Reflections from Hanoi: Startup life, invaluable connections and adjustment
Written by: Jude Brothers-Nathan, Bachelor of Science/ Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
I have never worked in a startup, let alone in another country. I also have no experience in marketing, and do not come from a business background. Nevertheless, after the month I spent in Hanoi, I believe that applying for the Startup AdVenture is one of the best decisions I have made to date. It is for that reason, that I strongly encourage students from all backgrounds to jump out of their comfort zone and apply for this entrepreneurship and life learning experience.
For the duration of the experience, I joined the team at InMergers, the first mergers and acquisitions (M&A) platform in Vietnam to facilitate deals between foreign investors and Vietnam-based businesses. Placed in the marketing team led by Ms Giang Tran, I completed tasks in relation to designing social media content, and conducting legal and market research on M&A in Vietnam and Australia. Communication regarding tasks was largely carried out through Telegram messaging rather than face-to-face communication. It was important for us to adapt to this to maintain productivity and team cohesion. However, the learning certainly wasn’t all in the tasks. A lot of time was spent getting to know each other on a personal level, whether over salt coffee at a nearby café, or frog hotpot a motorbike ride away. InMergers has a communal, friendly feel, which aligns with the centrality of personal relationships and trust to Vietnamese business culture.
In Vietnam, there is an emphasis on respect for hierarchy and seniority informed by the influence of Confucianism. This was apparent from how we as interns interacted with supervisors, but even more so with CEO Ms Thảo Nguyễn, who commanded the respect and attention of all employees whenever she entered the room. Of particular interest to me, was that 90% of InMerger’s investor customers are located in Japan, and hence why Ms Thảo Nguyễn is also the founder of a Japanese-speaking law firm located a level below the InMergers office.
Outside of life at the startup, we were given numerous invaluable opportunities to network with Hanoi’s local business ecosystem. This included attending an informative lecture on sustainability at Swinburne University, where it was emphasised that Vietnamese businesses prioritise sustainability not only because of industry regulations and to uphold reputations, but also because sustainable practices are necessary to ensure the long-term stability of businesses.
Additionally, we collaborated with Foreign Trade University students in the UQ-partnered Advanced International Business and Business Data Analytics program, by participating in a rapid startup pitching competition. Through this, we strengthened connections with our Vietnamese counterparts – a common theme of the Startup AdVenture. Later, we had the privilege of attending the home of Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Andrew Goledzinowski, in an evening of networking.
It goes without saying that on landing in Hanoi, we were brimming with excitement, as well as anticipation for the experiences to come. However, in conjunction with our eagerness, we also experienced the difficulties of adjustment. Given Hanoi’s higher pollution levels, several students, including me, had some respiratory symptoms over the course of our stay. Managing these symptoms required a degree of perseverance and proactivity. One simple example of such proactivity was wearing a mask everywhere, especially on motorbikes. Regarding these bikes, it was unexpected just how much they would congest the roads, as well as the general disregard for road rules in Hanoi. Consequently, crossing busy roads at times proved to be a difficult task, and so we would usually cross in groups.
Of course, there was a language barrier, and so communicating with most locals posed a challenge. However, we quickly adapted to using translation technology on the fly, and I even received a tour of the Supreme Court of Hanoi communicated solely through Google Translate’s auditory translation feature! As a law student, this, as well as the implications for Vietnam’s economy of having a stable, one-party communist government were particularly fascinating to me.
Our Startup AdVenture group comprised of 20 students from various cultural backgrounds and enrolled in a range of programs at UQ – business, law, finance, engineering, computer science, veterinary science, physiotherapy, dentistry, psychology, social work, and design. Not only did this make for interesting conversations about whether bún bò Huế is superior to bún chả, but these broader perspectives challenged my own assumptions and introduced me to a wider professional network to draw on.
By being reeled in as a group to this charming, unfamiliar city, we were able to create lasting memories and strengthen our bonds together. It is one thing to collaborate on a university assignment with other students, but it is completely different to be thrown into the deep end with them. This shared vulnerability served to build trust and enabled strong friendships.
This experience developed my cross-cultural communication skills and deepened my understanding of the Hanoi startup scene while giving me a brand new domestic and global network of connections. I fully recommend the Startup AdVenture and strongly advise that any interested students apply for the program!
A big thank you to UQ Ventures for making this possible, in particular Nimrod and Fi for coordinating such a fantastic experience. I am also grateful for the New Colombo Plan mobility grant, which made this financially feasible for me.