From starvation to Silicon Valley to Vietnam.

Quoc Luong

0:00As a child I suffered chronic starvation hungry all the time. So most of the time I was thinking about how to find something to eat. I was a scavenger. I have to dig through garbage to find stuff anything that I can sell you know to make some pennies. It was almost impossible for people like me at that time to make it to university. It is possible for Vietnamese to be global champions. Believe in that the first thing is to choose the right problem and then focus on it. As Vietnamese, we are good enough to find solution. We are smaller but more powerful. We are more compact but more spacious.

Quang Do

0:39Thank you for being here. You know, for those who don't know you, how do you usually introduce yourself?

Quoc Luong

0:45So, normally I just say I'm doing drones. Because I don't feel that comfortable to mention my title either my academic title PhD from UC Berkeley or CEO of RtR normally I just say I'm doing drones and then I let the way that I carry the conversation to expose myself and normally people usually they have a good read about me through our conversation.

Quang Do

1:19Yes, I see. Then let's make an exception today and give us a bit of an overview of your life. Where you from? What was like growing up and how did you end up being where you are now?

Quoc Luong

1:31So I grew up in Saigon and my father worked alongside with the US army before 1975. [unclear] reeducation and then the whole family was like turned upside down overnight and as a child I suffered chronic starvation I was hungry all the time you know so most of the time I was thinking about how to find something to eat I had to dig through garbage to find stuff, anything that I can sell you know to make some pennies. It was almost impossible for people like me at that time to make it to university. So I didn't have a formal university education. I went to vocational school study for two years. Then got a job. And then I studied at night I took night classes to get a here people call like unofficial university degree. With that kind of degree you are not qualified to go to higher education like doing a masters or PhD by law in Vietnam.

2:59So I never thought that I would have an opportunity you know to pursue higher education in my life. Then I made a big decision when I was 26 to come back to school to study English from scratch. Then I met one volunteer teacher from the US. Her name was Elizabeth and she treated me like her own son. That's just opened the whole new world to me before I came back to study English because I think because I thought you know it was a must right in order to get a good job. But after getting to know my American mom then I saw that English was so much more rewarding right and then I put not only my mind but my heart into learning English.

Quang Do

3:59So is it correct? You spent 26 years in growing up here and at 26 you learn English.

Quoc Luong

4:06Yes. From the beginning. Yeah. And because of that decision you know I 10 years later then I got a Fulbright scholarship to go to Cornell for my masters and then I got another scholarship to do my PhD at UC Berkeley. And then after I settled out in Silicon Valley became a citizen and then I came back to Vietnam to set up this company.

Quang Do

4:32Wow this is fascinating. And you know I would love to deeper into the parts but just quickly what did you build now and what are you doing now? So.

Quoc Luong

4:43Right now we have a team of around 80 staff. We have more than 60 R&D engineers and we came up with breakthrough inventions and right now our drones are serving not only the commercial sector in the US but also the US Army.

Quang Do

5:05Yeah. And what's the differentiating factor of your company compared to other drones? We talked about this before but I want to hear from you.

Quoc Luong

5:13Yes. So our smaller more compact but more powerful can carry more devices simultaneously. So we can capture more data we can execute more missions than other drones.

Quang Do

5:32And it's built in Vietnam from Vietnam by Vietnamese.

Quoc Luong

5:36That's true. Not only just built from Vietnam. Invented.

Quang Do

5:57I love that and you know it's I think one of the rare cases we talked about this as well that it doesn't exist so much yeah export tech or invented tech yeah should we say it invention from Vietnam is in these days and so that's true. I would love to talk about that whole journey let's start from the beginning right like 26 boy learning English like how tough was it and you know what drove your work where did this ambition come from.

Quoc Luong

6:25It was very tough to learn English at the time imagine you didn't have internet right you have a very limited access to native English speakers at a time what we have at that was a you know a cassette player right and you play with a tape and then that's how you train yourself actually i think the main motivation for me was the relationship with my mom because I didn't have any plan or even any dream of going to the US because I was so poor you know I cannot fund myself and without an official university [unclear] so just out of the question so I devoted my time to learn English because of that relationship but before I knew it then in 2002 Fulbright, they changed the policy they allow people without an official university degree to apply and that was my only chance so I applied and then I made it and yeah.

