GRTiQ Podcast: 189 Hyung-Kyu (“HQ”) Choi

Today I am speaking with Hyung-Kyu Choi, also known as “HQ,” Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at DSRV, a well-known blockchain infrastructure provider based in South Korea. DSRV is known for offering a range of web3 infrastructure solutions, including its validator services, serving over 50 protocols, blockchain RPC service, and development support tools like Welldone Studio.

HQ shares his web3 journey, growing up in Seoul, South Korea, with a brief stint in Canada, and his research experiences at the university in the states. HQ talks about his childhood fascination with space that sparked an early interest in mechanical engineering, but his curiosity evolved toward computer science and programming, leading him to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Seoul National University.

During the interview, HQ also discusses his experiences working on the Ethereum Virtual Machine and AI inference engines during his time at Samsung and Ground X, as well as his motivation to co-found DSRV to solve the blockchain infrastructure challenges that builders face. HQ also talks about DSRV’s involvement in The Graph ecosystem, starting with his participation in the Mission Control testnet and DSRV’s recent hosting of The Graph’s Sunrise Party in Seoul – sharing his perspective on the critical role The Graph plays in providing decentralized data infrastructure for web3.

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Hyung-Kyu Choi (00:20):

I believe The Graph has already become an essential infrastructure component in web3. Numerous blockchain services rely on The Graph to operate their services and use it as a key gateway for providing data.

Nick (01:07):

Welcome to the GRTiQ Podcast. Today, I’m speaking with Hyung-Kyu Choi, also known as HQ, co-founder and COO at DSRV, a well-known blockchain infrastructure provider based in South Korea.

DSRV is known for offering a wide range of web3 infrastructure solutions, including its validator services that service over 50 protocols including The Graph, Blockchain RPC services, and development support tools like WELLDONE Studio.

During this interview, HQ shares his web3 journey growing up in Seoul, South Korea with a brief stint in Canada and his research experiences at university. HQ talks about his childhood fascination with space that sparked an early interest in mechanical engineering, but his curiosity evolved towards computer science and programming leading him to earn a Ph.D. In electrical engineering and computer science from Seoul National University.

We talk about his early experiences working on the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) and AI interface engines during his time at Samsung and Ground X, as well as his motivation to co-found DSRV. HQ also talks about DSRV’s involvement in The Graph ecosystem and DSRV’s recent hosting of The Graph’s Sunrise party in Seoul where he shares his perspective on the critical role The Graph plays in providing decentralized data infrastructure for all of web3.

We started the discussion talking about HQ’s experiences growing up in Seoul, South Korea.

Hyung-Kyu Choi (02:36):

Thank you for having me. I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea where I spent most of my life. I lived in Edmonton Canada for a year during my childhood and spent year at UIUC for collaborative research during graduate school, but I have mostly lived in Seoul. Seoul is a rapid and changing and developing city and growing up there allows me to broaden my interests. This environment greatly impressed my growth and played a key role in fostering my curiosity about technology and engineering.

Nick (03:12):

Well, tell us about what you were like as a young person. So you said there, you grew up in South Korea, you spent a little time in Canada, but when you were younger, what were you interested in and did you have interest in technology as a young person?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (03:26):

I think I’ve always been interested in engineering since I was young. Like my children, I was fascinated by space too and my dream was to become an astronaut when I was young. This naturally led me to the develop an interest in mechanical engineering thing. However, as time passed and I saw the development of computers and software, and I also liked the game and so my interest gradually shifted and I first learned programming language when I was in elementary school. Eventually I majored in electrical engineering and computer science in college later.

Nick (04:08):

So you went on eventually, as I did some research here, you went on and got a Ph.D. What motivated you to get involved with electrical engineering? What drew you to that discipline? And at this time in your life, did you have a vision for your career? Did you know of what you wanted to do at university and then what you wanted to do professionally?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (04:30):

When I pursued my degree in the college, computer systems consist of both hardware and software, and to truly understand them, one must understand both aspects deeply. Personally, I had a dream of one day creating a new competent environment which motivated me to dive deeper into this field and target essential elements that would be needed for the new environments.

(04:57):

I focused on studying compilers, which allows software written in programming languages to learn on hardware, as well as micro architecture, which is the implementation of the hardware itself.

(05:10):

I also became interested in virtual machine later, which makes it easier to implement a new computing environment with the software. So personally I want to make some kind of a new computing system and later with my professional vision I decide to choose to make something new that can help people. So my vision was to create a new computing environment that people would use more conveniently and building on this foundations which can change the society maybe. Yeah.

