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 Story


6:40: 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, OGS


11:30: Obtaining a seed investment of $50,000


12:09: Reaction from friends & family


14:46: Securing corporate clients without any track record


17:20: Managing budget while growing the team in the early days
of OGS


18:18: OGS’ target market


20:16: Focusing on food content


23:11: How OGS uncovered “untold” stories


24:06: The most unique & “kepo” way that OGS has used to
obtain a story


26:22: OGS’ biggest success - the Can Ask Meh? Series


28:56: How OGS created the video on “Parents Who Lost a Child”
for the Can Ask Meh series


30:35: Remaining sensitive to the questions asked


32:57: Creating O+ - the animation illustration arm of OGS


34:38: Creating the Something Private podcast


37:13: 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
pandemic


40:01: Who OGS is looking for to join the team


41:34: Maintaining relationships with the people they meet for
OGS stories





Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/37





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