01Why 'Rhyzome'?
Rhyzome is a botanical term that refers to a stem that spreads horizontally underground. It has no central point, new branches emerge from anywhere, and even if cut, it reconnects. When I first chose the company name, I wanted two things. One was An organization without hierarchy. The other was A product that does not stay in one place.
Fishing is inherently such an activity. Yesterday’s spot is not today’s spot, and one person’s technique does not apply directly to another. The sea and people constantly extend sideways. That’s why we chose the company name accordingly.
02 The scenery seen from the sea
The moment I decided to start the business was during a single fishing trip. On a small boat that departed at 4 a.m., I saw two things.
One was The enormous resources of our nation’s seas It was. The diversity of species across the east, west, south, and Jeju, and the richness of seasons are unrivaled by any other country.
The other was, the industrial structure of the tools that support those resources was surprisingly underdeveloped. Good products were mostly licensed from Japanese or American brands or OEM, and there was little channel for domestic users’ actual fishing patterns to be reflected in product design. With many middlemen, prices were inflated, and user feedback disappeared along the way.
I wanted to shorten that gap.
03Why we chose D2C
The trends shown annually by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s ‘Retail Industry Trends’ and the Statistics Bureau’s ‘Online Shopping Trend Survey’ are clear. Consumers are increasingly wanting direct connection with brands, and expect their data to be used for the next product improvements.
D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) is not merely a model that reduces middle distribution. For us, D2C is the user’s fishing trip data·feedback·reviews that reach the product design studio without interruption. A user who catches olive flounder in May and a user who catches hairtail in September have different needs. If we do not hear that difference, the tools become average products. Average is not the answer for anyone.
04Why AI automation
Rhyzome is a small company. It does not have the staff or capital of a large brand. Therefore, from the start we decided on one thing. Repetitive tasks are done by machines, tasks requiring judgment are done by people is the principle.
Content publishing, inventory monitoring, seasonal species data compilation, first‑level customer inquiry classification — these tasks are handled by AI agents 24 hours a day. As a result, people’s time focuses on two areas.
- Making the product better
- Directly conversing with users
The reason we place AI at the core of operations is not because AI is a trend. To reserve a person’s time for tasks only they can do. It is.
05What we want to create
Rhyzome’s way of working is based on three principles. As the meaning of the company name suggests, it is a standard for extending outward without breaking, reaching far.
A good tool makes a user’s single fishing trip more precise.
A good brand extends a user’s season.
A good company keeps the sea close to a user’s whole life.
The place Rhyzome aims to reach is the final line. It is not a company that ends with a single transaction, but one that stays beside a user’s fishing‑life for a long time. This aligns with why we chose the name ‘Rhyzome.’ To the side, without breaking, far.
06Going forward
All of Rhyzome’s content and products are created on two promises.
- Honest information— Instead of unreferenced claims, we cite authoritative sources.
- Return of user data— Your feedback is directly reflected in the next season’s product improvements.
This article is Rhyzome’s first self‑introduction. From the next post we will return to stories about the sea and tools. We hope you’ll join us.
— Cho Hanwool (Cho Hanwool / Chris Cho), founder of Rhyzome