How Two Brown Students Brought Korea's Alcohol Aid Market To America

How Two Brown Students Brought Korea's Alcohol Aid Market To America

From Predicting The Turn w/ Dave Knox by Dave Knox

February 3, 2026 · 26 min · Season 5 · Episode 192

About this episode

Gene Oh and Felix Lee discuss their journey of bringing Korea's alcohol aid products to the American market.

When Gene Oh studied abroad in Seoul as a Brown University senior, he discovered something that would change his career trajectory: jelly sticks that protect your health when drinking alcohol. These products dominate Korea's billion-dollar alcohol aid market, yet remain virtually unknown in the United States. As Co-Founders of day–guard, Oh and his partner Felix Lee are now bridging that gap, bringing Korean wellness culture to American consumers through a reimagined approach to social drinking. In this conversation, we explore how they navigated cultural barriers with Korean manufacturers, pivoted their brand strategy after rigorous customer research, built a team of interns while still in college, and why Oh gave up medical school to share a piece of his heritage with America.

People in this episode

Guests: Gene Oh, Felix Lee

Topics covered

  • alcohol aid
  • Korean wellness culture
  • entrepreneurship
  • cultural barriers
  • customer research

Keywords

  • jelly sticks
  • day-guard
  • social drinking
  • Brown University
  • medical school

Mentioned in this episode

Products: jelly sticks

Places: Korea, America, Seoul, the United States

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