Why BASS Ventures is serious about team building.

Talent Connect.

In the startup world, "growth" is often expressed through simple graphs and numbers. However, the essence of growth lies not in the business metrics themselves, but in the "team" that works tirelessly behind them. Just as every great success is preceded by a great team, every successful startup story is rooted in exceptional team building. This is why BASS Ventures is dedicated to talent.

In December 2025, Bass Ventures hosted Talent Connect to connect rapidly growing global teams with the talent they need to join them. Over 400 talents applied, and eight teams—Solomon Labs, Pickle, Pensieve, BONE, Marqvision, Ad Shield, Love&Fury, and IQ Surgical—participated. The founders of each team shared their vision for the future, the innovations they're building, their work culture, and the kind of team members they're looking for. Furthermore, keynote addresses by Stella, a Recruiting Researcher at Netflix, and Mark, founder of Marqvision, provided insights into Silicon Valley hiring trends and global team building.

Today, I'd like to talk about why BASS Ventures plans and runs these events, and what value we hope to convey through them.

Ad-Shield CEO Yoo Joo-won and Pickle CEO Park Chae-geun

1. Recruitment is not simply about finding "employees," but rather "structural design"—finding "comrades" who will share life and death with you.

Many companies still treat recruiting as "hiring people because they're short on manpower." However, BASS Ventures defines recruiting for an early-stage team differently. The startup journey isn't about driving on a well-paved road, but more about forging a path through a battlefield with no clear path ahead.

Recruitment in this era isn't simply about finding employees to share the workload. It's about finding "comrades" who can be trusted and trusted. Because this is a quest for comrades, we must be more committed than ever to sophisticated structural design (architecting).

Victory on the battlefield requires more than just hundreds of skilled fighters. It requires a meticulously calculated blueprint, identifying where your team's firepower is lacking and which defensive mechanisms, when combined, will dramatically increase your chances of survival. Simply assembling a "strong team" is like building a ragtag mercenary force. Conversely, a team-building strategy designed to address your team's unique deficiencies and maximize its strengths becomes a powerful foundation in itself.

At this year's Talent Connect, we focused on which talents would become irreplaceable comrades in each team's blueprint. We believe that a team with a solid foundation can falter, but not collapse, and that the camaraderie built in this way is the most powerful weapon a startup possesses.

2. Financial capital is replicable, but human capital is unique.

Why do VCs plan and run their own recruiting events? The answer is simple: capital is abundant, but exceptional teams are rare.

As of 2026, technological barriers are lowering and capital mobility is constantly changing. In this environment, the only powerful moat a company can possess is ultimately its people.

This truth becomes even clearer when we look at the trajectories of great companies throughout history.

The reason Airbnb was able to survive the crisis and design an "11-star experience" in the early days was not because of the amount of funding, but because of the "density" of its early members armed with an entrepreneurial spirit.

PayPal Mafia (Source: YouTube 'Newsthink')

PayPal is no exception. More frightening than their capital was the collective of talent they built, later dubbed the "PayPal Mafia," which would later reshape Silicon Valley. While competitors could replicate capital at higher prices, the sheer density and camaraderie of talent they cultivated was a unique asset that no amount of capital could replicate.

BASS Ventures wants portfolio companies to learn how to go beyond simply "how to spend money wisely" and win the hearts of A-Players, who money alone can never buy. A-Players willing to invest their souls in solving great problems are always rare. They aren't motivated simply by high salaries. They're driven by a stage where they can prove themselves and by trustworthy colleagues who will fight alongside them on the battlefield.

Investment funds are merely the fuel that accelerates growth, but team building is the engine that creates it. We want our portfolio companies' engines to be comprised of the most talented individuals. To ensure that "crazy dreams become great," as our slogan suggests, we are dedicated to helping companies build the best teams, extending beyond capital.

3. How to make the most of your limited time

Human time is finite. For A-Players in particular, a career isn't simply a means of making a living.

It's a fierce process of self-proving, figuring out where to invest your precious time and what value to create, that is, where your abilities will be most sharply utilized.

The reason over 400 talents responded to this year's Talent Connect is clear: they want to spend their time working on great problems that can only be solved here, not on things they can do anywhere.

BONE CEO Lee Do-kyung and Pensieve CEO Yang Yoon-seok

The messages from the participating teams were more than just company introductions. They were powerful invitations: here's the stage where your capabilities can make a huge impact. BASS Ventures focuses on meticulously connecting these visions to how applicants can transform their limited time into a "story of growth."

4. Base's Sincerity: Become the founder's most persistent recruiter.

As a Growth Partner (Talent), my job begins where the recruiting event ends. I analyze the talent pool I meet at the event, consider the cultural fit of each portfolio company, and attempt to match them. Sometimes, I even sit down with the founders to persuade them, a long journey that continues.

We don't say we "support" recruiting. We say we "execute" it together. We infuse BASE's philosophy into every process—from position design and talent sourcing to onboarding strategies. We know that this is the most genuine support we can offer the entrepreneurs we invest in.

In closing: The only way to make your crazy dreams great

BASS Ventures's slogan, "Make your crazy dreams great," serves as a kind of North Star for us. No matter how wild a founder's dream may seem, if they have a strong team willing to take that dream on board, it will inevitably become reality.

BASS Ventures will never cease its obsession with talent. We will accompany you until the very end, building the strongest team possible, so that your wildest dreams can become a great journey.

Entrepreneurs looking for talent, and people seeking vision, please knock on the door of BASS Ventures.

Kim Ki-soo, Growth Partner (Talent) ks@bass.vc

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