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In focus
- Vietnam’s AI Hay has no revenue but managed to raise US$18 million. We break down why.
- Telio’s founder is back, with a twist: he’s swapped mom and pop stores for an AAA game.
- As always, send us tips or opinions at editors@techinasia.com
Hello reader,
Visitors to Vietnam love to romanticize the hustle: every alleyway is a market, every curb a pop-up pho shop. Everyone’s selling something.
But Vietnam doesn’t just need sellers. It needs more risk-takers, the kind who bet on tech, not traffic. That’s a different kind of hustle.
The two stories from Vietnam in this edition? They’re about the ones who dare.
First up: Duc Tran and his team at AI Hay, a Vietnamese AI-powered Q&A app. They’re going up against the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini, the ones with billions in funding. Duc and his co-founder quit their jobs at Zalo to build a product that can tackle local queries global models tend to fumble.
The odds? Brutal. The skeptics? Plenty. But you have to admire the audacity. David never looked smaller.
Then there’s Sy Phong Bui. His last startup, B2B firm Telio, crashed just last year after burning through millions in VC cash. Critics didn’t hold back.
But Sy Phong didn’t either. He sold his house to fund his next bet: building an AAA game from Vietnam. Some call it reckless. Others, relentless.
For an innovative culture to thrive, the ecosystem needs to embrace failure and push more people to think beyond the safe bets. It’s not just about chasing stability or quick bucks from real estate.
Build in tech. Build something new, with lasting impact. Leave a legacy.
Thu Huong Le, managing editor
Top Stories
1️⃣ Vietnam’s AI Hay pits local brains against ChatGPT’s brawn
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