Quang Do

7:42Tell us about the time in the US. Was it your first time in.

Quoc Luong

7:45Yeah, very first time in the US. I still remember the very first which year was that 2002 I still remember the first time that I landed in Ithaca New York upstate New York it was dark it was cold you know August upstate New York I stepped out at the airport being alone I didn't have any friend didn't know where to go didn't have a phone right and but I was I was very excited. I didn't worry. I just felt that I was so lucky to be there, right? And then I just took a taxi and tell the taxi, you know, get me to the cheapest hotel, you know, near Cornell. That's it. And then and then I try to figure out, you know, finding a place to stay. And yeah.

Quang Do

8:37What did you study? Economics. How did that go? You know, what did you learn there? How was your time? How was it to fit in with the other students?

Quoc Luong

8:48Vietnam back then I think there was there was only one one other Vietnamese student from Vietnam you know and me were only two only two of us from Vietnam so we became very close friends and I still stay in touch with them family there are in Hà Nội right now everyday walking up to I very lucky very lucky very blessed even though the workload academic workload was very heavy.

Quang Do

9:29Plus language as well right.

Quoc Luong

9:30Yeah language and then the workload because I didn't have a formal education right back then in Vietnam they didn't teach you about market economy at all right it is centrally planning economic theory coming to so I had to work maybe twice as hard as other students trying to catch up taking more classes from mathematical departments to prepare myself because I have only one year right the master program was two years but after the first year I needed to be ready to apply for PhD scholarship the following year so I needed to run not only for the to not only to finish the master program but also to take more courses so that I have enough credits to apply for PhD program at Berkeley I didn't have time even to think about what to eat so I cook I cook only one day for the whole week and then I put the food into different portion the food I even have time you know to think oh today we can eat I can have a choice you know to consider to think about whether we eat this eat that so.

Quang Do

11:07Now looking back did you did you enjoy your time.

Quoc Luong

11:10Yes yeah I still remember the first day when I got rent right and it was unfurnished so I got into that apartment there was only a fridge and a stove that's it no bed and luckily somehow I a blanket with me from Vietnam in my luggage and then you know up inside lying on the floor I feel life why life was so tough but I just I was so blessed life was so wonderful because even in my wildest dream I never thought that someday I would be in the US but somehow I ended up right here inside you know the house of totally stranger you know half far away from Vietnam and then tomorrow I would have to go to one of the top schools in the US. I just that I was so lucky. Yeah.

Quang Do

12:20Yeah. Did you enjoy like did you have social life and then have a bit of free time as well or did you only study?

Quoc Luong

12:28Mostly study of course we have some friends you know within the department but so for weekends I felt so l I felt I would say lucky because I didn't have to spend time walking to campus I can have more time reading at home.

Quang Do

12:46Ok. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And then what was your at that time? What was your plan for after college? Did you always wanted to do PhD or was something that came up along the way?

Quoc Luong

12:57When I first came to Cornell, I didn't know that there were opportunities, you know, to apply for PhD programs at all. But after a few months then I learn about those opportunities. So I put my effort to get good scores you know straight A's in every course that I took. Yes. Yes. And then so I made it to.

Quang Do

13:24And what did you want to become? Did you have any directions and ideas?

Quoc Luong

13:27I often told my American friends, you know, as Vietnamese luxury you guys have because when I ask them what did you do where did you enter this program? Because I can like it right but first you know because life somehow put us here so we have to make the most of the opportunity but I like economics I like I like it a lot yeah but because that's the only chance you know for me to get out of Vietnam you know to apply to and that's the major that is relevant to my work experience and because of that you know I can only apply for econ I can apply for MBA medical programs.

