Founder story

It all began in spring 2024, when founder and CEO, Fangfang Tan, decided to illustrate a story her 5-year old son Alvin had written. DALL·E 3 and Midjourney had just launched, and she thought, “Why not give it a try?” What started as a fun experiment turned into something much more — his story became a real, published book on Amazon.

The moment Alvin held that book in his hands—the spark in his eyes, the pride on his face — was unforgettable. That single moment of joy and confidence is what inspired Fangfang to create Story with AI: a platform to help every child bring their imagination to life and become a published author.

She shared that first book with the Joy Culture Foundation, a Silicon Valley non-profit organization, and that led to an even bigger idea: What if more kids could turn their stories into books too?  We didn’t know what to expect; but within just one month, we received 16 incredible submissions from elementary students. Each story was creative, thoughtful, and wildly original. That experience confirmed what we believed all along: kids have amazing stories to tell—they just need the tools to tell them.

Today, we’re excited to bring Story with AI to even more families and classrooms through workshops and community programs across the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re proud to partner with schools like Learning Links and TCML, and educational organizations like Wukong Education, 85Fun Dance Studio, and the Joy Culture Foundation.

As Sam Altman once said, “We should teach kids what AI can’t automate: empathy, creativity, grit.” As immigrant parents raising the next generation of leaders, that’s exactly what we aim to do—empower children to dream big, think creatively, and shape their own futures.