Building a business on the world stage
“Today is the beginning of anything you want”
Starting a business is a journey that is not hard — but not easy either. Not hard, because opportunity is always there: once you have enough passion, understanding, knowledge and skill, starting up is like an adventure of discovery. Not easy, because although knowledge and skills are everywhere today, truly understanding them and applying them for the right purpose, in the right situation, is not simple at all.
Born in Vietnam but raised in America — one of the largest economies in the world — where I built my career from nothing, I have tasted both failure and success and know the hardships of the entrepreneurial journey.
A few years ago, when I agreed to return home to help a relative’s company, I became more and more interested in the Vietnamese market — especially its startups. To me, young people in Vietnam are in no way behind any other country in skill or ability. But they often lack the experience to fully understand the problems of doing business, and so they make mistakes they never needed to make.
Meanwhile, world markets have been changing constantly. Vietnam keeps opening up through a series of free-trade agreements, creating an economy without borders. Vietnamese businesses can now reach world markets — and businesses from other countries and continents can just as easily enter Vietnam’s. That demands companies strong enough to hold their own ground at home and compete fairly abroad.
As an entrepreneur with a sense of social responsibility, and as a son of Vietnam, I now bring my own experience and lessons home, hoping to give something back — above all, to help passionate young founders build solid businesses and step confidently into world markets. That is why I wrote “Made in Viet Nam – Lean Startup: 5 Steps to Reach the World”. The book covers 6 essential topics on starting a business:
Part 1: Lessons that shape a life
Valuable lessons in mindset that I lived and distilled while studying, working and building businesses in America.
Part 2: What you don’t yet know about starting a business
The mistakes and misconceptions young people commonly fall into when starting out.
Part 3: Starting up — which opportunities are yours
The opportunities founders can seize, based on my perspective, observation and analysis of how the economy is changing.
Part 4: 5 steps to a successful startup
The core steps you need to start a business successfully.
Part 5: Reaching the world
The opportunities, challenges and solutions that let Vietnamese businesses step confidently into world markets.
Part 6: The stock market and entrepreneurship
How entrepreneurship and the stock market connect, and what this kind of investing offers founders in managing and deploying capital — along with a practical way of thinking about, and approaching, the stock market at the right scale for your business.
If you are looking for a formula to get rich, this book probably can’t give you one — I never set out to write about getting rich. Everything shared here is more like a set of signposts, helping you find the direction that suits you and spot the bends and obstacles along the way. The material comes from what I have lived and observed, not from academic theories or formulas. I hope it gives you an approach that is simple, relatable and effective in practice.
Warmly,
