AVV Founders and Friends Ascend Vietnam Ventures

From favourite moments to putting lessons in play, Hau and Adrian reflect on their takeaways about hiring and retaining early team members.

In This Episode
(00:20) How the show came into being(02:45) The importance of people strategy(04:42) How the show’s making a difference for founders(08:40) ‘Eye-opening’ and ‘Intriguing’(11:22) Amazing analogies(12:35) Aha moments(16:10) Founders were open and introspective(17:10) Setting new hires up for success(22:45) Things to cover next seasonThe AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode
Links
Show notes and full transcript for the episodeYour HostsHau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years.
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.—-In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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Corporates are much better than startups at hiring impactful C-level leaders and it isn’t just because they pay more. Fortunately, startups can apply the same methods and mindsets to find the right people solutions to their business problems. Minh Giang, former partner of Talent and Culture at Mekong Capital sheds light on executive, corporate hiring and the approaches she employed to recruit CEOs and C-level hires for companies in Mekong Capital’s portfolio (Vietnamese Australian School, Pizza 4Ps, Pharmacity etc.) 
She is Giang is currently the Founder and Partner of Leaders and Culture at Newing Company, a coaching and consulting company that provides leadership development for individuals, teams, and helps lead organizational behavior changes.
In This Episode
(00:30) Meet Minh Giang(02:59) About Newing(03:58) First recruitment and Mekong(06:05) Qualities to look for in a candidate(07:16) How crucial is the culture fit round?(09:44) Why you should not skip reference checks(12:26) Must ask questions in the interview(15:31) Onboarding is part of hiring process(18:15) Firing vs retaining an employee(22:38) How to set up a candidate for success(24:28) All business problems are people problems(27:40) Journey from investor to founder(29:21) How to hire in survival mode(32:00) The role of HR and CFO(34:09) 30 Second PitchThe AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode
Links
Show notes and full transcript for the episodeOur Guests
Minh Giang is the Co-Founder and Partner of Leaders and Culture at Newing Company, a Vietnamese company focused on developing leadership for individuals, teams, and organizations. 
She served as General Director of Talent and Culture and was also a member of the Board of Directors of Mekong Capital prior to building Newing. She had previously worked as a recruitment consultant for VietnamWorks.
She serves on the advisory board of A Plus Mineral Material Corporation in Vietnam and on the executive board of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE)'s strategy and membership committee. 
Your HostsHau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years.
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.—-In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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This podcast is powered by CrazyTok: We help experts become influencers. 
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Before launching Aitomatic, Christopher Nguyen and his founding team worked together for nearly 10 years building new AI solutions over multiple ventures.  As a seasoned Silicon Valley and Vietnam tech veteran he imparts his wisdom for pragmatic decision making, winning over A-team hires, and how they should earn a seat at the table. 
In This Episode
(04:03) The AITOMATIC team (07:07) Founding team and not just a founder (08:53) What should your team look like?(11:16) Core values(14:20) How to make your brainstorms better(16:27) Manufacturing skills and value systems (22:06) Changes in hiring over time (24:28) Hiring tech employees as a non-tech CEO (27:07) How to better screen your employees(29:52) Buddy system and presentation(31:48) 30 second pitch about AITOMATIC
The AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode
Links
Show notes and full transcript for the episode
Our Guests
Christopher Nguyen is a serial entrepreneur who is currently developing "AITOMATIC", the Knowledge-First App Engine for Industrial AI, which helps businesses translate domain expertise, combine it with machine learning, and automate everything on a single SaaS platform.
He has previously built companies such as Arimo (acquired by Panasonic), ACTGent (acquired by ICBC), and Agenda-Asia (acquired by WPP). He was also the first Engineering Director of Google Apps, and he co-founded the Computer Engineering program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a professor. In his 35+ years of experience, he has worked for leading technology companies such as Intel, Xerox, and Intel.
He earned his bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley and his master's and doctorate degrees at Stanford University. He also serves on the board of directors of Fulbright University Vietnam.

