How to turn a viral moment into a global brand with Vivien Wong, Little Moons

We got a phone call from Tesco saying, guys, we've completely run out of stock of your product.

Can we order some more immediately? Which was a complete surprise to us for the first 10 years.

I would be in front of my laptop or in a factory.

I didn't go out and network.

I didn't have any fancy events.

It was get up, scrape your hair back into a ponytail and get into the factory at 6 a.m. Make sure that you don't mistake going viral as success because it gives you an opportunity.

It gives you visibility, but not necessarily a business.

In early 2021, a shopper with no connection to the Little Moons filmed themselves buying and eating one on a TikTok.

The video sparked a viral trend generating more than 5 million views and sending sales soaring by 1,500%.

The TikTok moment may have introduced Little Moons to millions, but the foundations were laid long before then.

Vivian Wong co-founded Little Moons with her brother Howard in 2010, spending two years perfecting the recipe, building their own factory and introducing a product most people in the UK had never heard of.

Little Moons is sold in 38 countries and valued at more than £100 million.

Today we're talking about everything that happened on either side of that viral moment.

The years spent laying the foundations before it arrived and the decisions that turned a sudden breakthrough into long-term

growth.

Welcome Vivian to How to Start Up.

It's great to have you on.

I'd love to ask you to introduce yourself and a bit about how you started Little Moons.

Thank you for having me.

I am Vivian.

I'm co-founder of Little Moons, which I co-founded with my brother Howard back in 2010.

So we've been running the business for almost 16 years now.

So it's a lot longer than a lot of people expect.

But for those of you who are uninitiated, Little Moons are little balls of ice cream wrapped in mochi dough which is a Japanese sweet soft rice dough which is a little bit squishy so it's a bit unusual but we have many fans although it's not for everyone.

We got a phone call from Tesco saying, guys, we've completely run out of stock of your product.

Can we order some more immediately? Which was a complete surprise to us for the first 10 years.

I would be in front of my laptop or in a factory.

I didn't go out and network.

I didn't have any fancy events.

It was get up, scrape your hair back into a ponytail and get into the factory at 6 a.m. Make sure that you don't mistake going viral as success because it gives you an opportunity.

It gives you visibility, but not necessarily a business.

In early 2021, a shopper with no connection to the Little Moons filmed themselves buying and eating one on a TikTok.

The video sparked a viral trend generating more than 5 million views and sending sales soaring by 1,500%.

The TikTok moment may have introduced Little Moons to millions, but the foundations were laid long before then.

Vivian Wong co-founded Little Moons with her brother Howard in 2010, spending two years perfecting the recipe, building their own factory and introducing a product most people in the UK had never heard of.

Little Moons is sold in 38 countries and valued at more than £100 million.

Today we're talking about everything that happened on either side of that viral moment.

The years spent laying the foundations before it arrived and the decisions that turned a sudden breakthrough into long-term

growth.

Welcome Vivian to How to Start Up.

It's great to have you on.

I'd love to ask you to introduce yourself and a bit about how you started Little Moons.

Thank you for having me.

I am Vivian.

I'm co-founder of Little Moons, which I co-founded with my brother Howard back in 2010.

So we've been running the business for almost 16 years now.

So it's a lot longer than a lot of people expect.

But for those of you who are uninitiated, Little Moons are little balls of ice cream wrapped in mochi dough which is a Japanese sweet soft rice dough which is a little bit squishy so it's a bit unusual but we have many fans although it's not for everyone.