VentureSquare sat down with Byungjoon Jung of NewsJelly, a data visualizations startup that also took second place at the Startup Nomad demo day in Silicon Valley. We chatted about his experiences with the program as well as his plans to take over the world.

What do men and women prefer to drink? Which subways have the best and worst air conditions? If you open a food business, how long will you be able to sustain business?

Many of us turn to the internet to try and solve some of life’s most common mysteries. What if you could look at every single click-worthy story in a single glance. NewsJelly is a startup that simplifies large data sets into visual content. Their solution reassembles internet data into a visualization like an infograph that tells a more approachable story.

“Our startup name comes from the idea of taking the hard nature of data and making it into a much more softer and moldable likeness, like jelly. No matter what your question is, we provide a visual solution as a service.”

Infographics have become popular forms of viral content. Newsjelly aims to create content with high share rates on social networks. Despite being live for only three months, the service already gained 20,000 visitors with little marketing.

Before NewsJelly, Jung worked in artificial intelligence research and found similarities to the techniques in analyzing big data sets. After graduating and working overseas on data-related work, Jung eventually wanted to tackle solving big data with a solution of his own.

“Originally, I planned on working in the field until my 40s or 50s. But lately, a lot of entrepreneurs started forming and there was a lot of support going around. I wanted to gain experience fast and that’s how I ended up forming NewsJelly.”

Despite only forming three months ago, NewsJelly already sees a steady stream of revenue by providing services to various marketing groups. However, their ultimate goal is to become a consumer friendly service, not just an analytics solution.

“We have a tool called JellyLab that we’ve been gradually opening up to users. It let’s them collect data, analyze it, and create visuals on their own. Though it’s still in test phase, we’re continuing to build and refine the service.”

NewsJelly and Ivyberry’s Cousto team both tied for second place at the Keiretsu Forum demo day, receiving praise and enthusiasm from the audience. However, Joon also recalled some of the harder questions that were asked in particular to his team.

“Whereas many startups were asked prospective questions about their early stages, we were critiqued with more detailed inquiries. Though a lot of people were interested in our solutions, questions about our marketing plan, how we were going to invest and hire people and grow our team… it was very detailed.”

“…questions about our marketing plan, how we were going to invest and hire people and grow our team… it was very detailed.”

‘Source Code for You’ was another popular workshop for the Startup Nomad participants. The session was designed to help participants leverage their experiences and talents in writing their business plans and presentations.

“The process was actually really effective. People were able to utilize all sorts of experiences and I think it’s going to be helpful later down the line even after Startup Nomad.”

When asked about his plans for the future, Joon answered:

“I want to take over the world.”

“Not in a villainous way, but I want my technology or solution to be used everywhere. Nowadays, using computers are like second-nature and have become basic parts of our lives. My dream is to have my technology used everywhere in a similar way.”

Eddie Cho echo@venturesquare.net