Quang Do

14:17And at that time, what was your dream in terms of career? Know you have a e degree, you know, from Vietnam, probably you want to stay in US.

Quoc Luong

14:27Yes. Yes, that's the goal, right? That's the goal. So if you enter into any PhD program at top schools in the US then you have two choices either academia yeah or industry right and then after graduation I went for industry.

Quang Do

14:48Did you do an economics PhD as well or what was how was that quickly you know was it as hard as the masters.

Quoc Luong

15:0210 I know and I still remember you know one day I kept telling myself you know you made a wrong choice on me because I was not good enough to do this program it was so hard until one day I still remember the professor looking out at the whole class and he said probably you know a lot of you guys think make the wrong choice on you and then a lot of people started laughing and then I knew you know not only me but the program was designed in such a way to be hard to be hard to make you feel that you are stupid because then you become humble you know that because most of them you know are very smart and then if everything is easy what would be the point for you know to explore you know further unknown frontiers right so if you show that very good normally the professor you know keep pressing you pressing you until you know you cannot answer and then you see oh I need to learn more I need to do this I need to do that intentionally.

Quang Do

16:14And if you think back you know what was hardest you know what specifically was hard about it for you.

Quoc Luong

16:21Actually the all of the economic theory courses the problem sets, they're quantitative because I remember when I got the problem set right back home I read it three times, four times five times. I still didn't understand the questions let alone figure figuring out the answer right and then we have to team up you know and then try to interprete the question this way and that way among a group of PhD students and bit by bit we figure out because in class they teach you only A B A B but in problem set they ask you d E F or G you nothing to learn from class so they force you to learn by yourself to explore.

Quang Do

17:24Did you enjoy that time at this was in California how you very different from.

Quoc Luong

17:32Different and then I know a lot of people you tend to fall in love with the first place you land in the new country at Cornell very peaceful very safe you can roll down your windows car windows and you can leave your stuff inside you know and nothing happen you can leave your bicycle and campus unlocked still there but you see next at the beginning was missing to enjoy discover so became my second home i down.

Quang Do

18:27And you said it was very challenging the PhD you know how did it make you feel like was it a worse experience than the masters overall in terms of quality and in terms of I.

Quoc Luong

18:41Struggled a lot you know for work really hard and struggled a lot in terms of academic workload but it's totally worth it at the end because it force you to think more deeply a few layers more deeply than any master program for master program you know if things make sense then that's good enough but for PhD If things make sense that's not good enough you have to prove it why it is right so it force you to think more to look down to the core look through to the core right that's the and and actually the program changed my way of thinking the way that you look at different things not just economic you know the way that your mind work.

Quang Do

19:34Yeah we love to learn about this you know you you later then go into a very engineering heavy business right and so what lessons mindset you know how has econ help you and serve you in your life now.

Quoc Luong

19:50Yes a lot you know for my startup the first thing is that you have to pick the right problem right by being when I say the right problem meaning if you can if you find a solution to that problem there must be a lot of people who need that solution otherwise you cannot sell right so not only not just in terms of engineering but it has to make sense economically you have to pick the right problem to solve at the beginning so because of my econ you know I can look at the market side I can look at the engineering side whether this is feasible technically you know whether it is feasible technically to pursue And then also on the economic side if we find the solution how many people would need solution millions or you know early a few hundred.

Quang Do

20:46And then you went into industry tell us about that what was after PhD for you.

Quoc Luong

20:54Then I work for a consultancy company and I moved to Washington DC and I stayed there and work there for nearly two years then I move back to the Bay Area. I to do back through that you know drones and I came across a TED talk about one drone application and then I was just amazed the potential right and my initial plan was to bring drone applications to Vietnam not to make drones right like to run a taxi company not running Toyota not making cars you know but using drones to provide services so that was the original plan we spend a lot of money you know buying different drone models from different manufacturers right because on data sheets on brochure they promise their drones can do a lot but into reality they can do like a 20% or 30% of the features that they put on their And before you know it then you have to modify the system you have to fix this and fix that and then try to make it to fly longer try to put a better camera on the drone and that they will not plug and play you know if you want to put more powerful camera on the drone you have to do you have to fix a lot of things right and then up to the point it makes more sense to make our own drones right so How we move from the original plan you know running drone services company into a drone making company.

