The Business Leadership Podcast

Salli: You're listening to the business
leadership podcast with Edwin Frondoso.

Hafu: the feeling I try to
create after every video is the

audience feels more inspired.

They feel more educated and they feel
like they want to go out and do something

The vlog era slowly shifted into
more produced content, like Mr.

B's.

He came in and then he put in huge
budgets into every episode of his

YouTube videos, which was unheard of.

Before spending even 100 or
1, 000 was something that

was click worthy on YouTube.

Edwin: Good morning.

Good afternoon.

And good evening biz leaders.

Welcome to another episode of
the business leadership podcast.

I'm your host.

Edwin fondos.

And today we are featuring a special
episode from our future narrator mini

series recorded live at the collision
conference in Toronto, Canada.

In this mini series, we explore
the future of leadership.

Innovation and storytelling
with visionary leaders who are

not just designing products.

But our creating entire
new worlds and markets.

Joining me is Dr.

Paul Newton and together.

We're speaking with Hafu go.

He is a pan-asian content creator
posting over 6.3 million subscribers

on YouTube and nearly 2 billion views.

He creates some of the largest
edutainment content in YouTube.

Regularly achieving millions of views
with his hybrid creator approach.

In this conversation half, we will
discuss his mission to bring niche,

hobbies, to a broader audience.

Aiming to inspire and educate
viewers through his videos.

We'll explore his
commitment to creating anti.

Quote brain rot.

end quote content that motivates
audience to take action.

Has reflection on the evolution of
YouTube content and his approach

to both long and short form videos.

Hafu will share his experience.

Seeking advice from industry figures,
the importance of trial and error.

And his goal of producing
content that makes people feel

better and think positively.

So without further ado, here we go

We're now speaking with viral
content creator, YouTuber, Hafoo Go.

How are you doing today?

Hafu: Great.

I'm excited to be here.

Edwin: Yeah, I'm super,
super excited to have you.

This is a treat for me.

Hafoo, just to get started, what problem
is the content that you're creating?

What problem is it solving
within the creator industry?

Hafu: The big problem that people talk
about today with social media is that.

Social media takes away from your life.

Yeah.

People get distracted by social media.

People like consumes their life and
they feel like they're wasting time

when they're consuming content on there.

So my content tries to
be the opposite of that.

So what I do is I go to experts in
like niche hobbies, for example, like

yo Rubik's cubes, and I get to Learn
from them and have them teach their

learnings to a broader audience.

And I bring that like really passionate
but niche community to the general public

so they can discover that and feel the joy
of some of those niche hobbies as well.

So the feeling I try to create after every
video is the audience feels more inspired.

They feel more educated and they
feel like they want to go out

and do something after each video
instead of just like being there.

A word that people like to
use nowadays is brain rock.

I try to be anti brainin rock content.

Edwin: Yeah.

I guess for myself, and I have children
as well, and I for the, for what you're

creating, it's very helpful, I think.

I think it's the educa what
do you term, ITA or yeah.

Edutainment

Hafu: is a word that people often use.

Yeah.

Edwin: I guess what where my mind
was going Hafu is what you're

talking about the brain Ron is like
how do you see like the YouTube

platforms and the algorithms help?

For that because they obviously
want to keep people in social media.

So it I just imagine you inspire someone.

But then your video ends.

Yeah, are they still on there?

Or do you Try to get them off
the social media off the video?

Hafu: I mean I do what I can Yeah,
I can only do so much But I the

what I try to do is I make every
video a little bit more educational.

So they Feel better
after watching my video

Edwin: How do you see the content today,
and how is it evolving to attract more?

And keep these viewers stimulated
in their attention there?

Hafu: Yeah content has shifts over time
and I think when YouTube and social media

first started content was very organic.

There was a lot of vlogging, right?

Casey Neistat was a big proponent
of that era, the vlog era.

And then it slowly shifted into
more produced content, like Mr.

B's.

He came in and then he put in huge
budgets into every episode of his

YouTube videos, which was unheard of.

Before spending even 100 or
1, 000 was something that

was click worthy on YouTube.

But now you put 1, 000 in
your title, nobody cares.

You have to put 100, 000
for it to even make a dent.

YouTube went from really organic
content to then very produced content.

And within the last year or two we've
seen a little bit of shift back to

more of the relatable side of things.

Some people call it lo fi, meaning
like not as highly produced,

more relatable type of content.

Edwin: Do you think that's
a reflection to, the TikTok

and the quick media snippets?

Hafu: Yeah, part of it, because just
like fashion that goes in cycles, fashion

trends from 50 years ago come back
and be the new trend of today, right?

Same thing with this is we saw
a huge boom in the Tik Tok space

with short form video coming in and
then people wanted longer videos.

Yeah.

Because they've seen so
much short form stuff.

So I primarily produce a
lot of videos on YouTube.

Yeah.

Big thing with YouTube nowadays is
that TV viewership has gone way high.