Nick (05:48):

It’s amazing and no wonder you ended up in web3, and we’re going to talk a lot more about what you’re doing in web3 and the type of technology and interest you have. Before we do, let’s talk about when you first became aware of Bitcoin then. So, when was it that you became interested in crypto and started becoming familiar with blockchain and what drew your interest?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (06:08):

I first became aware about blockchain when I heard about Bitcoin in the news when I was in the graduate school. I believe it was a few months later after Bitcoin was announced. Initially I thought Bitcoin as just on another digital currency similar to eCash kind of thing, implemented using just cryptography. In Korea, many people, including myself, were already heard about digital currency because in-game currency were often traded in the real world in South Korea and it was a kind of social problem here. However, it does not caught my interest or less so I just keep going on my research in the graduate school and then later I heard that Ethereum whitepaper says they are going to introduce Ethereum Virtual Machine. Since I was already researching virtual machine thing, the introduction of the virtual machine to blockchain led me to take a closer look at Ethereum and later I also take a look at the code when the Geth is available.

Nick (07:25):

So, I haven’t had the opportunity to interview a lot of people in South Korea and I’m interested about the web3 and blockchain community there. So, what can you tell us about the community now and since you sort of got interested a while ago, how’s it changed over time?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (07:43):

Korea is a country with a higher level of acceptance of new technology things and many young people are fascinated with something new. As a result, the various web3 community were formed shortly after Bitcoin was introduced. One of the most notable community is called Nonce, which was created by two young individuals who actively began to introduce Bitcoin to Korean. Personally, Nonce is significant to me as well, as I met my co-founders at the Nonce community.

(08:20):

In addition, there are many other communities including university-based blockchain communities primarily made up of students and they are some kind of key community in South Korea. And among them, one of the university-based blockchain community there is a named Decipher, which is a blockchain community from my alma mater, Seoul National University, called Decipher. When Decipher was forming, I helped the founder of Decipher by introducing him to a venue for their first genesis meeting. Through this kind of history, there are many other blockchain communities available in South Korea and also there is many different kind of communities with many different members and different goals. Nowadays there are lots of NFTs communities from last year.

Nick (09:20):

Fun. I now want to ask you about some things you mentioned earlier, and this sort of goes back to what you were studying at university and what I think drew your attention to Ethereum. And I asked these questions because I’m just always interested in what drives people’s interest in certain types of tech. And so as you mentioned you were working on or you’ve worked on compiler optimization and you did some different work with virtual machines and I guess that was something that sort of interested you when you read the Ethereum Whitepaper. But take us back in time. What initially sort of drew your interest in the world of virtual machines and how did that shape your career and the things you decided to pursue?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (09:59):

I already told you that I was already thinking about computing environments that could have been more useful and beneficial to people beyond the existing ones. To explore this I need some kind of virtual environment where I can test my new ideas before actually building them. And one of the best way was to create such environment using virtual machines. While researching virtual machines, I was able to experience the potential of computing in various imaginary environments without being restricted by some kind of real hardware or real environment. So that all lot helped me and I can explore some kind of broad problem spaces, not limited to just reality.

Nick (10:56):

Well, you’ve worked on some incredible sort of cutting edge technology. After university you spent some time at Samsung and Ground X and you did some things with AI, which I think is interesting on blockchain. So let’s talk a little bit about that. Talk to us about getting started on these projects and how did they sort of influence the way you started thinking about blockchain because you had some initial interest, you sort of connected the dots that this is an environment you could explore the things you were already interested in. How did those experience shape sort of how you thought about blockchain more seriously or as a technology?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (11:35):

I think I am very fortunate to can have a chance to use both fascinating technology, AI and blockchain things, in the production. And both companies focused on creating product that consumers could actually use not just the experimental thing.

(11:56):

At Samsung I develop a consumer electronics using AI and machine learning technologies. And at Klaytn, I worked on developing a layer-one protocol for blockchain technology. Through this experience I personally came to believe that blockchain is more easily applicable to solving social problems than AI. In other words, for making a social impact, I think blockchain is more practical tool in real-world application than AI. Of course I think AI is also transforming more life in the society, but all there some kind of different problems compared to the blockchain and after experiencing both technologies I decided to dig into more in blockchain to make something more valuable for the mankind or I think I choose blockchain to help people than AI.