Quang Do

22:40When you say we like was it a team or was it you and you built a team.

Quoc Luong

22:47Yeah me and also one more partner one more partner of course we have a few engineers to help to help us and that I think very common for any startup at day one the thing end up being successful totally different very rare very rare you know you decided at the beginning you do this and then at the end you are successful with the original plan.

Quang Do

23:21Tell us about what did you see in the potential of drones like from a even from a economic analysis point of view you said you watched this talk, it inspired you what potential did you.

Quoc Luong

23:34Yeah. Talk was about environmental protection right they use drones they [unclear] in Indonesia and to listen to different [unclear] of animals and they try to figure out the population of the animal community that you know they monitor and I saw I knew that for any new technology Vietnam [unclear] other countries like for internet at the beginning it would be the same for drone technologies if people in the US can use drones for power inspection or public safety then a few years later Vietnam would allow those kind of services. So we think that there were opportunities you know to transfer the technology from the US to Vietnam.

Quang Do

24:37Tell us about the founding story you know what were the early days like how did you map out the idea how did you get into making reality?

Quoc Luong

24:53You know several times. So from drone services to drone making right even for drone making the biggest question is that what would be your focus you can make only propeller some company out there they only make propellers some companies only make electric motors. Some companies only make airframes right what kind of component that you want to make and why right so we were at a loss at the beginning so we started back you know 2015 up to now 10 years the first three years was learning.

Quang Do

25:33And did you stay in the Bay Area still.

Quoc Luong

25:38No I moved back to Vietnam because I just could not afford doing R&D in the Bay Area so I moved to back to Vietnam and then I set up a small team and then the first years was learning with dissecting you know taking apart models from different manufacturers to see what they are doing and try to copy and try to make something similar that can work that can fly and then the next three years was a catching up so we can make similar to other people more or less we can [unclear] little longer but they can do better you know in other features only in the last four years we accumulated enough knowledge and then we were able to come up with new inventions and then we can make better than other rivals it's a long process you know it cannot happen overnight you cannot just overnight you become good enough you know then you can invent something better than the rest.

Quang Do

26:45It's really fascinating that you have this belief and conviction for such a long time you know yeah and do you think this belief was so strong from the beginning already or did you get more confident along the way and you know were the moments of doubts.

Quoc Luong

27:00There were a lot of moments of doubt you know for any startup not only for me know the moments that you have to answer the question because I believe in myself and because of the trust other people put in me you know the trust from my partners from investors from the engineers you know who believe in my vision believe that we can make it those things kept me breakthrough invention then things become easier much easier then we believe that we could actually create a hightech product better than you know our rivals in the US or China.

Quang Do

27:57I would love to talk a bit more about product and the innovation of it just very quickly on the learning and engineering like How deep did you go into engineering and how do you handle engineering now? Did you learn yourself? How technically involved are you? Did you teach yourself some engineering and how do you manage all the engineering stuff now or even manufacturing?

Quoc Luong

28:23I taught myself, read a lot about at the beginning I know anything about batteries when I heard people say battery I understand you know any specifications at all. I myself here the key of course right now I cannot do the coding right programming like any of my engineers but as a CTO you have to master enough knowledge to determine which way to go you know which technology would be the winning technology let's say in terms of battery you know whether you go for lithium or you go for solid state of as a CTO I cannot do all of the chemistry calculation like any engineer right but at the macro level you have to be solid enough you have to be good enough in order to make the macro decision right with technology to go right now I am the I can say I'm the sole inventor of all of the patents for the company.

Quang Do

29:38You invented.

Quoc Luong

29:40I invented them and then I the problem to the engineers so that they can design and they can they can turn my invention into physical products. That's their job.

