In Case You Ever Get Curious About Startup Scenes In Vietnam
So, even though I was born in Vietnam and am really interested in startups, I’d never actually worked for a startup until this summer. Working for 2 startups in 2 industries, and also got to know about many other startups in different fields, I found the startup scene in Vietnam surprisingly thriving. That is the reason why I want to spend some times on this blog dropping some points about the startups eco-system in Vietnam because well, just in case you get curious about how a startup scene in a communist country looks like. Please note that this is based on my observation and personal opinion only.
- Accelerators: surprisingly, in Vietnam there are many accelerators for early and growing startups. Most of the big accelerators bring startups to Korea and look for investment opportunities from potential angel investors there.
- Investors: In Vietnam, there are actually many angel investors and they are always hungry for startups!!
- The biggest problems of a startup is that it’s hard for them to verify the need of the market. Many startups make a mistake of selling what customers don’t want, or they are selling solutions that solve problems for a community that’s not big enough. Also, another reason is because statistics or researches about customers are often not published publicly in Vietnam, therefore startups have a hard time figuring out ways to verify their target market’s needs.
- There are not many successful tech startups in Vietnam compared to F&B startups.
- In Vietnam, labor laws allow employers to pay workers based on their skills instead of hours. Due to this reason, many startups have problems retaining young talents because of competitive salaries from other competitors.
So here you go! That is a quick recap of a startup scene in Vietnam that I have been able to observe this summer!