Nick (13:02):

So then the next evolution of some of the work in the things you are doing is work on the Ethereum Virtual Machine and for non-technical people that’s often called EVM. So they’ll see that on Twitter in different places, EVM, which is Ethereum Virtual Machine. And you did some .NET core work. I’m not technical. I don’t really understand what both of those things are, but how can you explain what this work was and what you were working on as you sort of shifted your focus?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (13:30):

For the EVM, because I was researching on the optimizing thing, I worked on the improving the EVM to address scalability issues of blockchain and further done that I developed just-in-time compiler for 64-bit ARM microprocessor, which was new to the world at the time. Nowadays 64-bit ARM is widely used and also many, like a MacBook also adopt them. But at the time, 64-bit ARM architecture was very new. However, the performance improvements for the EVM didn’t meet my expectations and we discontinued the project unfortunately and for the .NET Core project was successfully productized and actually you can… I think that some of code can be used when you are using ARM 64-bit architecture because I was implementing some kind of Core part of the code and it was used by various kind of ARM 64-bit devices.

Nick (15:41):

After these experiences in those engineering roles, you sort of referenced that earlier with Samsung and working on AI and some different things you mentioned earlier. You met your co-founders early and you eventually came together and co-founded DSRV, which is a major player in blockchain infrastructure, in web3 and very well respected and known in Korea. Can you talk to us about what the inspiration was behind founding DSRV, sort of the origins and what problem you guys came together to solve and work on?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (16:14):

I think year 2019 when we decided to found DSRV. At the time, if builders are looking to develop something on the blockchain, they need a lot beyond just the development environment. They even had to set up their own blockchain infrastructures by themselves. And personally, I found that the blockchain, I had used was very difficult to explain to my parents and friends, making the technology hard to use. This made it clear that even before addressing the problem blockchain aimed to solve, it was very challenging to deliver the technology to the actual users. Therefore, to make blockchain more accessible, my co-founder and I decide to tackle the infrastructure problem first before making something on top of the blockchain, which led to me founding DSRV.

Nick (17:18):

And where did the name come from?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (17:21):

There’s a lot of theory from our side too, but it means deserve. So we frequently say you deserve it. So we want to make some technology that which can help you and you can deserve it. Yeah, that’s why we make DSRV.

Nick (17:42):

I love it. Makes sense. Let’s talk then about what services or solutions, products that DSRV provides. So that original vision, I got that, that makes sense to me. How has it sort of expanded and can you walk us through the different things that you and the team are working on?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (18:01):

At DSRV, we offer product and services across three layers of problem when considering infrastructure. First, we have our validator services. As a tech validator, DSRV supports PoS-based protocols from the early stages of development. Helping maintain the network from the testnet phase and also all assisting for Mainnet launches. We currently operate validators on more than 50 protocols when considering the testnet too. For example, we joined Ethereum Lido as one of the first recruited validators and have been providing Ethereum validator services for the past several years, even before the Mainnet PoS merge.

(19:00):

Second, we also provide an RPC service or the All That Node. While the validator keeps the blockchain network working, builders who are developing these need a gateway to communicate with their network, typically through blockchain RPC nodes. All That Nodes offer blockchain RPC nodes to builders with enterprise-grade plans as well as free plan for individuals and small team.

(19:36):

Finally, we also offer WELLDONE Studio, which provides developers with an IDE and the smart content verification API for DApps. WELLDONE Studio is an official partner of Ethereum Remix team and providing development environment and smart content verification APIs for many smart contract languages other than Solidity. For example, Move, CosmWasm, Rust, and more through our Remix program. In this way, DSRV will provide the infrastructure for best adoption of blockchain and also for builders from network operation layer to the development support.

(20:22):

In addition to developers, our team includes designers and researchers and also there are some security experts and also regulator experts, because nowadays we have to consider the regulations in real world. And also there are many other staff members who are helping us and we are together making some blockchain together to make it much more accessible for users.

Nick (20:53):

I’ll put links in the show notes for any listeners who want to learn more about DSRV and the services and the team there. It’s very interesting and as I said, you’ve got a great reputation. You’ve been known for one of the fastest growing or maybe one of the leading validators and infrastructure providers. How did you, at DSRV and the team, how did you sort of build that reputation as an infrastructure partner, as a validator, and how do you set yourself apart or how do you try to set yourself apart from other infrastructure providers?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (21:26):

In blockchain, there is a concept of trustless. At DSRV, we have built our reputation by aligning our actions with this concept too, by ensuring that we can be trusted there in the blockchain space, even though they do not know who we are or who I am. As a tech validators, we have built trust by working closely with the protocol teams from the early development stages, helping to resolve issues as they arise during the testnet or before day launch Mainnet. Even after Mainnet launches, we continue to support the protocol teams to maintain this trust, working hard to provide the stable network for those stakeholders in the protocol ecosystem. Building this level of trust cannot happen overnight. It took a lot of time. Sometimes it took about three or four years before Mainnet launch. So we remain committed to our principle and trying to steadily building trust over time.