Quang Do

29:53So do I understand correct you understand engineering and the technical stuff enough to be able to come up with the core invention. Yes. And then you have a team to actually to turn that those inventions into physical products. Ok. Wow. Then let's talk about the inventions and about the product. You know what is it that you invented?

Quoc Luong

30:16So right now we have we have a three significant breakthrough inventions. Number one is Hera. So Hera, that's the name of our drone. So Hera is smaller than other smaller more compact but more powerful and more spacious.

Quang Do

30:36Is it better if it's smaller?

Quoc Luong

30:38Yes, definitely because just think about that professional camera and the camera that you have on your phone. Right. Features wise you cannot compare the features of the camera on your phone with that professional camera but why people love the camera on your phone more because it is more portable right the same thing for drone service is smaller more portable you can have more applications with drones you can carry the drone with you know into different settings it less to operate back and they want it to be small but at the same time they want it to be powerful to be able to execute different kinds of missions in that area we are we are the best we are smaller but more powerful we are more compact but more spacious is number one.

Quang Do

31:43What are the other.

Quoc Luong

31:46The other two is about gimbal, camera stabilizer and you see the universal design of gimbal right now is one gimbal can carry one camera only. Yes. Right. We double that. Our new generation gimbal can carry two cameras and the two cameras can function like a two eyes of a chameleon. So they can work independently looking at different direction or they can work in sync right and then together they can cover 360 degrees field of view. The significance of our invention basically we double the field of view the ability to see the world [unclear] for for almost every cases thinking about search and rescue right you have to scan an area to look for target or a victim right and with one if it takes you if it takes you [unclear] with only minutes and for search and rescue time is critical right the same thing for inspection for surveillance for military you know for surveillance.

Quang Do

33:16Ok cool, Hera, gimbal, then the third.

Quoc Luong

33:21That's in secret right now Because what I can say is that the engineering and economic significance of the third invention is even bigger than the first two.

Quang Do

33:34And what's the plan for the third is it?

Quoc Luong

33:38We finish 70% of the process of making the physical product of that invention. Ok. Right. So we have another 30% to go and then I think take us about another [unclear] months.

Quang Do

33:52Yeah, it's a long cycle. For the other two what's the stage of commercialization and you know.

Quoc Luong

33:58Hera we have commercialized Hera we released Hera we started selling a few months back and then with the chameleon gimbal we gonna release that gimbal at early 2026.

Quang Do

34:13Ok. How is going financially for the business.

Quoc Luong

34:18Our sales traction has picked up significantly in the last few months right now we are doing very well in the US and we gonna expand the market to EU, Japan, Australia and Vietnam.

Quang Do

34:34Do you do sales yourself is it founder sales up to now.

Quoc Luong

34:40Yeah I'm the main one doing sales but we building a dedicated sales team now.

Quang Do

34:48What is the reason of story of you moving to Vietnam? You know what you said the Bay Area is very expensive but you know are you now deliberately in Vietnam and do you think this is a good place to run your business?

Quoc Luong

35:02Yes, definitely. I think Vietnam is a great place not just to run business in general but this is a great place to do [unclear] deeptech. The main reason why I came back to Vietnam was because of engineering talent. Our engineers they are so good they competent enough to come up with new solutions to some of the most challenging problem engineering problem and they are all locally trained here with us.

Quang Do

35:35What's you know what's special about Vietnamese engineers you know where's maybe a little bit of a lack where you have to train them as well you know what's what's what does a Vietnamese engineer like.

Quoc Luong

35:54They smart Vietnamese willing to work hard very good excellent in terms of technical knowledge and technical skills. What they like in general is the belief that they can create world class products. They don't have that conviction they don't have that belief that Vietnam Vietnamese people can invent can create the best hightech products you know that can compete with China or the US. So my [unclear] is to give them the problem and they can find the solutions. And that's how we came up with the physical Hera.

Quang Do

36:46Ok. Is your is your goal also to market to Vietnam?

Quoc Luong

36:52Yes. And actually we have been selling to the to the department of public security here in Vietnam.

Quang Do

37:09Vietnam what's the biggest use case.

