$100M Food Truck Brand After Betrayal by Cofounder

Today marks the final chapter of the Cupbop series. In the previous story, our protagonist Jung was ousted from the CEO position but goes through a series of events and eventually makes a comeback. However, the state of the company is far from ideal. Together with Dok, they start laying the foundation for the company. Meanwhile, Dok begins to worry about the future of Cupbop, leading Jung to make a crucial decision. It involves appearing on Shark Tank. Let's explore this story in the video.

Yeiri: When we felt betrayed, we felt as if we'd lost everything. But the greatest lesson we learned from that experience was that we needed a system. One of our closest friends, one of the most successful businessmen here in Utah, once said, "Don't believe in people. Believe in the system." That's not a nice thing to say. But if I interpret that sentence in our own way, I'd say: if you want to trust people, you have to have a great system, good enough to trust people by.

Dok: I think I started by creating an operations manual that set clear procedures inside our stores. That helped stabilize a lot of the inconsistencies between the procedures we had at different stores.

Another thing that really helped was creating a very aggressive incentive plan for our leaders at the stores, because at the end of the day, you succeed when the leaders at the store succeed. To do that, you have to motivate them. There are a lot of different ways to motivate people, but money is a common denominator for a lot of it. Generally speaking, we saw the benefit from that pretty immediately.

Jung: When we had our five partners, I cared about some people so much that I couldn't do my job, because I was focused on my partners. But after those three people were gone, me and Dok just thought about how to make CUPBOP great again. We want to get to the scale of Panda Express, so we split it: I cover the front, Dok covers the back. We cover all 360 degrees with our crews. That's the partnership structure right now.

Dok: I used to always tell Jung, if there's one thing that keeps me up at night, it's somebody copying our concept, coming in, raising a lot of money, and moving at full speed before us. All of a sudden they become the first mover and get recognized as the Korean brand. That was always my biggest worry. I used to tell Jung that we needed to somehow get our name out there to establish ourselves as that first mover. How do we do that? How do we do that? And Jung just said, "Let's get on Shark Tank. Let's go."

Jung: I thought, Shark Tank? Yeah, maybe that could work. I submitted our paperwork and went through about ten rounds of auditions: a phone call, a video, then a FaceTime. It was super hard to get in front of them, the Shark Tank people.

Dok: I think the biggest strategy was making sure we got interest from everybody, because at the end of the day, that's confirmation of how attractive your business is to investors. So for us, it was: let's go out there, let's show our energy, let's show them what CUPBOP is all about, and let's see what they come back with.

Jung told me, "My goal is to not have subtitles. I've lived in the US far too long. It would be embarrassing to have subtitles for me." Which they didn't. So I think we succeeded on both counts.

Jung: It was super fun. After we finished shooting, I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was great. They are some of the top five most famous entrepreneurs, right in front of me, and they wanted our company so badly they were fighting each other over it more than we expected. They tasted a whole bowl, and one shark offered $5 million. But we made the deal with Mark Cuban. He's the big dog, the legend. It was a super fun experience, and after that, a lot of people recognized our faces. They'd say, "They're the Shark Tank guys, the CUPBOP boys," and recognize us a lot.

Jung: I want to share another story too. His name is Mike, Mike Dimic. He was homeless. He had no house, no car. He started working with our company as food truck crew, part time, as a dishwasher. That was his job. Guess what? He became a commissary lead. He became a general leader. He became a district leader. Now he covers the whole Colorado market. This guy put all his power and passion into his job, doing CUPBOP together. Whenever I see him, that's my happiness right there. Whenever something happens in the company, he comes to me and hugs me, and cries like a baby. I cry too, big man that I am. He told me, "Whenever anyone can touch you in any way, just let me know. I'm your bodyguard forever." That's my motivation right there.

When you look at our interview papers, the first question is: are you happy? We're not asking your name. We're not asking your education. We're not asking your experience. I want to make another Mike. I don't want to put a ceiling on anyone. I want to give everyone a fair opportunity so they can go higher and higher. Nobody can stop me, because remember, our company goal is to take CUPBOP to the moon. That motivation can't stop, because I want to give my people more opportunity so we can grow our business together, not just by myself. We have to work together so we grow together.

Yeiri: If people look at this video, they'd think we're very successful, or becoming successful. But we're just really, really normal people trying to succeed. My husband used to drive a food truck to all kinds of festivals, because he was always busy day and night. The only way my kids got to see their dad was for me to take them to the festivals with him. So we always had a tent in the trunk. My kids would play in the tent while I sold food with my husband. That's one of the greatest memories we still have, my husband and I.

We talk to each other: we've come this far only because of you, or because of me. But we grew together. If we hadn't gone through what we went through together, I would have never gotten to love this man this much. I used to call my husband a spring, springs feel comfortable. Now my family, including our five children, is a spring to me. They make me confident, because of them, because of my family, I can do everything. There's nothing impossible.

Jung: A long time ago, I went to Portland to purchase a food truck, and I had to drive on the way back. All of a sudden, I started crying. Strange, right? The person next to me was sleeping, and I was driving, and tears were dripping down my face. I don't know why. But there was an old memory outside the window: a beautiful blue sky, white clouds, and a forest. I was passing by, and the scene was so beautiful, but it made me really sad.

It's really hard to live and study for your dream, to live and study for your dreams. I was so lucky to have met my parents, and I was able to see this in America. I thought of people who have to live without seeing such scenery. I don't know why I got so emotional. I believe that rather than working hard to buy nice clothes and a car with your money, it might be challenging, but I hope you can buy a ticket and see the wide world. It's not easy, but I think it can change your life.

The world is really big, and there are so many people living in it. Don't fall apart just because you're struggling, making mistakes, or unable to do something yourself. When you knock down walls, they become bridges. I want to use that as an opportunity. Even though I ranked last in my entire school and couldn't speak English well, I still live well, because I gathered a bit more courage. Don't be afraid. Don't think you're not good enough. I want you to find what you're good at. I hope you get a chance to think while looking at the vast world.

Even while traveling back and forth with my wife for 20 hours, I was able to pursue my goal, and I bravely put it into practice without being reckless. Doing so, I've been enjoying that work for nine years now. I hope you give it a try, and I wish that you can also see the beautiful sky I've witnessed. Good luck!