Nick (22:42):

HQ, as a co-founder you’ve had a lot of different roles at DSRV, not entirely uncommon for a founder to sort of move around and work on different parts of the company, but you’ve been the CTO, the CFO, and now you’re the COO. What are some of the key decisions that you think you’ve seen at DSRV or maybe you’ve relied yourself that have sort of opened the door to growth for DSRV and where it is today?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (23:08):

DSRV started as a new startup. As a startup we could not solve every problem, so we have had to focus on addressing the most important issues at any given time. From the beginning, DSRV’s mission was to help builders creating infrastructure. Initially we grew as a PoS validator by supporting builders developing PoS protocols. In the next stages, we expanded to help DApp builders by offering services like All That Node and WELLDONE Studio. By growing alongside these builders, I think we have been able to grow together with many partners as web3 and the blockchain market grows.

Nick (24:04):

Well, as you know, HQ, a lot of my listeners are enthusiastic about The Graph and The Graph is somewhat synonymous with web3 infrastructure and you’ve worked in validation or as a validator, which is known as an Indexer in The Graph. So I want to sort of explore The Graph with you and get your perspective on the protocol. To get started, can you just take us back in time and share when you first became aware of The Graph or interested in The Graph?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (24:31):

I think I first became aware of The Graph in 2020. Yeah, it’s already been four years. At the time we were operating validator services and we’re thinking a lot about how to provide blockchain on-chain data to the users. And one of my friend in the blockchain community told me about The Graph, a project that implements a data market using blockchain technology. My co-founder and I spent sleepless night analyzing The Graph and we realized that it was the blockchain infrastructure we were looking for. Unfortunately at the time there was a COVID, so it wasn’t not possible to meet The Graph team personally, but we are connected through Discord and participate in The Graph ecosystem with the curator program in the testnet.

Nick (25:39):

Amazing. Well let’s talk a little bit about that. I think you also joined, and correct me if I’m wrong, DSRV also joined Mission Control as an Indexer. And for listeners that aren’t tracking the history, Mission Control was the first testnet for Indexers and the Curator program shortly followed. If I’ve got that correct, can you just talk about drew then, and you sort of mentioned it there, but maybe a little more detail, but why sort of join The Graph in that testnet program? Why get started with the curation and The Graph Network so early?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (26:13):

To achieve the best adoption of blockchain, builders need to be able to create services more easily and also consumers needed to be able to access data easily as well. While blockchain technology provides data transparency, it was difficult to access this data easily at the time. In this situation, The Graph provided a solution to access data more easily using GraphQL.

(26:42):

And for DSRV, which was a building blockchain infrastructure for the public, participating as an Indexer in The Graph allows us to provide data infrastructure in a simple and more stable way. So we decided to participate in the Curator program to try out The Graph more closely. Even though the Curator program itself is not related to the infrastructure, by participating in the program, we can learn a lot of how The Graph works and how The Graph team works. And the passionate and active engagement with The Graph team along with their transparent testnet operations made it possible for DSRV to trust The Graph Network even though it was not really decentralized at the time. As a result later, we decided to participate as a decentralized Indexer within The Graph ecosystem rather than operating our own Indexer to provide data.

Nick (28:00):

Got it. And one amazing trajectory on relationship with The Graph, and again, a lot of my listeners are enthusiastic about The Graph, so they’ll find this interesting, but not only did DSRV join in those early days in the testnet program working on Mission Control, but you most recently helped lead and support the Sunrise Party in Seoul, which helped celebrate The Graph. What can you share about that event being part of that Sunrise celebration that happened all across the world and the importance of a milestone like that from your perspective?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (28:31):

It was an honor for DSRV to host the Sunrise party in Seoul. Over 200 participants from various parts of Korean blockchain space registered for the event and around, I think, 150 people attended. Since The Graph provides data from various kind of blockchains, it became an event where participants from different blockchain communities meet each other. The Sunrise Party was also an important milestone celebration, marking the transition to The Graph becoming a truly decentralized network by discontinuing the hosted services which provide data for several years.

