Advice on finding and building a team.
As you receive this newsletter, the 31st SEA Games, a multisport event involving participants from 11 countries in Southeast Asia, has just concluded in Hanoi. With this event and lowered entry requirements for international arrivals, Vietnam is again flocked with tourists and business visitors, signaling a robust recovery in tourism, aviation, and other sectors.
In the tech ecosystem, lively deal activities continue in late April and May, including a couple of late-stage fintech deals and various early-stage financings in agritech, EV manufacturing, e-commerce, and robotics (see deal highlights in Vietnam Tech in the News.)
Zooming in on AVV, one of our key activities last month was a social event in Saigon where our portfolio met and discussed hiring best practices with Bryan Pelz, a 14-time entrepreneur with over 2 decades of experience in building and managing startup teams in Vietnam. Check out the Spotlight section for some key learnings and learn what else we have been up to in AVV in Action.
Until next time,
The Ascent
1. Late-stage fintech funding tops the charts.
2. Early-stage impact startups continue to attract funding from regional investors. In last year’s Dream Incubator DI-gest Asia Market Report, our GP Binh Tran remarks, “We are seeing more and more startups in Vietnam leverage data and technology to address them [emerging market problems] and in turn, generate great impact.” In line with that observation, a number of local early-stage impact startups have raised early-stage funding.
3. Other notable deals
Hiring a great team is essential for building a great startup, regardless of sector or market. However, in today’s world of lofty job-seeker expectations and fierce competition for skilled workers, it is no easy feat, especially for resource-constrained, early-stage startups.
To help founders answer burning questions about hiring, we sat down with Bryan Pelz, founding CEO of VNG & experienced board member of FPT Software, VNG, Vietnamworks, and Pizza 4Ps, and discussed how startups can hire the best talents and build an A-team.
Read the full story linked below to see how self-awareness, flexible problem solvers, and “stalking” can build A-teams.
1. Continuing to build a strong founder community in Ho Chi Minh City. Our Hiring AMA with Bryan Pelz in April was also a social event for our portfolio companies. It was a lovely occasion for our founders to meet, exchange ideas, learn from each other, and explore opportunities to partner up. Big applause to Bryan for his valuable sharing and special thanks to our founders who took time from their busy startup life to join our event.
2. Sharing perspectives on private investing in Vietnam with German entrepreneurs. Our GP Binh Tran participated in the German Business Association’s monthly meeting to share his perspective on investment trends and opportunities in Vietnam’s private investors. It was a great evening filled with entrepreneurial energy, fresh ideas, and insights. We look forward to contributing to future events promoting Vietnam by our partners and friends.
3. Mock Investment Committee (IC) for Fulbright students. On May 9, Investment Associate Minh Ta joined a Mock IC for undergrad students at Fulbright University as a guest instructor. “It was great to see Fulbright students’ strong analytical skills. I was impressed by the quality of their work despite their limited access to some key deal information”, Minh shared. Special thanks to Fulbright University for giving us the opportunity to meet and support their students (and hopefully future VC & tech talent.) Pop over to Linkedin and Facebook to stay on top of our latest thoughts and events.