Quoc Luong

37:11Military usually for military can do different missions other drones you know other drones can do like ISR then they cannot do they are not powerful enough to deliver or to do logistic supplies. ISR, intelligence, surveillance logistic supplies [unclear] drone carrier, also loitering munition that's a technical term for dropping [unclear] on target.

Quang Do

37:55Ok right no your engineers are very you said you know do they want to go overseas or elsewhere at some point are they very happy with Realtime Robotics and being with you on this mission.

Quoc Luong

38:11Most of them are happy with happy to stay but you are right the world is flat right now right they have other opportunities they can go to Singapore they can go to other countries and this is my philosophy and also this is how I [unclear]. So if we can come up with good invention, excellent invention then of course we can make good products and of course then we can sell right we can make a bigger pie right and with a bigger pie then we can we can share that bigger pie in such a way that you know my engineers would be happy to stay more for everyone more for everyone and they don't need to go anywhere that's the philosophy.

Quang Do

38:56What's the reality of the drone market right now you said small but more powerful you know how would you see in terms of ranking where does Realtime and Hera stand globally for the drone category.

Quoc Luong

39:10The backpack size drone category Hera is the best right now number one number one right now either for civilian application or for the defense application for the markets in general there are two markets we more or less you know it's very similar to semiconductor market one market is willing to use Chinese products and another market they need non Chinese products so that's the same for drone industry for certain applications certain countries certain sectors they need non Chinese drones and then we focus on those sectors.

Quang Do

39:56It's impressive that you are like in your own category number one with the team of Vietnamese engineer. So it's actually possible to build world class Yes. Tech from Vietnam. Have you seen Have you seen other Vietnamese companies you know being category leaders in technology globally?

Quoc Luong

40:15I haven't seen any I seen one that try to do the same thing right if we remember back a few year a few years back I don't know whether you remember Bphone from Bkav you know Bphone, the phone totally designed by Vietnamese and they try to compete with Samsung Apple you know on the local market they didn't succeed [unclear] tech product by Vietnamese and made by Vietnamese in Vietnam. Right now I think RtR is the only company that came up with invention design own invention own design own manufacturing and the product technically is superior to other countries and then it is validated by the fact that we can sell to the US market.

Quang Do

41:21I love that. It's usually reverse, you know, when I'm in my building, my apartment and I see the advertising in the elevator is always made in Germany, made in Switzerland, but this is made in Vietnam, right? Which is usually not a quality badge, not yet, right? But in this case, it's it's a rare outlier, you know, and it feels very proud actually. Yeah. Do you think something about Realtime Robotics engineering is uniquely Vietnamese?

Quoc Luong

41:51Yes, if I have to sum it up in a few words, I would say do more with less. Do more resourceful do more with less. And like for us up to now we have spent I think only around 15 million US dollars and one or one 15 million US dollars and we can we have achieved so much right and when I look at Skydio that's another big drone startup in the US I look at the products I look at their technologies I think we have a better invention Skydio [unclear] have spent you know I think close to that amount if we have to be in the US then it would have cost us I think around 20 times more around 300 million so here I can give you some numbers right 80 of us we sit into a small building right District 9 yeah doing and also doing manufacturing in the same small building and I pay 32 million Vietnamese dong right that's about 1200 USD per month in the US at least 30,000 US dollars per month imagine how much you have to pay for a team of more than 60 excellent US at least I think 15 million USD per year.

43:37So to sum it up this is the philosophy to do more with less. So our drones you know Hera it is more compact it is smaller. But it can lift more than any other drones. Types of missions compared to other the same thing for chameleon eyes gimbal we have two eyes so we can double the the productivity of data capturing.

Quang Do

44:14I think this is a great testament to you actually because i think people try to be resourceful yeah and try to maximize whatever they have But it's still almost impossible to compete with world players on such a level, right? Because in the end, if you pay good talent, well, then you have the best talent, right? And the best talent is usually in the US as well. And so you are able to build world class product, you know, with what you have in Vietnam and then you make the people here world class which is actually a huge accomplishment, right? So, yes, I just want to Yeah. To share that as a thought that I have right.