Before my TV viewership
percentage was like 10%.

Now it's 40%.

It's like really gone up because
people are like craving that more

in depth, more longer content.

Edwin: Oh, that's interesting.

Does that reflect on what you're
going to produce next and what you're

planning in your content calendar now?

Hafu: Yes, a little bit yeah,
because Since TV is like YouTube is

penetrating a lot of smart TVs Yeah,
we definitely have to think of our

content strategy and consider that

Edwin: This is really interesting and
do you find the TV viewers a little

different than the traditional?

Let's say What Watching and viewing
it on the laptop, is it different?

Hafu: Yeah, it's more of a How would I
say more of a calm and relaxed viewing

experience and more passive viewing the
experience because most people that They

don't like clicking around on their TVs.

It's a hassle to do it on your remote.

Just click from one
video to the next video.

Whereas on your phone, you can easily
swipe down, you can choose the next video,

skip, double tap, stuff like that, right?

So on TV, people tend to view
longer than on mobile platforms.

So they have a longer attention
span to sit through the whole

video and take in the whole thing.

Edwin: Are they the same demographics
or is it a new demographics

that are coming in from there?

Hafu: I would say it's a bit of both.

It's a bit of both.

My videos, they reach families, right?

There's teenagers, there's also
parents there's also like college

students, but let's just take
the family segment, for example.

The TV is now being played in the living
room, so instead of the kids Watching

the video by themselves, the teenager
watching the video by themselves.

The parent might be in the background
too, and they see some of the stuff

I like, sometimes I get sent like
pictures or videos of the family

living rooms and my videos on there.

So like the whole family is watching it,
even though they're not, may not be paying

attention all the time, but they see it.

So it's different, but it's also same.

Edwin: That's cool.

That's a great visualization
and that, that must make you

feel good when you're seeing.

I guess that reflection coming back
to you in terms of the family Yeah,

watching in terms of the testament
of what you're creating, right?

Hafu: Exactly.

It just means that the content is
educational l enough and it's PG

friendly enough that the parents
deem it to be safe for the Kids.

Edwin: That's great.

Just thinking about the YouTube getting
into the TV into the family rooms.

What other major disruptions are you
seeing that are shaping the industry now?

Hafu: There's a lot more globalization
of content whereas dubbing has become a

big part of YouTube specifically because
YouTube has enabled the tech for it.

They now have like multi language audio
tracks where you can publish one video

But then in the toggle where you change
like the resolution settings, you can

also now change audio track settings.

I can upload my videos in English,
but then have another audio track in

Spanish or Chinese or Portuguese, and
that will reach the audience in those

countries specifically, because some
of them don't like watching language

content, like people mostly enjoy
content in their own language, right?

That's why dubbed movies are a thing,

Edwin: So Have you experimented with that?

Hafu: I have actually yeah,

Edwin: and are you seeing countries
that rise up in terms of your content or

Hafu: yeah Spanish is always gonna be
like the biggest second language for

Western type of content Just because
there's a huge Spanish audience.

Yeah So yeah, like it's definitely helped
me reach a lot more people in places.

Edwin: That's amazing it's not AI though,
you have to get a paid actor or is it?

Hafu: There's multiple ways of doing it.

There's AI that does it where
you can train on your own voice

and then it would translate it.

Yeah.

There's also actors voice actors
that you can hire for your

different languages as well.

Edwin: Have you experimented with
what's, what makes it popular or not?

What's better?

Like the AI version?

Hafu: It's all a matter of cost.

If you're trying to hire human voice
actors, it's about 20 times the cost.

Edwin: Wow.

Yeah, of course.

I know we probably touched upon it
earlier, but what do you see or what

does a future of content creation, across
like the continents and culture nuances

really look like now, because you're
developing this in English, but how do

you, how would you answer that question?

Hafu: I think future of content
it's going to be two things.

I feel like the middle ground of
content is slowly phasing out.

Edwin: What does that mean?

Hafu: There's going to be super short
form, so below a minute, and then there's

going to be super long form, right?

And then I feel like the stuff that's
five minutes to ten minutes is like

slowly phasing out a little bit.

Okay.

Just because.

The consumer behaviors have changed
where on the social media platforms like

instagram, tiktok, and even facebook, like
they scroll reels, which is 60 seconds.

And then on youtube, where the longer
content lives, they also have shorts

that people scroll and then they have
long form videos that people watch.

But then for long form videos, I don't
think a lot of people are sitting

down to watch like The 10 minute
videos anymore because TV is going up.

They're watching, they want longer videos.

And if they're in the mood to sit down
and watch a video, they're probably

going to choose a longer video.

That's where I see things.

Edwin: That's interesting.

I guess the shorts and the
minutes, they're the trailers.

Hafu: Not necessarily because I produce
content for both long and short.

And my short form content is not.

Promoting my long form.

It's just stand alone
on its own that I film.

Yeah.

