"What strategy is needed first for business expansion?"
"I want to target large corporations; how should I approach them?"
"Our product has superior features compared to competitors, so why are there fewer users?"
These questions sound familiar, don't they? In fact, they are the most common concerns raised when Elifunt collects preliminary questions for B2B conferences.
However, if you think about it carefully, the answers to these questions are actually already within us. Often, we miss those answers while working too busily. Lee Young-jun, CEO of Modusign, finds those answers in his customers.
Modusign is an electronic signature solution used by as many as 300,000 companies.
At this B2B Roadmap 2025, we intend to share the story of how it built its growth and its vision for the future.
📣 I would like to share Modusign's failures and successes, concerns and vision in the B2B Roadmap 2025.
Q. Hello, CEO Lee Young-jun. Nice to meet you!
I am Lee Young-jun, the operator of Modusign, an electronic contract service that allows you to sign contracts without meeting in person. Nice to meet you.
While the ability to sign contracts without meeting in person has become the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic, Modusign has been shaping the electronic contract market since 2016, long before that. At this B2B Roadmap 2025, we would like to share the experiences, insights, and future plans involved in establishing ourselves as the electronic signature solution chosen by 300,000 companies.
Q. How did you come to participate in the B2B Roadmap 2025?
Growing quickly is important, but we need colleagues to grow with.
At one time, 80% of global unicorn companies created B2B SaaS. While the B2B SaaS market is growing rapidly worldwide, this sector is still perceived in Korea as unfamiliar and close to uncharted territory.
While it is important for Modusign to grow rapidly, corporate growth is such a long journey that we felt we needed colleagues to lead this market together. At this conference, we would like to candidly share the trials and errors and failures we experienced, as well as the insights we gained in the process.
👫 Users have always been a part of Modusign's growth.
Q. Modusign has established itself as a leading B2B solution used by 320,000 companies. What do you consider to be the key factors behind this growth?
It is thanks to usability that overwhelmingly surpasses the user's existing experience.
Modusign is a service where there is always a counterparty. When I send a contract to someone, that counterparty must review the contents and sign it. Ultimately, for a service to be sustainable, it must be usable by everyone involved—not just the parties entering into the contract, but also the counterparty. Therefore, we have designed our service by considering the convenience and experience of the counterparty, rather than focusing solely on the paying customer. I believe this is the biggest reason why the service has spread naturally through word of mouth.
Modusign has consistently invested in UX/UI since the beginning and has advanced its product with the goal of making the electronic signature experience the easiest, fastest, and most reliable.
Q. It seems like an area that isn't easily associated with electronic contracts and electronic signatures. What was the reason for prioritizing user experience, even though this is a B2B solution?
Because I viewed it from the perspective of a latecomer, the problems were more clearly visible.
Thankfully, many people consider Modusign to be the beginning of electronic contracts. (Laughs) Actually, Modusign was a latecomer. We launched our service in the early 2000s, but similar electronic contract solutions already existed. However, the market wasn't growing significantly.
The reason seemed clear. Complex and inconvenient usage methods, including accredited certificates, and procedures that were actually more cumbersome than paper contracts... I concluded that the reason electronic contracts had not been used in daily life, despite being technically feasible, was that they were 'not convenient.'.
At Modusign, we poured the most thought into UX/UI design to lower entry barriers, ensuring that anyone, regardless of industry, can use it easily. We believed that creating a service that anyone can understand and use at a glance was the surest way to expand the market.
Q. Usage methods vary by company, and in many cases, usability actually decreases as requirements increase. How does Modusign meet the needs of its diverse customer base?
Keep the core experience simple and respond flexibly according to scale and method.
The process of someone reviewing a contract, signing it, and sending it to the other party— this basic flow remains unchanged regardless of the customer. Modusign firmly maintains this core experience while flexibly adding necessary elements tailored to different scales and industries.
For example, for small business owners or startup customers, a simplified implementation process and a pathway for immediate testing are important. Conversely, large corporations require complex internal approval procedures, management of contract authority, and company-wide reporting systems.
Modusign understands these differences and tailors its sales materials, implementation processes, and pricing plan designs to suit each customer segment. It is difficult to satisfy every customer 100%. However, we accurately understand these differences and are continuously seeking ways to maximize the customer experience.
✍️ We have been steadily building trust in every place where a signature is required.
Q. Modusign has expanded its target audience from small business owners to SMEs and large corporations. I would like to know what strategy you used to achieve this.
Electronic contracts are a service that is difficult to trust easily. Therefore, we have established a strategy to design trust.