Quoc Luong

44:54So actually it's the whole process so I would actually we have grown together at the beginning you know myself and my engineers we didn't know much about drone at all right so drone was totally a new thing in Vietnam nobody was trained in drones you know there was there were no drone experts to start with so we learn together we grew together. As you said, the whole team became you know world class players. Yeah. And I still remember the day when we went to Alaska, you know, Alaska.

Quang Do

45:32Alaska with the team.

Quoc Luong

45:34With the team, right? Because we that took place in November last year. We brought Hera to participate in military exercises with the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska and we never forgot the admiration from the from the [unclear] officers of the of the of the 11th Airborne Division after they tried Hera you know they said this is exactly what they need and no other can do what [unclear] expect and then Hera was the only one that can deliver all of the all of the features that they need ừ and that's the validation and my engineers that was the very first time they saw the result of their work you know validated by experts from the US Army. [unclear] moment for everyone.

Quang Do

46:43Yes. From a business point of view, what's the plan for you now in terms of you know you said 15 mil funded now you generate revenue you know you close more clients you know what's the plan in terms of scaling? Yeah. Do you plan to raise more? Do you plan to self fund? What's the plan?

Quoc Luong

47:05I think from now on most likely we can bootstrap. I think we 2026 will be the year that we gonna make we are going to make profit you know from 2026 we are going to open a production facility in the Bay Area 2026 also ok not our plan is not only to scale up Hera production but to commercialize [unclear] at the same time come up with new invention because that is a nonstop race if you doing technology the only way for you to survive and to win is to keep producing more inventions faster than your rivals so it's [unclear] to speed up inventions so we have a lot of things in the pipeline.

Quang Do

48:22And you need good people you know and like you said you [unclear] them to become world class engineer let's quickly talk about talent like how do you select good people how do you train them how do you develop them how do you identify them and where do you get them.

Quoc Luong

48:38We got from local universities around Sài Gòn. The biggest ones is Bách Khoa University. Sư phạm kỹ thuật is another one. We got from local university around Sài Gòn. I almost never have to advertise any recruitment on any platform because of good people refer good people to the team.

Quang Do

49:06So by word of mouth mostly. And how do you select them? The good ones how do you know they good?

Quoc Luong

49:14I'm looking for characters more than skill set at the beginning. So I'm looking for people you know whatever they do put the most effort into it because those are the people who would go far not the people with very good skill set but some people you know they have a very good skill set to start with but they don't have the mentality to put 100% of their effort into their work then it's very hard to make world-class product with that mentality.

Quang Do

49:51A little bit about you know Viet Nam what do you think Vietnam needs to become a true tech nation or even deep tech inventive nation?

Quoc Luong

50:01I think number one is that Vietnam needs to change this mentality because most of the time when I talk to people here you know whether oh we want to for example we want to make a better than Chinese the US they say it's impossible we cannot make anything better than China we cannot compete with them we cannot make phones we cannot make TV we cannot make electric vehicles. [unclear] mentality and in Vietnamese we say thua từ vòng gửi xe right you give up from the parking lot before you start anything right and that's the mentality and I understand it's understandable because it's very tough to make anything you know electronic products you know that cheaper than Chinese products and then that compete with them you know on the market right so that's the general mentality here right it's very difficult for you to look for to find a person who can believe that you can make something that can compete with Chinese product it's very tough most people would say impossible but I told people you know we don't have to make things cheaper Chinese product we only need to make things different ừ right and if we can come up with new invention with new solution then we can sell for more right and people are still willing to pay you know making things cheaper is not the only way to compete so I think number one is to change that general mentality and we hope that our story [unclear] that you know we can create something for example we can sell at a higher price than similar products made in the US because Hera can offer much more features right so even if it is a little bit more expensive it is still a better deal for the people.

Quang Do

52:25Ok you said first is mindset what is what and.

