"Like a House Built on Sand" Entrepreneurs Shaken by AI Onslaught... Redefining Vision is the Key to Survival

The landscape of the startup ecosystem is changing due to the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. As implementing services using AI becomes easier and entry barriers lower, a sense of crisis is spreading that existing business models could be rendered powerless in an instant. Some describe this unstable state as being like a "House of Cards" built on sand.

The Crisis Brought by Uncertain Visions in the AI Era

According to a T Times TV video, a phenomenon where corporate visions are becoming unclear is appearing among entrepreneurs in the United States and South Korea. Coach Lim Seung-chan analyzed, "Even adding just a little bit of LLM (Large Language Model) produces a plausible service, and because fording itself has become easy, the entry point has lowered. Due to this, entrepreneurs are feeling an instability as if they have built a house on a sandy beach."

In particular, the fear that existing business models can be easily replaced due to the development of AI technology is growing. Lim pointed out, "Entrepreneurs with unclear visions are mainly those who have quickly increased revenue by benefiting from AI technology. They have high technical infrastructure expenditure and low consumer loyalty, possessing a structural vulnerability where customers can easily leave when competitors appear." He emphasized that to overcome this, an entrepreneur must clearly define "which game they will win."

Campfit's Pivot: From 'Reservation Platform' to 'Outdoor Journey'

As an example of redefining a business model in response to these changes, the camping reservation platform 'Campfit' was mentioned. Campfit CEO Yoon Woo-jin stated, "We cannot keep up with the speed of the AI era using the existing method of hiring developers to develop services over a long period. We have completely transitioned to an environment where all employees utilize AI tools."

Yoon cited the crisis Campfit faced as being trapped within the framework of a 'reservation platform.' He explained, "I felt a sense of crisis that if we could not escape the perception of being a reservation platform within three years, we would fail. Rather than simply chasing revenue targets, we had to redefine what kind of war we would win."

Campfit derived a new strategy by analyzing 1.7 billion accumulated customer log data points. Instead of defining itself as an 'AI technology leading company,' Campfit reset itself as a 'company that expands customer experience using data.' Accordingly, it expanded its business area from simple 'campsite reservation' to the 'outdoor reservation war.' The business is being developed in a direction that manages the entire Customer Journey, from the 'Safe Cancellation' service in the pre-reservation stage to the 'Equipment Cleaning and Storage Service' in the post-reservation stage.

Yoon added, "The core strategy is to expand the experience before and after reservation," and noted that they are increasing the value of the service by solving customer Pain Points based on data. This is interpreted as a result of focusing on the essential question of what kind of customer experience to complete using technology, rather than being buried in the technology itself.