Nick (29:22):

Thanks for sharing that. So HQ, how important then do you think The Graph is for web3? I can guess at your answer, you’ve said a lot of nice things already about getting interested in the network and the ways that you and the team at DSRV has contributed. But if you had to explain sort of why something like The Graph is important for web3, how would you do it?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (29:40):

I believe The Graph has already common essential infrastructure component in web3. Numerous blockchain services rely on The Graph to operate their services and use it as a key gateway for providing data. While alternatives are emerging and the new method to provide the data are being introduced, The Graph successfully combines a decentralized data market with an incentive model which blockchain can provide. So I expect it will continue to play a critical role in web3 infrastructure.

Nick (30:28):

I want to ask you this follow-up question then about AI. So if The Graph sort of fits in web3 that way, and a lot of people are talking about AI, it’s become a little bit of a buzzword. You have some background and work on AI and of course you’ve got some deep expertise on blockchain. What’s your opinion on how those two things are going to potentially converge?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (30:49):

To be honest, I’m very curious about this problem too myself, and it’s a question I’m currently working on in DSRV and also partner. The possibilities are endless and which make it our complex issue to consider. In my personal opinion, rather than just focusing on collaboration between AI and blockchain technology, I believe that combining existing technologies in innovative ways similar to what The Graph has done before to create a new market might be a more promising approach than just collaborating with each other.

Nick (31:37):

HQ, another question I like to ask when I get the opportunity to interview someone like yourself is sort of advice or that founder or entrepreneurial experience. I sometimes envision that listeners of this podcast are entrepreneurially interested and are either starting or are working on a venture that’s new to web3. But what characteristics do you think, from your perspective, the things that you’ve learned, what are necessary for an entrepreneur or startup to be successful?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (32:06):

In the blockchain space, I believe flexibility in thinking as well as making decision and executing them swiftly are crucial. Blockchain technology is still evolving rapidly with new innovations being proposed all the time. Since blockchain is fundamentally permissionless, there is nothing stopping individuals or teams who move quickly and execute their idea. To succeed, I think the ability to adapt to changes in the market environment and the technology is essential. For example, if DSRV had stuck solely to being a validator, we couldn’t have been able to participate in The Graph. If we stuck to the validator thing.

Nick (33:01):

We’ve talked about The Graph, we’ve talked about AI, we talked about your entry into blockchain space, crypto and sort of what pulled you in. We talked about virtual machines and all the contributions you’ve made. There’s a lot of other trends though that people are interested as web3 continues to evolve and grow. What are some of the themes or things that you are interested in? Is there any specific developments you’re watching or that you think will be important to shape the industry’s future?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (33:29):

Yeah, there are many new ideas and concepts are emerging, but I just don’t want to mention something existing ones. While not entirely new, I’m particularly interested in restaking , zero-knowledge and account abstraction thing nowadays. For blockchain technology to achieve mass adoption, I think we needed to solve the problems of capital fragmentation. Also, we have to maintain transparency while protecting individual’s privacy. And I think we had to improve the user experience because still blockchain is very hard to use and it is not easy to understand how the blockchain works. So I believe these technologies have the potential role to play a significant role in addressing these challenges.

Nick (34:30):

So, HQ, then what makes someone like you optimistic about the future of web3?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (34:37):

Because blockchain technology is inherently permissionless and decentralized. So despite the challenges, I believe it will and can continue to advance as long as the participants in the current web3 ecosystem maintain their open-minded soul. And also if they keep having flexible thinking, I think web3 will find a way forward even if slowly.

Nick (35:14):

Well, HQ, every week I ask each guest of the podcast that joins me, the GRTiQ 10. We’ve reached a point now where I’m going to ask you these 10 questions. These are fun questions. They give us a chance to learn a little bit more about you. And as I always say, it gives listeners of the podcast the opportunity to learn something new, try something different, or achieve more in their own life. So, HQ, are you ready for the GRTiQ 10?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (35:38):

Sure.

Nick (35:50):

What book or articles had the most impact on your life?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (35:54):

Yeah, when I was young, I was a tech nerd, so most of the books are from some kind of sci-fi thing. So there are two novels which influenced me a lot. One is Foundation by Isaac Asimov and another one is a Contact by Carl Sagan. Because the Foundation was some kind of classic that it says that in the future the technology is lost because it’s too technology advanced or last so everybody forget about and no one knows what’s going on. It’s similar in this blockchain space right now. And for the Contact, at the time I was a tech nerd and I don’t have a religion, and so I think that all tech nerds can serve everything, but the Contact says, oh, there is something that you cannot explain, you can’t explain. So yeah, it influenced me a lot when I was young.

