Jihoon Rim

Biography

Jihoon Rim is an adjunct professor at NYU Stern School of Business, having previously served as a full-time Visiting Professor of Management.

He began his tech career in 2003 and has been a venture capitalist for a decade. In 2012, he founded KCube Ventures, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the most reputable VCs in South Korea. The inaugural $10M fund returned over $1B to investors (100X+, 10-year IRR ~70%), making it the best-performing VC fund ever in South Korea.

In 2015, Jihoon was appointed CEO of Kakao Corp., a renowned tech company best known for its mobile messenger KakaoTalk and valued at tens of billions of dollars. Taking the helm during a company crisis, he led a remarkable turnaround, propelling Kakao to expand its business into finance, content, and mobility industries by launching user-acclaimed products. He also made significant investments in Artificial Intelligence and technology, solidifying Kakao's position as the leading mobile platform in Korea. During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, Kakao’s revenue and operating profit doubled, and the $1.6B acquisition of LOEN Entertainment was hailed as one of the best M&As in the Korean tech industry.

Professor Rim’s exceptional achievements have garnered prestigious accolades, including ranking first in the "2017 Korea's Best CEO" survey by Insight Korea, a news organization. He was also recognized as one of "2018 Korea's Top 10 Heroes" by MBN, Korea's largest business media group. Additionally, he received the Leadership Excellence Award from the Association for Information Systems.

Prior to Kakao and KCube Ventures, Jihoon worked at Softbank Ventures Asia, the investment arm of Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank Corp., The Boston Consulting Group, and Naver, Korea's No.1 search portal. He holds an engineering degree from KAIST and earned his Doctorate in Business Administration from Baruch College in 2022.

Through his philanthropic organization, the Jihoon Rim Foundation, Professor Rim mentors and grants scholarships to college students. He also advises the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on antitrust matters involving technology companies.

Courses Taught

• Founding a Startup (MBA)
• Managing a High-Tech Company: The CEO Perspective (MBA)
• Technology & Entrepreneurship (TRIUM EMBA)

Academic Background

DBA, 2022
Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business, CUNY

B.S., Industrial Engineering, 2004
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

Awards & Appointments