The latest Korean Drama or K-Drama craze has hit the country and other parts of the world with the airing of “Start-Up”. Different fan groups of the lead characters were quick to get hyped up, but even non-fans got hooked with the love triangle story that had been a common plot for as long as we can remember, yet we can’t get enough of it.
But besides the obviously enthralling love story, the series is packed with lessons that millennials and young professionals should take note of. Lessons that go beyond love; investments and start-up businesses.
As kids, we grew up with the idea that as long as we take care of our studies and remain competitive in our academics, we will have a bright future ahead of us. Which isn’t a lie. But what we failed to learn while we were young is that the path to success isn’t as straight as what our storybooks have led us to believe. The reality of life usually kicks in when we reach our 20s, thus the term “adulting” came in. Transitioning from the idealistic world of our childhood and the wildness of our teenage to the grueling reality of adulthood could be overwhelming, and even the most promising prodigies can get lost in their paths. For this reason, the show intends people to see that being lost isn’t the endgame, but rather a bump in the road that we need to traverse. No one can be considered a complete failure because there’s still too much to be explored and too much to discover. Most of the time, these major bumps in the road make us see that our paths may not be conveniently straight, but the twists and turns often lead us to where exactly we have to be.
In life, it’s true that one can’t please everybody. The same goes for running companies. A good person would like everyone to be happy with where they are and what they receive. But this can hardly be applied in running a company. As much as you want this, it is impossible to achieve. A CEO should work not to please every employee but to make decisions, no matter how risky or hard for the betterment of the company as a whole. A good CEO is someone willing to take responsibility for the decisions he or she makes.
Just as much as we would like to believe that the corporate world is a friendly place, we have to be very critical with our business affairs, particularly as young professionals. It may be bad to be very cynical up to a point of being pessimistic with everything and everyone, but being extra careful before signing anything will help us in finding the right partner, right clients, and right investors. If a deal is too good, it is definitely a good thing to consult another professional who holds expertise in this matter to give the deal a new interpretation and perspective. Since millennials are still considered new to this stage, finding people to trust and learn from is just as important as enhancing your technical skills.
We were taught from a young age that as long as we excel in Science and Math, we would excel later on in our lives. Usually, the noisy ones are perceived as the kids who will not do very well outside school. But in reality, and after gaining maturity, we realize that this is not always the truth. Our noisy classmates in the past are often the charismatic employees now with the capability and potential to lead teams and companies. This further proves the importance of every part of the team, with varying expertise and strengths in different areas.
One of the most important lessons in the whole series is establishing the reason why you do what you’re doing. Whether it’s for financial reasons, for your dreams, or simply to prove something, this reason would fuel you, especially in the rough times. In a very interconnected world where success became the measurement for your status as a person, it is very easy to get lost doing what society wanted us to do just to be considered successful. The very coveted word is by itself also a reason why so many millennials right now are lost.
The series tells its viewers that it is easier to go through the difficulties as long as the vision, goal, and reason for persevering is clear. Just like in the corporate world, a company has no identity without its vision, mission and goals.
Transitioning from the safety nets of dependency to independent adulthood can indeed be overwhelming. When we were kids, we are often asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and we always answer with confidence and a strong sense of aspiration making it seem so easy to someday reach our dreams. But when reality hits, it’s always disheartening to see that no matter how prepared we think we are, there are still so many things that our future experiences are yet to teach us. Adulthood is realizing that we can never really be fully equipped, but we continue moving forward nevertheless. Adulthood doesn’t mean we don’t get scared anymore, but understanding that fear is natural and it shouldn’t stop us.
Start-up as a TV series is so fun and compelling because it greatly depicts the struggles and yet the potential for success for every young professional. It shows the funny side, the romantic side, and the confusing areas that we always find hard to deal with. But more importantly, it is packed with pragmatic life and career lessons that would come very handy in this period in our lives.