Ep 37: Kai Yuan Ng (Co-Founder, Our Grandfather Story) - a podcast by Ling Yah
from 2023-12-13T20:10:49.063946
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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