The $337B Samsung story

Hey, it's Guy & Farzan.

Sydney's been hammered with rain all week. While my daughters are off conquering Europe, I've been conquering their bedrooms with a paintbrush. Walls, ceilings, endless taping. It's methodical work. The kind where your mind wanders and good ideas sneak up on you. Weirdly I’ve been enjoying it.

Speaking of good ideas... let's dive into this week's founder stories.

Reading time: 8.5 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 2 founder notes

 Founder story 1 

The Story Lee Byung-chul & Samsung: From Fish Shop to 20% of South Korea’s GDP.

From a 1938 grocery store to 20% of South Korea's GDP: How one man's vision transformed a war-torn nation into a global tech powerhouse over 85 Years.

The journey
- Started as a 28-year-old dropout from Korea's aristocratic Yangban class
- Launched Samsung Trading Company in 1938 selling noodles and dried fish from a small storehouse
- Survived the Korean War by pivoting to sugar refining and flour production
- Built Samsung into one of Korea's largest companies by the 1950s
- Expanded into banking, insurance, cement, and fertiliser in the 1960s
- Entered electronics in 1969 with black-and-white televisions
- Passed leadership to son Lee Kun-hee in 1987, who revolutionised quality standards

The evolution of vision
- 1938: "Let's build a trading company that shines like three stars forever"
- 1950s: "Give people what they need during wartime - calories and essentials"
- 1960s: "Align with government industrialisation to lift Korea from poverty"
- 1970s: "Hardware and electronics are the future of business"
- 1987: "Change everything except your wife and kids - we will be world-class"
- 2000s: "Whoever controls the chips controls the digital economy"
- 2025: "AI assistants and advanced semiconductors will power the future"

Overcoming obstacles
- Navigated Japanese colonial rule and limited opportunities for Koreans
- Lost initial rice milling investment when regional markets collapsed
- Rebuilt company from scratch after Korean War destroyed offices and infrastructure
- Faced government crackdowns on monopolies and forced divestiture of bank holdings
- Overcame reputation as low-quality manufacturer through dramatic quality initiatives
- Competed head-to-head with Apple despite billions in patent lawsuit settlements
- Managed transition through three generations of family leadership

Today's impact
- $300+ billion in annual group revenues
- 20% of South Korea's GDP at peak influence
- #1 global smartphone brand by shipments
- 28.3% share of world TV market (19-year streak)
- #1 memory chip manufacturer globally
- $66.5 billion in semiconductor revenue (2024)
- 200 million devices running Galaxy AI

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Strategic Pivoting: Continuously evolved from trading to manufacturing to technology based on market needs
- Government Alignment: Partnered with Korea's industrialisation policies while maintaining independence
- Quality Revolution: Publicly burned 150,000 defective products to signal commitment to excellence
- Vertical Integration: Built capabilities across entire supply chains from components to finished products
- R&D Investment: Tripled research and development spending to compete with global leaders
- Market Timing: Entered semiconductors and smartphones at inflection points
- Global Expansion: Built factories and partnerships worldwide while maintaining Korean identity

Key Milestones
- 1938: Founded Samsung Trading Company selling groceries and dried fish
- 1950s: Survived Korean War and became one of Korea's largest companies
- 1969: Launched Samsung Electronics with black-and-white televisions
- 1978: Produced 5 millionth television and entered semiconductor manufacturing
- 1987: Lee Kun-hee took control and initiated quality transformation
- 1993: Burned 150,000 defective products in public quality demonstration
- 2013: Briefly overtook Apple in global smartphone market share
- 2017: Became world's #1 chipmaker
- 2024: Investing $17+ billion in Texas chip manufacturing facilities

The philosophy

"Change everything except your wife and kids. We will not be a second-rate company anymore." - Lee Kun-hee's famous directive to executives in 1993

"I see this as building infrastructure for an entire nation. Samsung isn't just a company - it's a vehicle for lifting Korea out of poverty and into the future." - Reflecting Lee Byung-chul's original vision

"The unsexy stuff builds empires. It's not always about the shiny pitch deck. Sometimes it's about sitting in a clean room, sweating over thermal conductivity." - The semiconductor strategy that created lasting competitive advantage

Founder story 2

How this husband-wife duo built a $900K open-source business in 18 months

The story
Mark and Iuliia bootstrapped Papermark (an open-source DocSend alternative) from a weekend project to $75K MRR in just 1.5 years.

