Boy who sold toys on the streets of Chinatown becomes chairman of rapidly growing IT consulting comp
Title
Boy who sold toys on the streets of Chinatown becomes chairman of rapidly growing IT consulting comp
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Vtmbh article article order
3
Vtmbh article author
Bomsinae Kim
Vtmbh article blurb
Woo Song arrived in New York City at age 11, nervous and discouraged by the challenges of immigrant life. Inspired by his parents hard work, Song resolved to succeed. Twenty-six years later, he is the chairman of a Manhattan-based IT consulting firm with over 150 employees.
Vtmbh article body
Every time I become lazy, I think of the days when I used to sell toys on the streets of Chinatown.
Woo Song, 37, chairman of Intrasphere Technologies, Inc., says that when he arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport at the age of 11 in 1979, he already missed his friends back in Korea and had no confidence to begin a new life in a foreign land. Song is now the chairman of an information technology (IT) consulting firm based in downtown Manhattan with over 150 employees.
Intrasphere Technologies, Inc., founded in 1996, specializes in application development and systems integration, and provides business solutions to multinational companies. It boasts of over $24 million in revenue.
Since its inception, the technology company has experienced dramatic growth. In 1999, it added a venture capital arm, Reval, to the company and set up its London office in 2000, increasing its presence worldwide.
As a result, Intrasphere was recognized by Deloitte & Touche as one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in New York this past October. Furthermore, Song was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in June of last year.
My family began our immigrant lives with my mother working as a seamstress and my father selling toys on the streets of Chinatown, Songs says of the early days of his top-university educated parents new life in the United States. At that time, this country was not a land of opportunity for me. I regretted coming here and just wanted to go back to my home country, Song said.
However, as Song watched his parents persevere and survive the hardships of their immigrant life, he resolved to succeed in his.
At the age of 14, he entered Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Upon graduating, he attended State University of New York at Albany and Stevens Institute of Technology.
While working at Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, Song was recognized for developing software programs for international drug sales data. This recognition led to joining forces with one of his clients at Pfizer, Bill Karl, to create Intrasphere. Karl is now the president and CEO of Intrasphere.
According to Song, the key to success is finding the right people and retaining them. Intraspheres employee retention rate since its inception is 95 percent.
Chairman Song, whose dream is to build a billion dollar empire, is well on his to achieving his goal.
Woo Song, 37, chairman of Intrasphere Technologies, Inc., says that when he arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport at the age of 11 in 1979, he already missed his friends back in Korea and had no confidence to begin a new life in a foreign land. Song is now the chairman of an information technology (IT) consulting firm based in downtown Manhattan with over 150 employees.
Intrasphere Technologies, Inc., founded in 1996, specializes in application development and systems integration, and provides business solutions to multinational companies. It boasts of over $24 million in revenue.
Since its inception, the technology company has experienced dramatic growth. In 1999, it added a venture capital arm, Reval, to the company and set up its London office in 2000, increasing its presence worldwide.
As a result, Intrasphere was recognized by Deloitte & Touche as one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in New York this past October. Furthermore, Song was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in June of last year.
My family began our immigrant lives with my mother working as a seamstress and my father selling toys on the streets of Chinatown, Songs says of the early days of his top-university educated parents new life in the United States. At that time, this country was not a land of opportunity for me. I regretted coming here and just wanted to go back to my home country, Song said.
However, as Song watched his parents persevere and survive the hardships of their immigrant life, he resolved to succeed in his.
At the age of 14, he entered Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Upon graduating, he attended State University of New York at Albany and Stevens Institute of Technology.
While working at Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, Song was recognized for developing software programs for international drug sales data. This recognition led to joining forces with one of his clients at Pfizer, Bill Karl, to create Intrasphere. Karl is now the president and CEO of Intrasphere.
According to Song, the key to success is finding the right people and retaining them. Intraspheres employee retention rate since its inception is 95 percent.
Chairman Song, whose dream is to build a billion dollar empire, is well on his to achieving his goal.
Vtmbh article date
2002-12-11
Vtmbh article edition
46
Vtmbh article hit count
122
Vtmbh article keywords
Vtmbh article line breaks
1
Vtmbh article original language
Korean
Vtmbh article publication
The Korea Central Daily
Vtmbh article section
news
Vtmbh article thumb
Vtmbh article title
Boy who sold toys on the streets of Chinatown becomes chairman of rapidly growing IT consulting company
Vtmbh article translator
Bomsinae Kim
Source
born-digital
Media Type
article
Original Name
Woo Song arrived in New York City at age 11, nervous and discouraged by the challenges of immigrant
Created by Author
yes
Described by Author
no
Date Entered
2002-12-11
Collection
Citation
“Boy who sold toys on the streets of Chinatown becomes chairman of rapidly growing IT consulting comp,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed October 1, 2026, https://911.dev.chnm.gmu.edu/items/1645/.