If asked what is most important in B2B, I answer without hesitation: 'trust.' This is especially true for services that handle contracts, like Modusign. Because contracts are inherently linked to legal disputes or risks, no matter how technically perfect a system is, it will not be adopted if trust is not established.
Modusign was a startup that began in Busan and had a short history. Therefore, rather than targeting large corporations from the start, we sought out people with experience in electronic contracts and customers, even small ones, who were already familiar with electronic signatures. Early features like Modusign's electronic seal image were also initiatives launched in this context.
Ultimately, we believed that trust would naturally follow as more people "used the experience our service provides at least once." We started with one-person businesses, small business owners, and SMEs, building up use cases one by one, and this experience naturally extended to mid-sized companies, large corporations, and public institutions.
Q. You have recently been expanding into the B2G market. What challenges did you encounter in adopting electronic signature solutions in the public sector?
The public sector is a market that must be occupied, but the approach had to be completely different.
When public institutions select a solution, the most important factor is 'certification' rather than technology. No matter how well a solution is used in the private sector, it cannot even get started if it fails to meet the standards required by public institutions. To overcome this hurdle, Modusign newly prepared for CSAP (Cloud Security Assurance Program) certification, and expanding its infrastructure to Naver Cloud alongside its existing AWS was also part of that process.
However, technical preparation alone was not enough. In reality, officials at public institutions find the introduction of a new system burdensome. Therefore, we focused on how much we could reduce that burden and what 'benefits' this solution could provide. We continuously persuaded them of the tangible benefits that could be achieved by adopting Modusign, such as risk reduction and improved public services.
I have learned a great deal that even though public institutions have the same system, the people and environment are different, so the language of conversation itself must be different.
💁 The differentiation of our service lies not in technology, but in 'attitude'.
Q. The electronic signature market also has many similar players. What do you consider to be Modusign's unique technological competitive edge?
The gap in technology narrows quickly. In the end, what remains is the attitude with which you view the problem.
Competition in the digital signature market has rapidly intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic. The technological gap narrowed quickly, and services with similar functions flooded the market. In this situation, I believe what ultimately matters is 'how deeply you have contemplated this problem'and 'how you intend to solve it.'
Modusign has never had a single security incident to date and holds all essential certifications, such as ISMS-P. However, I do not believe that such technical specifications alone can differentiate us. I think what truly matters is how deeply we understand the customer's problems and how sincerely we can delve into solving them.
Many companies worry about how to beat their competitors, but we don't look at them. We always focus only on our customers. I believe this attitude is Modusign's greatest competitive advantage.
Q. Where does a competitive attitude come from?
A comprehensive experience that creates customer satisfaction—that is our competitive edge.
I believe that if a solution ultimately comes down to a battle of features alone, it is difficult to survive for long. Customers won't switch simply because someone has added one more feature. What Modusign always considers is the same: at what moments does the person entering into the contract—the counterparty—feel inconvenienced, and how can that be eliminated?.
For example, we have designed our API integration to be very flexible. We are connected to the largest number of B2B software in Korea. This is not just a feature; it was a direction we chose to reduce the inconveniences customers actually experience in their work.
The same goes for the new features utilizing AI. Rather than trying to showcase flashy technology, we are starting from the point of figuring out how to actually solve the inconveniences customers experience.
Ultimately, I believe that what builds competitiveness is this kind of consistent attitude and experience. It is not about functionality, but about the perspective from which problems are viewed. It is not about technology, but about the heart toward the customer.
🌐 Modusign dreams of more than just contracts.
Q. How is Modusign utilizing AI technology? I am curious to know what new value you plan to provide to your customers.
I wanted to resolve the issues in the entire contract process, not just the signing of the contract.
From the very beginning, Modusign's goal was not simply to make electronic signatures faster. We wanted to fundamentally resolve the inconveniences and risks associated with contracts. In actual contract work, the process after signing is often more cumbersome and complex than the process before. Problems arise because even the details of where documents are stored, when they need to be updated, and what the key terms were are not properly organized.
Therefore , we are preparing a solution called ' Modusign Cabinet ' to support the post-contract process. It includes features that systematically store contracts, automatically extract key terms, and notify users of renewal dates
AI technology is also being utilized as a tool to solve these problems. For instance, it enables users to search for contract details based on context even without knowing the filename, and allows for automatic notifications when necessary.
I believe that true work becomes easier only when the entire process before and after a contract is stably managed, not just at the moment of signing. Modusign wants to take responsibility for this area as well.
