Ep 37: Kai Yuan Ng (Co-Founder, Our Grandfather Story)

Ng Kai Yuan is the co-founder of Our Grandfather Story: a Singapore-based digital publisher dedicated to uncovering timeless and overlooked stories across Southeast Asia.Founded in 2017 with three other co-founders, Our Grandfather Story started as a school project! More specifically, an assignment for an Advance Photojournalism module at Nanyang Technological University. All four college students were tasked with coming up with a digital startup and the first video they created was on Singapore’s distinctive green & pink ice-cream sandwich bread. To their surprise, the video went viral! And after acquiring investors (while still in college) and big corporate clients including Nippon Paint, Temasek Holdings & Singapore’s National Heritage Board, the four friends decided to turn their assignment into a real startup.And in this STIMY episode, Kai Yuan shares exactly how that happened. Highlights:4:51: Getting an advance photojournalism assignment that sparked the genesis of Our Grandfather Story6:40: Why they named it ‘Our Grandfather Story”7:17: Coming up with the concept of Singapore’s Ice-cream bread video, which went viral!10:50: Turning a college assignment into a full-fledged digital media publishing company, OGS11:30: Obtaining a seed investment of $50,00012:09: Reaction from friends & family14:46: Securing corporate clients without any track record17:20: Managing budget while growing the team in the early days of OGS18:18: OGS’ target market20:16: Focusing on food content23:11: How OGS uncovered “untold” stories24:06: The most unique & “kepo” way that OGS has used to obtain a story26:22: OGS’ biggest success - the Can Ask Meh? Series28:56: How OGS created the video on “Parents Who Lost a Child” for the Can Ask Meh series30:35: Remaining sensitive to the questions asked32:57: Creating O+ - the animation illustration arm of OGS34:38: Creating the Something Private podcast37:13: How OGS has gained its dedicated following - in 3 years, OGS has grown to over 300k on Facebook, 250k on YouTube & 70k on Instagram. 39:07: Sharing Southeast Asian stories during the COVID-19 pandemic40:01: Who OGS is looking for to join the team41:34: Maintaining relationships with the people they meet for OGS stories📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/37💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605