Joseph Shin - Milgard School of Business

An Entrepreneurs Journey

December 26, 2022

Milgard School of Business welcomes Dr. Joseph Shin

Joseph's journey begins in the “small” town of Daegu, a major city in southern part of South Korea. He soon learned life will bring surprises. He would attend elementary through high school in Nebraska, UK, Korea, and Kansas, then college in Korea and San Francisco. No doubt Joseph synthesized his experiences at various schools where learning required both English and Korean. Life among farmers in small town Nebraska and Kansas could be a dramatic contrast with South Korea’s “small towns” of a million or more people.

Shin shares the evolution of his second startup first.

While attending University in Korea, Joseph partnered with a couple of friends who had invented a sensor that is cost-effective and does not harm the liquid. Applying the sensor technology, they developed a Smart Tumbler that could monitor the intake of various liquids. A critical tool for recording, quantifying and reporting the consumption of contents such as sugar in the case of diabetic or total calories in the case of people going on diets. It worked. And they were able to attract venture capital.

They sold over 300,000 units selling out twice. Eventually they were able to market and sell the concept. All proprietary knowledge, intellectual property and technical expertise has been transferred to an international buyer.

Shin expanded to the US doing research and business at the same time. He wanted a better understanding of the world. While at Berkeley in 2014 and the San Francisco Bay area, he found hints in research. He was part of National research R&D projects which led him to apply for the PH.d program. There he learned about trending, state-of-the-art research. Foster’s global reputation attracted him to the Northwest and he taught there for a few years. Now at the UW Tacoma with class sizes smaller than Foster, he's been pleasantly surprised by Milgard School of Business student enthusiasm.

The Path

Now, more than ever, students are anxious to find their place in the world. Shin’s early determination and true passion to help students discover and nurture their own strengths is uniquely valuable. He understands the path for finding your own resilience. He’s been there. Milgard School of Business is happy to welcome Dr. Joseph Shin to the faculty. 

Milgard School of Business - Development of a Product

“I wasn’t expecting high level participation or very active in-class discussion. They want to talk about what they think. Smaller class sizes can help students speak up. It’s more intimate, more interactive."

Shin insists students become self-aware, learning important lessons about yourself, and possibly the most important, how you react to failure. Discovering life lessons within a setback or rejection. Shin is teaching TMGMT474: Entrepreneurship: Idea Development in the Spring quarter, and TBUS 400: Strategic Management and Public Policy in the Autumn quarter.

“After each class, students submit key take away notes. I like it when they report learning new things - often about themselves. It's not about getting grades or points but to learn new things, something they didn’t know before.”

Milgard School of Business - Joseph Shin Early Product

Joseph Shin and colleagues created an app: "Buddy Up"

A Passion for Finding Yourself in the Journey

Shin’s early history of creating companies while still a college student in Korea is a testament to his organic passion for invention. And a prelude to his future success.

His first product was designed to address common problems students everywhere face. What to study? What is my strength? Where is my passion? He noticed fellow students only focusing on salaries and what might pay the most. Not considering what might be a better fit for their interests, talents and long term success. The product was a diagnostic questionnaire. It was developed, tested with student peers and refined. Joseph was inventing among the very students he had a passion to help. In addition to  the questionnaire, a video was created (which was innovative in the early 2000’s) and injected fun by game-a-fying it. Interactions with major employers such as Samsung, LG, Korean Air, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson provided useful guidelines. A book "Trial and error. Learning by Failing" was created and captured  much of the genius gathered for the interactive product. Easy to see why Shin is a very popular professor. Helping students find their passion is truly his passion!

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