If you were a foreign digital founder entering Korea today, what would you do first?
Cutting through all the advice — if you were starting fresh as a foreign digital founder entering Korea, what would your actual first moves be?
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Honest answer, in order. First, validate demand before you touch incorporation or visas. Run a localized landing page, a small ad test, a waitlist — get real signal that Korean users want this. Most of the legal and visa pain is only worth enduring once you know there's something here. Second, find one trusted local person early — co-founder, first hire, or advisor. Not a vendor. Someone whose incentives align with yours. Korea rewards inside knowledge and punishes guessing. Third, respect the validation-market nature of Korea: fast adoption, fast churn, loud reviews. Instrument everything, watch the data, and let Korean users' actual behavior — not your assumptions from other markets — drive your roadmap. The mistake I see most: founders front-load the bureaucracy — entity, visa, office — and back-load the demand test. Flip it. The paperwork will still be there after you've proven someone wants the thing.