Q. What are your goals for the year 2025?
The stage of sowing seeds has passed. Now, I want to make this a year to harvest the fruit and broaden that experience.
It has been quite some time since Modusign began introducing the keyword "electronic signature" to the market. I believe we have sown seeds in many places during that time. Now, I see this as a stage where the results are bearing fruit one by one, and we are expanding this experience to other fields.
In particular, this year marks the official launch of 'ModuSign Cabinet' into the market. Our team's most important goal this year is to establish 'ModuSign Cabinet' as a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) service capable of handling overall contract management, going beyond the single function of electronic signatures.
We want to spread this experience to public institutions and other places that have not yet experienced electronic contracts. Our direction of making contracts easier and safer remains unchanged, but we now want to expand its scope.
Q. What is the concern you have been most preoccupied with recently?
At a time when companies need innovation, how can you secure key talent who can grow with you?
Modusign is currently at a critical juncture for full-scale expansion and pioneering new markets. We must innovate by breaking down our existing foundations rather than resting on our past successes. We are deeply concerned with how to build a flexible organizational culture that supports the changing market environment and new internal initiatives. Specifically, I am curious about how to attract key talent, how to enable them to unleash their full potential, and how to create an environment where we can grow together.
Q. Is there any specific message or insight you would like to share with B2B leaders at the upcoming B2B Roadmap 2025 Conference that you would like to reveal in advance?
AI and technology are important, but ultimately, the answer lies within the customer.
Actually, this was a question I agonized over enough to want to ask an AI myself. (Laughs) It might sound cliché, but ultimately, the keyword I resonate with the most customer obsession ."
I believe that for a B2B business to succeed, the most important criterion is whether the customer is actually succeeding, rather than how well the product is made. AI technology is a hot topic these days, but I think the first question we should ask ourselves is this: rather than worrying about how to utilize flashy technology.
Is this technology really solving the customer's problem?
A sustainable strategy does not come from chasing trends. It involves thoroughly digging into what customers struggle with and what roadblocks they are facing. It is about properly defining those problems and consistently resolving them. I believe that is ultimately the condition for the longest-surviving B2B business!
‘Want to hear more insights and vivid stories from the field from Modusign CEO Lee Young-jun?
Meet B2B industry leaders at the B2B ROADMAP 2025 Conference
Don't miss the opportunity to expand and connect your business, from practical strategies to networking!
B2B ROADMAP 2025 Preview
- Speaker Relay Interview 1. LinkedIn Director Choi Min-hee: 'The Real Way to Use LinkedIn' to Maximize Output
- Speaker Relay Interview 2. Attorney Jung Ji-woo: May we use the Ghibli-style images created by ChatGPT as advertising material?
- Speaker Relay Interview 3. Yongmin Cho, CEO of Unbound Lab: Characteristics of B2B Businesses Attracting Investment in the AI Era
- Speaker Relay Interview 4. Desker Team Leader Yoo Hyo-young: Marketing Secrets That Captivated 30,000 B2B Customers
- Speaker Relay Interview 5. Elifunt Lead Kim Min-ju: How to Make Customers Come to You on Their Own—All You Need Is 'This'
- Speaker Relay Interview 6. Eventers CEO Ahn Young-hak: The Secrets of Planning and Operating Seminars That 'Lead to Transformation'
- Speaker Relay Interview 7. Ringle CEO Lee Seong-pa: B2B Sales Strategies That Work Globally, According to Ringle, an Aspiring Unicorn
- Speaker Relay Interview 8. Mirantis Director Grace Shin :Design Strategy with Customer Intent! The Future of B2B Marketing
- Speaker Relay Interview 9. Modusign CEO Lee Young-jun: The Secret to Modusign's B2B/B2G Expansion as a Latecomer
- Speaker Relay Interview 10. Open Your Eyes CEO Seo Ki-seok: Stop Marketing for Sales! Branding Strategies That Become Real Assets
- Speaker Relay Interview 11. Elifunt CEO Kim Ye-ji: How to Build Trust Capital, a B2B Growth Engine More Powerful Than Advertising
- Speaker Relay Interview 12. Park Se-yong, CEO of Ascent Korea: The Secret to Reading Customers' Inner Thoughts, Directly Linked to Marketing Performance
- Speaker Relay Interview 13. Serial Entrepreneur CEO Daiani Macedo: How to Build a Successful B2B SaaS, According to a Global Serial Entrepreneur
- Speaker Relay Interview 14. CEO Ettien of Jellyfish: Global B2B Marketing Strategy Presented by Jellyfish (Current Post)
- View all B2B ROADMAP 2025 posts
