[A recap of Startup Grind HCMC on 28th August 2014, at Air Lounge coffee shop]
Spend time to save time
“It’s good that you are familiar with the concept of “Spend time to save time”. My objective today is to help you save time, not making the same mistakes that I have made”. Those are the introduction words of Mr Ho Viet Hai, Triip.me’s founder and CEO. In a close-up interview held by Startup Grind Vietnam at Air Lounge Coffee in district 7, Mr Hai opened up with young and ambitious future entrepreneurs in audience about what he has gone through during the last 8 years in the startup world and generously shared his precious experiences with the.
“The most important thing is to try, learn and do it by yourself. Nobody is going to help you”
Mr Hai emphasized the utmost importance of taking initiatives and do-it-yourself spirit by recalling his path towards entrepreneurship back in 2007. Studying at University at Buffalo, SUNY in Singappre Institute of Management, Mr Hai worked brieftly at Yahoo during summer and was enrolled in an Internet marketing course there. The study proved to be fundamental in his success as most of his ventures later on were related to Internet. Mr Hai had no plan to start a company at the time, but the curiosity led him to start one of the earliest social networks in Vietnam. Although short of coding background and expertise, the guest speaker ventured to learn Joomla and eventually grew the network from 0 to half a million users in 2007. “Not knowing how to code is not an excuse. The most important thing is to try, learn and do it by yourself. Nobody is going to help you”, stressed Mr Hai.
At that time, due to rising competition and demand for display advertising, he decided to register the business and quit Singapore to come back to Vietnam to run his company. The trade-off, according to him, was job security, financial package that he could have had with Yahoo and even a romantic relationship with his girlfriend at that time.
Step out of your comfort zone and get more experiences
Mr Hai credited his early success with serendipity of working with the right and talented developers. He recalled being introduced by his domain vendor to a skilled developer who was influential in the growth of his first website. On that account, Mr Hai strongly recommended the next generation entrepreneurs that they step out of their comfort zone and get to know people with different background.
Moreover, another major recommendation from Mr Hai to the young audience was to experience life more. After touching briefly on the closedown of his 360 Yahoo, our guest speaker opined that it is more difficult for Internet start-ups that it was 8 years ago. He went on to remark that in order to survive a start-up, young entrepreneurs should have more life experiences under their belt. Vietnamese education, according to our speaker, does not equip the youth with enough tools and knowledge to overcome the daunting task of starting and running a business. If there is any illusion that Vietnam can have a version of Mark Zuckenberg, Mr Hai does not seem to be a fan of such illusion. He pointed to the difference in the depth and quality of education between Western countries and Vietnam as the reason for remarkable success at young age. Therefore, Mr Hai strongly suggests that would-be entrepreneurs take time to get more experiences in life before venturing out to start a business.
I am against the idea of asking people questions directly
When asked about how he evaluated the potential and size of a market, Mr Hai offered interesting insights. He cited a lesson from the well-known book named Rework that start-ups should make a product quickly and test it on the market to see how the market responds. Without knowing who end users are and where they are, start-ups, according to him, will fail due to the lack of market knowledge. He cited Triip.me as an example. The website was originally a mobile application. However, after launching it and realizing that the market was not big enough, the team quickly turned it into a website and they are making noticeable progress.
He went on to elaborate on the problem faced with payment by PayPal. The lesson learned from working with PayPal, he claimed, could only be learned through experience. Moreover, he considered experimenting and experiences the best learning method and market research means. The guest speaker slammed the idea of asking customers to fill in surveys. He said: “I am against the idea of asking people questions directly. If people think that they are answering survey questions while doing so, the survey already fails. Those who study marketing seriously will avoid such blunt and direct questionnaire”.
In a cozy atmosphere, besides other aforementioned accounts, Mr Hai generously shared other precious experiences accumulated after years of working as an entrepreneur. Such lessons cannot be found in textbooks and to learn them in real life will be costly and time-consuming. Mr Hai truly delivered as a young yet proven entrepreneur who spent time in order for other fellows to save time.
You can find the full sit-down interview with Mr Ho Viet Hai here. The next interview will feature Mr Nguyen Tuan Anh, GrabTaxi’s General Manager in Vietnam on 25th September at The House of Saigon Café, 20 Thu Khoa Huan, District 1.
Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire and connect entrepreneurs. This is the first chapter launched in Vietnam.
Recap by Duong Quang Minh, our dear Startup Grinder and an excellent writer