The Postech Times had an exclusive interview with the alumnus Sang-Hyob Nam, CEO of the search engine company Buzzni. The opinion search engine was awarded first place at the National Institute of Standard and Technology, TREC 2008 Blog Track. Sang-Hyob Nam tells the secret to becoming a successful entrepreneur and app designer.

 

What are the strong points of searching for opinionated voices rather than facts?

When it comes to searching, traditional search engines are not convenient. Because they only show text matching with keywords, you need to read and figure out which match, and which do not. On the other hand, Buzzni categorizes opinionated data into pros and cons and shows remarks associated with the subject into a percentage meter. So, consumers can easily figure out what other people think about a certain topic, and thus make a wise decision. Since Buzzni draws information from blogs, internet cafes and bulletin boards, it provides an accurate presentation of what most people think.

 

What qualities are needed to be a successful entrepreneur?

It is a bit tricky to say, because I do not think I’m a successful businessman yet, but I am trying hard to be one. But the most important thing is “Acting Power.” There are many people who are smart and have good ideas, but not so many people with Acting Power, who choose appropriate ideas, then put them into practice. Once you have decided your aim and dream, the next step is to carry them out, and achieve them!

 

What advice can you give application developers?

When it comes to programming, it is best to improve your skills by programming lots of thing for fun. For me, it helped a lot to study in the KLE (Knowledge & Language Engineering) lab. Studying your interested fields in grad school also works well, because it provides a qualitative theoretical base.

 

Any last words for POSTECH students?

In POSTECH, there are so many brilliant students. I really hope you have your own dream, study hard, and achieve your dream.