Thanks to his father, a writer, Joonsoo Ryu grew up surrounded by manuscript paper. With piles of manuscript paper always around the house, young Joonsoo spent countless hours drawing comics, never tiring. As an adult, he once dreamed of creating a magazine focused on people’s careers, featuring individuals who had expressed their unique colors in their respective fields.

“My seven-year-old daughter subscribes to a children’s magazine, and she draws comics on postcards to send in. It’s like she wants to bring her own touch to it. I think creative expression is a fundamental part of human nature.”

Even with a clear vision, Joonsoo had a long period of wandering in his twenties before founding Conpapa.

The Dream of Becoming an Engineer

During his adolescence in the UK, he encountered many people unfamiliar with Korea. Seeing how companies like Samsung and Hyundai were changing the nation’s status, he aspired to start a tech-based company.

Living with robot magazines in hand, Joonsoo wanted to create humanoids. Seeking a school that allowed early graduation, he entered POSTECH to study mechanical engineering, diving deep into courses that brought robots like Honda’s ASIMO to life. When he graduated, he received an award given to the top five students. Although he was set to start graduate school and pursue engineering, he saw that it would take longer for robotics to blossom commercially. The research environment didn’t meet his expectations either, and it didn’t take him long to decide.

“I had no regrets about leaving engineering. I knew I had given it my all, and those years fueled my next attempt.”

Having given his best, he had no regrets. Joonsoo is a person of resilience.

The Tenacity of a Determined Man

Basketball was an important part of Joonsoo’s life. Since being captivated by it in fourth grade, he played every day for 15 years, practicing for two hours daily—more than 10,000 hours in total. He bought NBA coaching manuals and practiced with friends. During military service, he was the only KATUSA soldier to compete in the worldwide US Army basketball tournament. He was confident in his persistence.

After letting go of engineering, he embarked on a journey to find his path. He knew he could go deep once he found his passion, but his search took time. Joonsoo wanted to create something that brought novelty to the world, yet even as an analyst at Morgan Stanley, his thirst remained unquenched. Determined to try anything, he ventured into a travel startup, film, and magazine industries, constantly testing new ideas. After five years, he felt he had tried everything he could.

Then, he came across a strategy position at Unity Technologies, a global game engine developer. It seemed like the perfect fit for someone like Joonsoo, who craved novelty.

“American startup culture was familiar, but Nordic was not. Concepts like ‘YOLO’ and ‘hygge’ were just beginning to make their way to Korea. I felt I had to give it a shot.”

The startup culture in Denmark reflected exactly the type of company Joonsoo wanted to build. Unity was a leading engine for casual games but wasn’t widely known among the public, which he liked. He sensed immense growth potential. While overseeing the transition from a licensing model to SaaS at Unity, he gained insights into the IP creation business and developed his own perspective. He experienced how global customer needs were incorporated into products, how focus on stickiness increased loyal customers, and how the industry scaled, specialized, and evolved.

So when the opportunity to create webtoon software arose, he felt a strong conviction.

“Games and webtoons have a lot in common. As the market matures, there’s demand for specialized tools, but there aren’t yet vertical tools for webtoons.”

The medium of webtoons, full of novelty, and software for creators—this was Joonsoo’s area of expertise.

Everyone Has Their Own Novelty

“People seem to expand their identity as they pursue new things.”

Joonsoo dreams of transforming the unique qualities people around the world possess into diverse styles of content. Webtoons are just the starting point. Their first product, set for launch soon, has undergone numerous changes. Seeking to build a product customers could use in real scenarios, Joonsoo spent every day meeting with potential users and refining the product. With firm confidence in Conpapa’s direction and team, Joonsoo is more determined than ever.

The child who once drew comics on his father’s manuscript paper is now creating a world where his two children, his spouse, friends, and everyone can turn their own stories into content for everyone. With hopes for a more vibrant world.