended that I take it for a general understanding of finance.
On May 2023, I took CFA Level I exam. I passed. A year later, on May 2024, I took CFA Level II exam. I passed. However, by the time I received a pass for Level II, I was realizing that my core interest was not in equity investing or portfolio management. I wanted to invest in startups! However, it felt like starting a Master's degree and not finishing it. Unlike many of my friends with amazing talent who can make bold decisions to drop out for their own projects, I'm more of a risk-averse type. So, it felt more safe to continue on with the last exam and finish the curriculum.
The result is coming out on April 22. If I pass, there wouldn't even be a report card of my performance. Let's hope that I don't get one!
Starting work at ZUZU (Kodebox)
I started working at ZUZU, basically a Korean version of Carta + AngelList,. There are three teams: Core team that helps companies out with corporate management, Total Compensation team that deals with stock options and payrolls, and Investment Banking team that creates a platform matching VCs and startups. I joined the IB team to help startups meet investors that fit their profile with more ease.
Ever since Y-Ventures decided to raise funds, working for a venture capital firm was an option out of my boundaries. The conflict of interest was too present. Hence, I was finding a job that would suit me the best. I consider ZUZU and Y-Ventures a good fit. Not only am I able to observe how startups and investors actually interact with each other, but I also expect to meet the different kinds of startups and study them along the way. It's only been a month since I came here, so let's see how I find this job in the second quarter.
Going Forward
Studying CFA till the end, doing internships in private equity and consulting, then founding a finance community in Yonsei UIC, just don't add up to starting my career at a startup. However, I feel much happier with my life than before, as I know I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. Hopefully I can keep up the spirit even in the second quarter.
Best,
Bosung