TmaxSoft ready to take on global giants: Page 2 of 2

Getting ‘geniuses’ on board
 
TmaxSoft Singapore’s Kim said that in South Korea, the company ranks as one of the top preferred places to work for many graduates, with the facilities and perks offered to its staff a big attraction and point of envy.
 
“We provide a good environment for employees and are the envy of other sectors in the level of investment we put into our people,” he claimed.
 
TmaxSoft has a very strong focus on research, courtesy of founder Park’s background, having developed the company’s first product Tmax while working as a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
 
About 20% of the company’s annual revenue gets invested back into research and development (R&D), with Park sharing that in 2013, that percentage was slightly higher, between 20% and 30%. In addition, over a third of the company’s total workforce of just under 600 is in R&D.
 
It also attracts top talent from South Korea’s universities, with Park claiming that many of the company’s researchers and scientists are “genius level,” doing work in systems software and infrastructure developments.
 
Asked if he’s observed any generational differences in the attitude of young versus older engineers, Park – who still spends the bulk of his time doing research – said that the trend with young systems engineers especially is about the value they bring.
 
“They’re not complaining about hard work, with most willing to work hard even on weekends but they are worried about revenue, how they can get a return on investment on the work and solutions they develop,” he said.
 
It is here that Park believes TmaxSoft distinguishes itself as an employer and enterprise solutions company, as it has a revenue-sharing model with its employees.
 
“All profits are shared with all. Our employees are devoting their life to the software and you can't not share the income with employees, especially the research and development guys, when they cannot share in a company’s success, nor grow with it.
 
“TmaxSoft has grown solely from the money gained from the sale of our products, with no investment from third parties, and our staff are willing to devote their time to achieving goals because of the rewards when we share the profits with them,” he argued.
 
He believes that the royalties and incentives system the company utilises for its research and engineering division is the future.

Company targets, personal dreams
 
2017 will mark TmaxSoft’s 20th anniversary and Park has set a target milestone to achieve by then – to hit US$1 billion in revenue. The company reported 71.1 billion won (US$65.8 million) in revenue in 2013.
 
“There is no major company in the enterprise software space that is really from Asia, with most of the big players from the United States, and I believe we can be that company,” he declared.
 
Hitting the target will also enable Park to fund one of his dreams: To establish the most preeminent private high-tech university in South Korea in a space dominated by high profile public universities – a project he hopes to officially kick off in 2018.
 
Park’s vision of this university will see a maximum intake of 100 students a year, with no tuition fees to be paid but rather a salary of US$50,000 per year per student to support their research and learning.
 
“I want to change the education system in Korea, and the private education system especially, and to adapt and incorporate best practises. There will be a high standard for intake and students will be free to push the boundaries in their research, because even geniuses aren’t always offered opportunities to pursue their goals.
 
“The cost of funding this school will work out to about US$200 million a year and it is an amount I’m willing to invest,” he shared.
 
It is seems a fitting project for a man who professes to have not watched a movie in the last 35 years, choosing instead to devote the bulk of his time to research, with sports (marathons especially) as his chosen form of recreation.
 
“I have no children so I have no one to share my wealth with; so I will share it with my company, my employees, and the next generation of researchers and scientists,” he quipped.
 
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