VIETNAM STARTUP ECOSYSTEMRECENT INVESTMENT TRENDS

5 THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY THAN ZUCKERBERG

FPT Tech Day 2015Hanoi, 5/2015

Dr. PHAM Minh Tuan - Founder & CEO, TOPICA Edtech Group

Bill Gates & Deputy PM Phạm Gia Khiêm Launching

TOPIC64, 4/2006

First-in-the-world Google Glass app for English

Speech Tutoring, launched 3/2014

Graduates of TOPICA Founder Institute,

2012

Online English Speech Tutoring As-Much-As-You-Can• 16 Hours a Day,

Everyday• 100+ Native Teachers• 300 Modules of

Multimedia Courseware

• CASEC Online English Skills Test

Finalist, 2007

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

Winner, 2011Finalist, 2008

Young Global Leader Honoree, 2012

Established: 2008 | Team: 500 Full-time; 100 Part-time; 1400 Instructors

TOPCA signs agreement with AMA, largest univ in

Philippines, 5/2014

Topica Uni Partnering with Philippines Univs, for Philippines Students• Partner with largest

university in Philippines, 300k students

• Provide Topica's 12 systems, 300 processes

• 10+ other universities in negotiation

High-Quality Online University Programs• 7 University Partners

Including Top-tier• Bachelor's Degrees:

Accounting, Banking, Business, IT, Law

• Expanding into Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand

Vietnam Chapters of Silicon-Valley Accelerator Network• "The Accelerator" in

VN: grads raised 8 million dollars to date

• Who's Who of Accomplished Founders & Investors Served as Mentors

First-in-Asia Smartwatch App for

English Vocab Learning, 12/2014

Free App For Learing Vocabulary, Grammar• 120k users in 3

months pilot• Rnglish-VN, French-

VN, German-VN• Developing Thai,

Indo versions for English

English Teacher Award Ceremony covered by Thai media, 4/2015

Topica Native for Thai Speakers• Launched 3/2015,

first mover in Thailand

• Explosive growth• Thai sales, support

staff• Thai user interface

Corporate: TOPICA Founder Institute "The" Startup Accelerator in Vietnam

Vietnam's Only Accelerator Whose Grads Raised Million-Dollar Rounds: • Total $10m raised • 28 grads• 3 annual batches

Branding vehicle: • Most international coverage for

Topica involve TFI• Speaking invitations at

international startup conferences

Powerful recruiting vehicle: • 4 of top 20 Topica managers are

former startups• Many top percentile students

from Tier 1 universities joined

Ecosystem building vehicle: • Many promising Edtech startups

grads of TFI• Future distribution, investment,

acquisition options

VIETNAM STARTUP ECOSYSTEMRECENT INVESTMENT TRENDS

5 THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY THAN ZUCKERBERG

FPT Tech Day 2015Hanoi, 5/2015

Dr. PHAM Minh Tuan - Founder & CEO, TOPICA Edtech Group

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?

27 Founders of “Successful” Tech Startups (Incomplete list)

They Did Differently #1:

Got Older, More ExperiencedThey are not college-drop out kids:◼Average age when started their first “successful” startup: 28.8Exceptions:◼Nguyen Hoa Binh (Peacesoft): started at 20 ◼Nguyen Xuan Tai (Naiscorp): started at 22◼ But both did finish university

They Did Differently #2:

Built Their Skills from Different PlacesThey built their skills◼78% (21/27) or more had had jobs or startup experience from two or more organizationsExceptions:◼Naiscorp and Peacesoft founders started while in university

They Did Differently #3: Got International ExposureThey worked or studied overseas:◼45% (12/27) or more had had worked or studied abroad

Exceptions:◼Nhan The Luan (NCT), Vuong Vu Thang (VC Corp)…

They Did Differently #4:

Were relentless, It’s a Marathon not SprintThey have been running marathons:◼“Successful” founders has spent on average 5.7 years at their current startups◼It takes much longer to build a hundred-million dollar startup

Exceptions:◼Tiki was only 3-years old since raising Series B, but Tran Ngoc Thai Son will likely keep building it for many more years

They Did Differently #5:

Customized Proven Biz Models from OverseasSurviving 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

Other Success: Overseas Vietnamese with Local Teams

Other Success: Individual Geniuses

haivl

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?

VIETNAM STARTUP ECOSYSTEMRECENT INVESTMENT TRENDS

5 THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY THAN ZUCKERBERG

FPT Tech Day 2015Hanoi, 5/2015

Dr. PHAM Minh Tuan - Founder & CEO, TOPICA Edtech Group