Jack Liu’s Visit to Picky HQ – Daring to Be Different

2 months ago

By Team Picky

At Picky, we’re all about embracing the unconventional, and this week, we had the privilege of hosting an inspiring fireside chat with Jack Liu, our investor and board member.

The session was themed “Dare to Be Different”, and Jack’s unique career journey and insights left the entire team buzzing with new ideas and fresh perspectives. As the first guest of our fireside chat series, Jack exemplifies the distinctive quality of the immigrant success story in Seoul.

We wanted to invite him as our first speaker to expose to our members the incredible journeys of what we call the “immigrant sunbaes”—expat mentors that have cut their teeth in Korea and created positive impact in their community and the world at large.

Who is Jack Liu?

Jack Liu is Chinese-Korean American and has been living in Korea for 16 years. He helped establish Supercell’s Seoul office as its first hire—a role that evolved into leading the company’s APAC operations.

For those who aren’t familiar, Supercell, based in Helsinki, Finland, is the game development giant behind global hits like “Brawl Stars,” “Clash of Clans,” and “Clash Royale.” With a mission to be a truly global games company, Jack’s focus has been on building world-class teams in Korea and Japan.

But Jack’s gaming roots go even deeper. Back in 2005, he founded OGPlanet, a trailblazer in the free-to-play (f2p) gaming market. Today this kind of gaming model is ubiquitously known as “micro-transaction” but at the time, the concept was relatively unheard of in the West. OGPlanet helped pioneer this movement and brought over popular multiplayer online games directly from South Korea, revolutionizing the North American market.

The Fireside Chat: Change Starts With Yourself

The theme of the chat, “Dare to Be Different”, resonated deeply with the Picky team. Jack shared his journey of embracing risks, especially as someone who constantly found himself in new environments—from moving to Seoul in 2008 to founding companies and entering emerging gaming markets.

“The best advice I can give is to be the change you want to see,” Jack emphasized. He shared how his multicultural background and early exposure to both American and Korean business environments gave him a unique perspective in establishing Supercell’s presence in Asia. Most importantly, his leadership role and creative mindset set the foundation of how he mentored fellow team members to work together as a unit despite their differences, considering the diverse working styles at Supercell.

Key Takeaways from Jack Liu’s Visit

Embrace Uncertainty and Be Ambitious – Jack shared that his career has been about taking bold steps and diving into the unknown, whether it was launching OGPlanet when the concept of f2p was still new in the West or spearheading Supercell’s entry into the Korean market. His journey reinforced the importance of embracing risk and daring to be different.
Be the Change you Want to See – Sometimes to create any change, you need to start with yourself first. This self-empowering mantra allowed Jack to become an effective leader and build the next generation of leaders.
Find your “Upside” – Jack has always been one to rock the boat, going against what is expected to challenge the status quo. He saw something unique about Korea and the market landscape here for him to stay long-term. He calls this finding his “upside”, which motivated him to work harder to make a difference where it truly matters.

We are incredibly blessed to have Jack as on our board to continue to mentor and provide his wisdom!

Jack Liu’s Connection to Picky

Beyond his role as General Manager of Supercell’s APAC office, Jack is an active angel investor and a proud board member of Picky. His insights and support have been invaluable to our journey of growth and global expansion. His experience of connecting global markets with localized expertise aligns closely with Picky’s mission to bridge K-beauty brands and consumers worldwide.