nWay's Bay Area–Seoul hiring model grew its team from 4 to 80

nWay CEO and co-founder Taehoon Kim moved the company to the Bay Area in 2011 after lead investor New Enterprise Associates suggested incubating it at NEA's offices. The move brought infrastructure and backers, but Silicon Valley's competition made hiring and office space difficult for a founder without a local network.

Kim chose a distributed answer rather than forcing every role into the Bay Area. In 2014 nWay opened a Seoul office, using Kim's knowledge of the market to recruit server engineers and artists who were harder to find in California. He also advised hiring slowly because team, culture and chemistry would make or break the company.

The approach produced a larger operating base and a breakout product. nWay grew from four employees to about 80, with around 14 in Seoul; its Power Rangers game reached 6 million downloads in four days and more than 23 million overall, while Lionsgate and Saban became partners and investors.

nWay grew from four employees to about 80; its Power Rangers app passed 23 million downloads after 6 million in four days.

NEA's backing supplied the Bay Area infrastructure and credibility that an immigrant founder's limited local network could not provide on its own.

Slow hiring reduced the risk of building a team without established relationships in Silicon Valley.

Seoul offered a known pool of strong server-engineering and art talent, turning Kim's personal history into an operating advantage.

A two-city structure let nWay combine Bay Area support with specialist hiring in Korea.

When a talent market rewards network access but punishes thin networks, put the company where backers can unblock it and place specialist work where the founder knows the talent.

By the time of the interview, nWay had become an approximately 80-person studio with a 14-person Seoul office and a Power Rangers app above 23 million downloads. The company continued working with major entertainment brands, including Lionsgate and Saban, on licensed games.