In Conversation with Cheo Ming Shen, co-founder of Nuffnang.com

A couple of weeks ago, while bringing an Irish friend of mine around Singapore, we bumped into a young passionate internet entrepreneur in Geek Terminal, who ended up chatting with us about football, enjoying a glass of red wine and talk about the other interesting quips in life. After that conversation, I found out that he is Cheo Ming Shen, one of the co-founders of Nuffnang.com, an online advertising company for blogs in both Singapore and Malaysia. So, during a recent gathering, I managed to catch him for an interview, where he shares his experiences about online advertising and why he gave up a lucrative job of an investment banker to be an entrepreneur.

BL: Hi Ming Shen, Thank you for agreeing to our interview. So, what’s the story behind NuffNang.com?
Ming Shen: Thank You Bernard! It is an honour to be featured on SG Entrepeneurs.

Nuffnang.com was conceived by me and my Malaysian partner, Timothy. Faced by the daunting prospects of graduation from the University of London, the both of us had a choice to make. Join an investment bank/management consultancy like most of our peers were doing, or embark on an entrepreneurial path.

It was a straightforward choice for me.

We had both thrown ideas into the hat, but whilst mine was a hugely ambitious venture that would have required mobilizing a significant amount of capital, his was by comparison, less ambitious. We thus chose his idea. It was as practical as that.

Essentially, being a blogger of some clout in Malaysia, he found that he was earning a pittance under existing programs. This he felt was largely due to a lack of relevancy. Local blogs should have local advertisers and products on them. This is a value add to both the advertiser and the blogger and his/her audience. That is why we have offices based locally to market our blog sites to potential advertisers.

Both of us were then running internet businesses, and had used blogs to propagate our businesses. Wendy’s blog for example, had single handedly propelled my business from an unknown element, into the realms of space! It was amazing. And I was convinced.

BL: Have you started any companies before NuffNang? What interesting lessons have you learned from the first time as compared to now?
Ming Shen: My first business was a flash based e-commerce store known as Gadgeit.com.

It was started in my second year of university amidst exams, and internships, and I had 4 other partners who were either working or studying too.

We achieved an admirable level of success considering the capital we put in. At our peak, we were getting a revenue stream of $20,000 a month. We were also featured on countless magazines, and even had a 10 minute slot of Channel News Asia.

I learnt a great deal from that experience. One of the greatest lessons, was that a business is an on-going concern and requires 110% of effort. It’s a full time thing and you need to dedicate everything you have got to it. Money is one, time, effort, dedication and deep active thought are others.

BL: What prompted you to start NuffNang.com, given that you graduated from one of the top universities in UK and can easily get a high paying investment bank or management consultant job in London? What inspires you to be an entrepreneur, given the risks, trials and tribulations?
Ming Shen: As cliché as it sounds, it is ownership and passion that led me into the path of entrepeneurship.