Unlocalized

About Unlocalized

We interview founders and people who've built interesting things — and we ask them stuff most people don't. Not the fundraising story, not the company mission statement. We want to know what your actual day looked like when you had three people and no money. How you landed your first real client. What you spent your time on, what you'd do differently, and the specific habits and decisions that got you from zero to something. We think the most underrated part of any success story is the identity change that happened before anyone was paying attention. What were you actually doing every day? How were you thinking? That's what we dig into. Some guests are well-known founders. Some are people you've never heard of who've quietly built something impressive. We talk to people in Seoul, the Bay Area, and anywhere else where there's a good story. Hosted by Brian and Jay — two Korean Americans with a foot in both worlds. New episodes weekly.

Publisher

Brian Shin and Jay Lee

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Apr 2026

Latest episode

5 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

24 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Aug 2026

   How Kakao was Born Out of Naver (Naver Pt. 3)

   Join Jay and Brian as we discuss the third part of our Naver arc and how Kakao was born out of a defection from Naver. Kim Bum-soo, the founder of Kakao, used to be the co-CEO of NHN/Naver alongside Lee Haejin, the original founder and CEO of Naver. This is the story of how his defection led to the creation of Kakao, one of the two largest internet tech companies in Korea today, and what the differences in DNA are between Naver and Kakao based on how their businesses developed. — Follow us on Instagram: @UnlocalizedPod

2. 

   3 Aug 2026

   How Naver Beat Google in Korea (Naver Pt. 2)

   Join Brian and Jay for episode 2 of the Naver arc: how Naver survived the dot-com bust — the Lee Jun-ho hire and the Hangame merger — then built the Knowledge-iN walled garden that kept Google out of Korea for 20+ years, and how the new AI Tab is Naver's bet to win the AI era the same way it won the keyword era. -- Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/unlocalizedpod (https://instagram.com/unlocalizedpod)

3. 

   1 Jul 2026

   The Closest Thing to a Metaverse Isn't Coming From Meta - It's a Korean App

   Join Jay and Brian as we discuss Wrtn and their fast growth in Korea as one of the most popular chat storytelling apps. This episode is sponsored by Lux & Luna. Follow Lux & Luna on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luxandluna.official (https://instagram.com/luxandluna.official) Visit and order on their website: https://luxandluna.com (https://luxandluna.com)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Contact Unlocalized

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.