Vietrep Pulse #1: Entrepreneurship and Media are shaking in Vietnam

Deal all family, friends, and fans (maybe haters too, If I have any) :D

This blog show is my read, analyze, and recognition in Vietnamese economy. Sitting here in the hospital is an unforgettable memory to me and my dad. We share a lot about business, family, and life. However, I am a kind of a guy who cannot sit still. So, here I am! I want to make the memory here more rewarding. I decide to come back to my blog and  keep my writing passion on fire!

I am surprised that when I come back I recognized two things that I never thought they are emerging in Vietnam.

Entrepreneurship

I have seen two cases of young people who take risks to start their own businesses in very young age. One is a drop out college, around 20ish. He was studying in US, but decided to quit and started a food vendor chain called RodStarz. 

One is another young guy, around 20ish again, who starts a coffee chain in Da Lat (my home town) called Windmill. 

They are unknown but I admire both for the courage to transform their inspiration into practice and dare to dream (also, dare to fail :D If that happens).

The entrepreneurship and star-up industry is forming in Vietnam. Investors in Vietnamese startup are getting crowded. They are backed up with highly renowed education institutions in US, like Stanford. For example,VYE Boot camp is like an startup incubator who has two professors, Pr. Tom Kosnik from Stanford and Pr. Alan Barrel from Cambridge. I like this approach because not only they are welcomed in Vietnam like educators, but they will have a chance to know the inside out of Vietnamese people, culture, and business. At the same time, they buy sometime to make good connection with business community in Vietnam. 

I would like to share the mission statement of VYE, so we can take a look

“Viet Youth Entrepreneurs (VYE) is the first and only entrepreneurship movement in Vietnam that  is by students and for students. Founded in February 2011, VYE’s mission is to inspire and empower passionate Vietnamese youths to create successful entrepreneurial endeavors.
At the core of VYE is the belief that people, especially the young, should follow their hearts. If they are passionate about something, VYE encourages them to chase about it. Connecting people of similar interests and mind-sets as well as inspiring them with many lessons learned from the best entrepreneurial initiatives from Vietnam and all over the world are the missions of VYE.

Why We Found VYEVYE believes in the power of entrepreneurship in transforming Vietnamese economy by creating values in our society. With limitless enthusiasm, passion, creativity, and energy, Vietnamese youths are capable of creating the future of the country through entrepreneurship.

The Impact- Promoting Vietnam’s potential in entrepreneurship and renovation.
- Building the next generation of well-educated, innovative and passionate in entrepreneurship Vietnamese.
- Unleashing the potential of Vietnam in entrepreneurship and innovation.
- Transforming Vietnam from the manufacturing economy to a high-tech entrepreneurship-centric economy"

Please check it out here http://vye.vn/bootcamp2013/

In addition, I recognize funding for startups is emerging. Investment funds from Sin, US, and Vietnam are participating in this investing industry. Some of them are straight investors. Some comes from large fund like IDG Venture Capital. 

Read this http://www.techinasia.com/vietnam-startups-worth-investing/.

It is a pretty well-searched article and you can see how potential Vietnamese ideas and people can change the economy in future.

Media

Unbelievable! Forbes is coming to Vietnam this year. I has the first issue of the Forbes and enjoy much of the reading: Quality read. Insightful knowledge. Top of that, they have an announcement of top ten Vietnamese powerful businesswomen, which is really interesting for an Asian Confucian country where men always dominate in the business.

Guess! Who was in the front page of Forbes Vietnam?

Pham Nhat Vuong. The first Vietnamese billionaire secures a seat in the Forbes’s golden list. Forbes quoted him. “My goal is making life beautiful. It doesn’t matter how much I have, the important is how to transform and make our country a little more prosperous. Of course, in that strategy, we must be profitable to keep building up. Therefore, any real estate has good price, we sell to keep investing in other properties.”Vingroup is a corporation who has four different real estate brands in different segments of real estate markets.

1.       Vinpearl – It is a complex of resort, superior hotel, and theme parks, located in Hon Tre island, Nha Trang

2.       Vincom – It is a brand devoted to many real estate complexes, including residence apartments, offices, and entertainment.

3.       Vinmec – Nothing much is saying here, all I know is related to medical

4.       Vinschool – Same here, it is for education.

The article also mentions some name of top real estate development companies in SE Asian. For example, City Development, Capital Land, Keppel Land from Singapore. Hong Kong Land, Cheung Long, Henderson Land Development from Hong Kong.

I have checked out one of his project about residence called Vincom Village at http://www.vincomvillage.com/. It looks pretty nice, clean, and neat in term of designing, marketing, and branding.

Questions:

1. What do you think about the presence of the Forbes news in Vietnam? What are their purposes?
2. What do you think are challenges  for Vietnamese entrepreneurs?

Open discussion and share!

Onward,

Thomas