1. 5 THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY
THAN MARK ZUCKERBERG
TO BE A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP FOUNDER IN VIETNAM
DEMO ASEAN
HCMC, 8/2013
Dr. PHAM Minh Tuan - Founder & CEO, TOPICA Edtech Group
Tran Manh Cong - Co-Director, Topica Founder Institute

2. One possible “definition”
• “Tech”: Internet, Mobile
• “Startup”: Founded after 2000
• “Successful”:
• Valuation: $10m+
• Or Revenues: $2m+
• Or Staff: 100+ Full-time
• Or Funding: Series B+
• Or Exit
Disclamer
• This is an incomplete list, we may have missed many great companies & founders
• This definition of “successful” is obviously debatable, there are many other possible definitions
• We did not consider spin-offs, joint ventures for this study
• We only considered verifiable data, rumors are only used for double-checking
BAO GIỜ SÓNG ĐẾN ĐÂY?
What Do We Consider a
“Successful” Tech Startup in VN?

3. 3
17 Founders of “Successful” Tech Startups
(Incomplete list)

4. 4
They Did Differently #1:
Got Older, More Experienced
They are not college-drop out kids:
 Average age when started their first “successful” startup: 28.5
Exceptions:
 Nguyen Hoa Binh (Peacesoft): started at 20
 Nguyen Xuan Tai (Naiscorp): started at 22
 But both did finish university

5. 5
They Did Differently #2:
Built Their Skills from Different Places
They built their skills
 59% (10/17) or more had had jobs or startup experience from two or more organizations
Exceptions:
 Naiscorp and Peacesoft founders started while in university

6. 6They Did Differently #3: Got International Exposure
They worked or studied overseas:
 65% (11/17) or more had had worked or studied abroad
Exceptions:
 Nhan The Luan (NCT), Vuong Vu Thang (VC Corp)…

7. 7
They Did Differently #4:
Customized Proven Biz Models from Overseas
Surviving in Vietnam market is difficult enough, they reduced risks with proven models:
 Practically 100% has customized and localized biz models that had been proven overseas
 It is a jungle, not a golf course where you can try new things

8. 8
They Did Differently #5:
Were relentless, It’s a Marathon not Sprint
They have been running marathons:
 “Successful” founders has spent on average 6.6 years at their current startups
 It takes much longer to build a hundred-million dollar startup
Exceptions:
 Tiki is only 3-years old, just raised Series B, but Tran Ngoc Thai Son will likely keep building it
for many more years

9. TOPICA Edtech Group
High-quality Online University Programs
• 7 University Partners Including Top-tier
• Bachelor’s of Business, Accounting,
Banking, Law, IT
• Expanding into Indonesia,
Philippines, Thailand
Bill Gates & Deputy PM Phạm Gia Khiêm
Launching TOPIC64, 4/2006
Education Minister of Victoria, Australia
Teaching TOPICAAmazing, 6/2012
Graduates of TOPICA
Founder Institute, 2012
English Training Franchise for Kids
Based on Online Game
• 12 Franchisees
• Official Test Provider for Min. of
Education’s
Internet English Olympics (IOE)
Vietnam Chapters of Silicon-Valley
Accelerator Network
• 16 Graduates: Appota, Biaki,
Tapmee, Yton...
• Who’s Who of Accomplished
Founders Served as Mentors
Finalist, 2007
INTERNATIONAL
AWARDS
Winner, 2011Finalist, 2008
Young Global Leader
Honoree, 2012
Team: 300 Full-time; 100 Part-time; 1100 Industry Instructors

10. 10
Topica’s Contribution to
Developing the Startup Community
 Organized and supported
40 events, ~7,000 participants
(with grants from World Bank Infodev)
 Serving on Steering Committee of 2
largest Online Communities for startups:
Launch (8k members),
Mobile Monday (4k members)

11. 11
Mentors
Graduates

12. FOLLOW THE LOCAL EXAMPLES
• Get older and more experienced
• Build your skills from different places
• Get some international exposure
• Customize a proven biz model from overseas
• Be relentless
OR: BE THE EXCEPTION
EITHER WAY: JUST FREAKING DO IT
BAO GIỜ SÓNG ĐẾN ĐÂY?
What should you do to build your successful startup?

13. 5 THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY
THAN MARK ZUCKERBERG
TO BE A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP FOUNDER IN VIETNAM
DEMO ASEAN
HCMC, 8/2013
Dr. PHAM Minh Tuan - Founder & CEO, TOPICA Edtech Group
Tran Manh Cong - Co-Director, Topica Founder Institute