Nguyen Van Huynh turned Be rides into a TikTok channel with 6.7M views

Nguyen Van Huynh graduated with an information-technology degree but joined Vietnam's Be ride-hailing platform full-time. Driving was tiring, Be took roughly 40% in commissions and fees, and weekly bonuses tied him to the app; he said the work offered little growth.

His turning-point decision was to make the rides the raw material for the career he wanted. He saved from driving to buy a secondhand camera for 2 million dong ($83), mounted a GoPro on his helmet, filmed jokes and dances with passengers, and edited at night.

The choice changed the channel economics: videos reached hundreds of thousands of views, sometimes 1 million, and his most popular reached 6.7 million. TikTok and Zalo brought direct ride requests, often longer and pricier than app jobs, while a signature duckling toy also generated sales. Huynh still depended on Be to find rides, but TikTok became his stated path to escape platform work.

His top video reached 6.7M views; TikTok and Zalo brought longer, pricier ride requests, while a signature toy created a small sales channel outside Be.

Be's roughly 40% cut and KPI bonuses kept his income tied to platform rides.

Driving supplied a steady stream of real passengers and situations for relatable videos.

He could fund a secondhand camera from existing earnings instead of waiting for a new career.

TikTok and Zalo gave his audience a route to request longer, pricier journeys directly.

A worker trapped in a low-margin platform can turn the job itself into native content, building direct demand before attempting to leave the platform.

Huynh continued driving long days for Be while filming and editing at night. TikTok had not replaced the app: he still needed road hours to afford equipment upgrades. But the audience, direct ride requests and toy sales gave him an asset outside Be and a clearer route toward leaving the job.