Key numbers
- Started with a viral tweet (100K views)
- $75K MRR after 18 months
- 30,000 users, 3,000 paying customers
- 800,000 document views processed

Why Open Source works
- Highly defensible
- Can't be undercut when core product is free
- Zero barrier to entry
- Easy customer acquisition
- Community-driven R&D
- Contributors accelerate development
- Built-in trust
- Auditable code builds credibility

Business model
- Free self-hosted version
- Paid hosted version for non-technical users
- Enterprise licenses for advanced features

Growth strategy
- Building in public on social media
- Participating in open-source events (Hacktoberfest)
- Out-shipping slow incumbents with community velocity

Bottom line
Open source isn't just about free software - it's a powerful business model that can create defensible moats and accelerated growth when executed correctly.

Founder story 3

See how Shawn built Vecteezy into a global creative platform with 800,000 monthly user and $20M in revenue.

The journey
- Graduated from Brock University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts
- Worked as a graphic designer before moving to Kentucky for internet marketing role
- Started Brusheezy.com in 2007, offering free Photoshop brushes
- Launched Vecteezy.com for vector graphics as immediate follow-up
- Built both platforms from personal frustration with scattered free design resources
- Relocated from Ontario, Canada to Bowling Green, Kentucky to pursue entrepreneurship

The evolution of vision
- 2007: "Why can't I find quality free design resources in one place?"
- 2010: "Let's create a platform that pays creators fairly while serving designers"
- 2015: "We need to democratize creative resources for everyone"
- 2020: "Legal protection and quality curation must be our differentiators"
- 2025: "We're simplifying the creative process with 60M+ assets and AI tools"

Overcoming obstacles
- Hit homepage of Digg.com early on, creating massive traffic spike overnight
- Initially spread focus across multiple projects instead of doubling down
- Had to learn not to chase "shiny objects" and concentrate on what worked
- Realized "free" wasn't enough - needed legal safety and commercial licensing
- Transitioned from solo founder to building proper team with employees
- Balanced being part of target audience while scaling beyond personal needs

Today's impact
- $20 million total revenue in 2025
- 800,000 registered user accounts monthly
- 20 million website visitors per month
- 60+ million creative assets in library
- 56 employees across the organisation
- 4.9 TrustScore with users and brands

Growth strategies that worked
- Organic Search Optimisation: Invested heavily in SEO and content library expansion
- Freemium Model: Offered substantial free content to build trust before monetization
- Quality Curation: Manual review of every asset to ensure high standards Legal
- Protection: Collected proper model and property releases even for free resources
- Fair Creator Compensation: Paid contributors even for free downloads, unlike competitors
- Community Building: Stayed connected to design forums and social media conversations

Key milestones
- Started with few hundred dollar investment, profitable within first month
- Hit Digg.com homepage in early days, driving thousands of daily visitors
- Launched Vecteezy Pro in 2010 with premium subscription model
- Developed AI-powered background removal and template editing tools
- Achieved $9/month unlimited download pricing as industry's best value
- Built team of 56 employees after years of solo operation

The philosophy

"Focus is everything. You win when you focus. It's easy to get distracted as an entrepreneur because we live off the excitement of ideas, but spreading yourself thin is not the way to scale a business."

"Always answer 'Why?' It's easy to get caught up in the how and when and lose sight of real direction and results. Come back to the question 'Why are we doing this?' frequently."

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky. "This has been my favourite quote for years. As a hockey fan and entrepreneur, it perfectly captures the importance of taking action. So many people have great ideas but never pursue them."

 Founder note from Marshall Haas

I’m 35. What would I tell my 20-year-old self?

Not much.

Because if I knew how hard the journey would be, I might not have started.

Imagine a "career day" where they tell you what it's like to be a doctor.

They talk about med school, long hours, and the potential salary.

Now, imagine an entrepreneur stepping up and saying:

- "You’ll probably fail at 30 different ideas before one works."
- "You’ll doubt yourself more times than you can count."
- "It will be brutal."

Would you still go for it?

Truth is, grit is a requirement.

But there’s also beauty in being naïve.

That blind optimism that says, “Screw it, I’ll try anyway.”

If I had known how hard it would be, I might have hesitated.

And that hesitation would have cost me everything.

So what’s my advice?

Go for it, man.

Jump in, get punched in the face, learn, adapt, and keep pushing.

The struggle is part of the process.

 A founder note we loved

That’s us for today. Have a good week.

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See ya.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo