'Everyone has own story worth sharing'

CEO of ingstory chases dream chasers' stories

Kang Nam-koo CEO of Ingstory

By Bahk Eun-ji

Kang Nam-koo, 24, CEO of Ingstory, started the story-sharing company with the idea that everyone, especially young people in their 20s have a story to tell that is worth sharing with peers.

The start-up, in its initial stage, gathers various stories about young people through interviews, and records them in video clips, then disseminates them through Facebook and other social networking services. These stories will be material for future books and sources of information used by employers when hiring.

Kang is particularly interested in stories of young people who follow their dreams. He has no university diploma and has always tried to find what he really wants to do.

“I could not just find why I had to go to university, so I asked my friends why they wanted to go but no one answered me clearly,” he said. “I thought they just do what others do. For me, however, I really wanted to do different things than wasting my time for studying college entrance exams,”

Kang gained experience of running a business successfully when he was a high school student. He sold blue jeans at an online shopping mall when he was 17 years old.

“I enjoyed running a business a lot more than studying and by the time, I thought that I finally found the right job I could devote myself,” he said.

One day he was offered a job by a headhunter at Ticketmonster, one of the nation’s biggest online discount stores.

He started at a low rank, but the company gradually recognized his ability and he was quickly promoted to an executive level position.

“There were too many extra things that I had to care about other than working. I eventually became disappointed with what I was forced to do and I decided to quit.”

Kang said he wanted to do something for young people his own age, although he knew he would not make as much money as he did before.

“Our job is to find special stories from ordinary people, make them into a documentary and share them with other young people through SNS and other web pages,” Kang said.

“Others can also find their dreams or what they want to do through sharing the stories. In other words, to make a community for young people who want some guidance to find their careers or jobs is our goal at this moment,” he said.

The stories from young people Kang collated had were published in a book “Challenge Without a Hitch, Youngsters!” in March.