Your HostsHau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years.
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.—-In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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This podcast is powered by CrazyTok: We help experts become influencers. 
Find us on our Website, LinkedIn or Instagram

Convincing A-players to join  a new company in a completely new industry may sound nearly impossible. How do you create a winning team when you have no funding? 
In This Episode
(03:04) Getting started in pet insurance(06:14) The first three hires(07:47) Starting a business with your partner(11:45) Hiring a growth marketer(13:50) Establishing company values and ensuring new hires are aligned with them(17: 03) Blending disruptive youngsters with experienced professionals(19:43) Generating employee referrals(22:48) Hiring before funding(27:06) Setting newcomers up for success(30:43) 4 key learnings as a new manager(38:52) Staying on track amidst distractions(40:21) The art of the Reverse Pitch The AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode
Links
Full transcript for the episodeOur Guests
Kevin Hoong is the co-founder and CEO of Oyen Insurance, a digital pet healthcare insurance and wellness platform aiming to provide the best support and protection to the pet lover community and their furkids in Asia Pacific
Your Hosts
Hau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years.
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.—-In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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This podcast is powered by CrazyTok: We help experts become influencers. 
Find us on our Website, LinkedIn or Instagram

Getting your team to embrace the culture you want to build is challenging especially when they are remote and distributed across the world. How do you create structures and processes without making it heavy and bureaucratic?
In This Episode
(02:00) How Jason joined Virtual Internships(05:11) Forming the early team(08:06) Being intentional about culture (12:31) Getting newcomers to embrace the company culture(17:01) Leveraging and developing junior hires to maximise their contribution(21:54) Delegating work the right way(25:47) Setting up a distributed team for success(28:52) Socialising new hires in a remote-first environment(31:39) Making HR a ‘self-serve’ process before building out the People function(34:03) Hiring the right people for the stage of business(36:08) Building transparency through the ‘VIP guide’ for job-seekers(37:34) Finding the right hires by understanding their MITsThe AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode Links
Full transcript for the episodeOur Guest
Jason Kan is COO for VI where he has helped design and scale the org from 3 to 130+ over the past 3 years. This has included building "minimal viable teams" in areas such as Host Companies, People Operations, Talent Acquisition, IT/Systems Management,  Operations, and Demand Generation 
Virtual Internships ("VI") is the number one platform for guaranteed internship placements. Interns can unlock a network of global opportunities with talent-seeking companies, gain real-world work experience and gain an unbeatable advantage in the working world.  
Your Hosts
Hau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years. 
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.
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In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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This podcast is powered by CrazyTok: We help experts become influencers. 
Find us on our Website, LinkedIn or Instagram

https://www.crazytokmedia.com/POPS Worldwide is one of the few Vietnamese companies to successfully expand regionally in SEA. In this conversation, Esther dives into the crucial aspects of trust, attitude, and personal qualities and how she grew the company from a 4 person team in Vietnam to a 400 person team across 3 different countries. She reflects on finding, motivating and retaining leaders for the long term as a regional company in a highly competitive hiring market. 
Our GuestEsther Nguyen is a media and technology entrepreneur who founded POPS Worldwide. She has since been a pioneering force in the development of the digital entertainment industry in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
In This Episode
(01:26) Building the core team(05:56) How early employees helped shape values(09:27) What to look for when hiring early employees(14:43) How POPS expanded to hundreds of employees across South East Asia(19:40) How to motivate and retain people for the long term(22:39) Why join POPS(24:22) How to make best use foreign talent
The AVV Founders and Friends podcast is a Top 10 podcast in Vietnam. If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in the Vietnamese and SE Asian startup ecosystem, subscribe now so you never miss an episode.
Links
Full transcript for the episodeYour Hosts
Hau Ly is the partner at Ascend Vietnam Ventures focused on portfolio success and has been in the VC space for six years. 
Adrian Latortue is portfolio manager at 500 Startups Vietnam, prior to which he was a founder himself and an early member of the Uber team in Southeast Asia. He’s lived in Vietnam, working with Vietnamese startups for 12 years.
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In this podcast we interview successful founders in Vietnam and South East Asia to discuss their journeys, especially the stories and challenges of their first few months. Learn and be inspired by how some of the hottest startups in the region made early hires, raised funds, found product-market fit and so much more. If you're a startup founder in South East Asia or aspiring to be one, please follow the show, share it with fellow entrepreneurs and send in your stories. We'd love to hear from you!
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This podcast is powered by CrazyTok: We help experts become influencers. 
Find us on our Website, LinkedIn or Instagram