Nick (36:56):

And how about this one? Is there a movie or a TV show that you recommend everybody should watch?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (37:02):

Yeah, I want to recommend the old movie, Forrest Gump. I like this movie because it is a story about people. And if you take a movie it says a lot, but one point that I was impressed was that the Gump was doing something continuously until he get some kind of a result or some… Yeah, he does not move away from the problems even though it is very hard. So yeah, I like the movie because it shows, oh, people can do something continuously. Yeah.

Nick (37:42):

If you could only listen to one music album for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (37:48):

I want to recommend two albums. One is a quite old compilation album Now 2. It was one of the albums that I was listening to when I was young. And when I listen to this album nowadays, I can reminded of myself when I was struggling with many problems altogether. And the compilation album contains various kind of music so it can change the topics every time. If you listen to the next track, oh, it’s some kind of different concept on other music. Yeah. And I would like to introduce one Korean album. It’s called Exhibition by the Team Exhibition. Yeah, it is also one of the old albums in ’90s, but I like this album so I want to introduce the album here.

Nick (38:48):

And what’s the best advice someone’s ever given to you?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (38:52):

I think it was when I was in the college and when I was discussing some topics with my seniors that I say, “Oh, it’s impossible. Why? It’s not possible.” He told me, “Oh, never say never.” So at the time I was very passionate about technology and I think that every technology have some kind of limitations, but he told me that, “Oh, don’t say never or even think it is impossible.” So I think that this advice influenced me a lot after and I can try something which looks like impossible. So now I’m in the blockchain industry to solve something, to solve many problems we are facing now.

Nick (39:47):

HQ, what’s one thing you’ve learned in your life that you don’t think most other people have learned or know quite yet?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (39:54):

When solving a problem or working on a task, there are times when I compromise to an acceptable level of my own. While this may provide immediate relief, as time goes on, it often leads to regret. That’s why even if I compromise and move on, I believe it’s important to keep working on solving the problem to move forward without regret. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should stay stuck in the past.

Nick (40:28):

And, HQ, what’s the best life hack you’ve discovered for yourself?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (40:33):

When my productivity drops so my mind feels cluttered, I like to watching a movie that I enjoyed in the past. When I watch the movie again, it reminds me of the first time I watched the movie and my mind feels refreshed just like back then when I watched the good movies. However, please avoid long movies. Watching a short movie allow me to take an hour half rest and return to the work with clear mind when I first time watch the movie.

Nick (41:15):

Based on your life experiences and observations, what’s the one habit or characteristic that you think best explains how people find success in life?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (41:25):

Yeah, it’s related to the movie I mentioned. For example, if I had to choose something within one’s control, I would say consistency. Even with talent or gift, consistency is essential to actually achieve something and make things happen.

Nick (41:51):

And then, HQ, the final three questions are complete the sentence type questions. The first one is… I’m going to ask you about AI. The thing that most excites you about the future of AI is…?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (42:02):

Opening of possibilities for humans to transcend our limitation of time. It can save your time and even it can work when you are sleeping and it can broaden your possibilities. And I think that the time is the most important part of the human thing because everybody only have 24 hours a day, but AI can break this limit, I think.

Nick (42:36):

And how about this one? If you’re on Twitter, some people call it X, I’m sticking with Twitter, you should be following…

Hyung-Kyu Choi (42:43):

Yeah, it’s very controversial thing, but I would like to choose Elon Musk because I think he’s the one who exploits full potential of X.

Nick (42:56):

And then the final question, HQ, how about this? I’m happiest when…

Hyung-Kyu Choi (43:01):

When my children are happy, when they came to know something interesting or something new, which they didn’t know before. Yeah, so my children is one of the key, one of the importantest thing in my life nowadays. And I’m happy when my children’s grows and when they are happy, I’m happy too.

Nick (43:36):

HQ, thank you so much for joining the GRTiQ Podcast. It was really nice to meet you and to learn more about DSRV, hear about some of the things that are happening in Korea, and for you to share your perspective on The Graph, on web3, blockchain, and your journey into the space. If listeners want to follow you, stay in touch with you, the things that you’re working on, what’s best way for them to stay in touch?

Hyung-Kyu Choi (44:00):

I’m also available on X, Twitter, and so you can follow me and you can find me on the Twitter. Thank you.

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