Edwin: Oh, wow But it's
complimentary or it's

Hafu: well, it's similar like topics
because I do like Experiments try

different skills stuff like that similar
topics, but it's just Different content,

Edwin: so I guess for myself and
listening to this where I predominantly

make long form audio content and if I
were Thinking about creating more of

this video content I can't reuse things.

I would have to make something
specifically for one minute longer.

And then if it's a longer content,
no one's really sitting through an

interview or are they podcast interviews?

Hafu: Podcast is a huge
niche on social media.

You see a podcast.

Edwin: Everyone wants
to look like a podcast.

Hafu: Yeah.

Yeah.

I get the Shure SM7B you look legit.

Edwin: If you were to give
me advice in terms of audio

content for business leaders.

Yeah.

But if I were to leverage from
what you're saying, if I'm creating

content for the short form, it
should be different than the one

I'm creating for a long term video.

Hafu: Yeah, I think we're just
getting a little bit more technical.

Yeah.

If you're trying to upload on the social
media platforms, you always need video.

Yeah.

Because audio just doesn't go viral.

Doesn't go for it, yeah.

So what you could potentially do is
you can take your audio tracks and then

put footage behind your audio tracks
that are like related to your content.

Like a lot of people put like
movie clips or whatever that are

related to what we're talking about.

Or they can put b roll clips
of what we're talking about.

There's definitely ways of repurposing
your long form audio podcast

for the short form video stuff.

Edwin: But it has to be
specific, is where I'm going.

Hafu: Yeah, you gotta think more
deliberately about how to do that and how

to make it reach the people that you want.

Edwin: It's a little it's totally
selfishly asking now because

it's just like I've seen in my
industry and in the podcasters.

They reuse everything and I
feel like it's lazy marketing

coming from the podcasting teams.

Hafu: You think so?

Edwin: Not what you're doing, when
they just repurpose of clips and

it's not Purposely for, deliberate,

Hafu: the thing is podcast platforms don't
have that much distribution built in.

If you already have an audience,
you can push them over, but then

if you're trying to create a new
audience, It's hard on those platforms.

There's no discovery algorithm
there, or at least very

limited discovery algorithms.

You get like a top 100 list, but other
than that, like you don't get much.

So people are trying to be
innovative and find ways to push

from TikTok onto their podcast.

Edwin: Yeah.

No, I get it.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

I guess more personally what are
the biggest challenges you're

facing within your business, within
the content that you're creating?

Hafu: Right now I feel like a lot
of what I'm doing on the content

side is really working well.

We're growing at about a million
subscribers a month on YouTube.

Which is insane.

The content is working.

But what is my challenge now is
building the team to support the growth.

So I'm having to do a lot of
the hiring and stuff like that

and behind the scenes stuff.

So that's where my main
challenges are now.

Edwin: How are you looking to solve that?

This is the business leadership podcast.

I talk to a lot of like execs
who come through these problems.

What are you doing to help
you solve these challenges?

Hafu: If anyone listening they
want to help me out with that.

Give me some advice.

I would love it.

Just reach out to me on Instagram.

I have to go or somewhere.

But A lot of things.

So one is just talking to more
knowledgeable people in the industry.

People who have done it,
who have grown big teams.

Another thing is I'm trial and
error, just like going for it and

then see what happens and realizing
that as long as the mistake doesn't

kill the whole company, I'm good.

And, yeah, just brew force in it.

Edwin: Yeah, no, that's amazing.

And fail fast is what they say in
this collision industry, right?

Haflu, what's your vision?

What's, what are what's the vision of
the future that you're building now?

Hafu: The vision that I'm building is
I want to make good for you content.

I want to make content that educates
people, that inspires people, and makes

them feel better about themselves.

And I feel like that's what's missing
in a lot of the content today.

Yeah, I want to be able to
influence a generation for good.

Edwin: That's amazing.

I'm rooting for you.

Any final thoughts for the content
creators, the business leaders, the

founders that are listening today?

Hafu: I think for anyone thinking
about getting into content it's a

lot to think about in the beginning.

Definitely, I would encourage them
to download all the apps, see what's

working on each platform, get a sense
of how to go viral on those platforms.

The way to really hone in on your format
is by producing more and learning from

each video and just constantly improving.

Edwin: That's amazing.

it's been an absolute pleasure.

Thank you for joining us today.

Hafu: Thank you so much.

Edwin: Oh, that's it.

Busy leaders.

Thank you for joining me on
this special episode of the

business leadership podcasts.

Part of our future narrative
mini series recorded at collision

conference in Toronto, Canada.

It's been an inspiring conversation
with Hafu go exploring his journey as a

viral content creator and his mission to
create meaningful educational content.

For links to all the resources we
discussed and to learn more about

the future narrative project, please
check in the show notes and the app

that you're listening to right now.

And if you're interested in reading
more about a Hafu and other business

leaders, we profile that collision.

Join the waitlist for our upcoming book.

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until next time have a 100 X