Quoc Luong

52:34Innovation ecosystem vc fund investors who are willing to invest into risky but highly rewarding deeptech projects right yeah.

Quang Do

52:49Which are also more expensive or need more funding usually yes you did it well by you know you raised a little bit right from private investor So you think there needs to be more of an ecosystem where risk taking is easier because only if you take risk you can have.

Quoc Luong

53:06Because people only invest into things similar to right if they are successful with real estate then they are willing to invest in real estate because they can they can evaluate the chance of success right easily here in Vietnam there have been no investors no billionaires you know who are who come from deeptech right in the US you can you can find, you know, Elon, and Elon of course he would be willing to invest into moonshot deeptech projects. So in Vietnam very challenging very difficult to find investors who are willing to invest in deeptech projects.

Quang Do

53:52Would you actually recommend other people to build deeptech in Vietnam?

Quoc Luong

53:57Yes, because it is possible like for us right it's difficult but not but not impossible. So for us we were lucky finally we found two private investors who had never invested into any high tech products. Wow. But they believe in us and they put in more than 10 million US dollars. And this is my hope you know from our story then other people can see you know Vietnamese people can do high tech can compete globally in hightech products and then there would be more and more investors who are willing to invest and there would be more and more founders who choose R&D [unclear].

Quang Do

54:47I love that and I think pioneer here actually to sum it up there you know Viet Nam has as a foundation great talent technical well educated hard working can be world class as well you need to be resourceful in Vietnam to make more from less which is maybe an advantage because it forces you to be very focused and have clarity and have some creative way to actually out invent and break through there needs to be a shift of mentality for believing that it's possible. Yes. Right. Yes. Because as a general mindset it's not there yet. And then there should be funding available and ecosystem that is supportive of taking those [unclear]. Is that a good summary of.

Quoc Luong

55:37Excellent, excellent summary. Thank you. You did it better than I do.

Quang Do

55:44Ok. I love that. Cool. If you could speak to young overseas Vietnamese or even Vietnamese who are listening, what would you what would you tell them if they want to become an entrepreneur one day?

Quoc Luong

55:58It is possible for Vietnamese to be global champions. Believe in that.

Quang Do

56:03And how do you take action on that? How do you take action to get there?

Quoc Luong

56:07From our own story, I think the first thing is to choose the right problem. When I say the right problem, I mean both economically and engineering wise to focus and then focus on that problem and and try to solve it. Like for us, you know, we want to create a drone that is more portable but more powerful that can carry more devices simultaneously. And actually a very painful point for drone users and and when we can come up with a solution like a people would welcome it. People would be willing to pay more for it. So the first thing is to choose the right problem and then focus on it and try and then as Vietnamese, we are good enough to find solution.

Quang Do

57:00Yes, final question for you. You know, if you could talk to younger Quoc back then say 25 26 just before you came to us, you know, what would you what would you tell him?

Quoc Luong

57:15Actually, I don't know. I don't know what I can tell you know myself back then because here's the thing when you have to fight really to fight to find the next meal to eat to find something to eat. So literally you know when I eat something for lunch I didn't know what I what I'm gonna eat for dinner and sometime I didn't have anything to eat for dinner until the next day. Right? When you are in that survival mode, all you think is about how to survive the next day. The next day. You don't think far about the future. You don't think about one day, you know, I can go I might go to the US. You don't think about one day I can be an engineer. All you think is how to survive the next day. So even if I you know myself about some hope in the future I don't know I don't know whether that you know would make any impact at all right. So thinking back the only thing that kept me going was the words of my grandmother.

58:35Only education can change your life. That sentence kept me keep going. You know, I didn't drop from school. Even if I was so hungry, I could not learn anything. Basically, because when you have energy I just you just go to the school, you are there, but you don't learn anything. If you look at my academic record at middle school, high school, I think all of the I got all like D F for almost everything. It was still a miracle to me why I repeat class maybe the teachers you know they for me and let me go let me move you know I know how I could moving you know from grade to grade but this is the value of education even if I learn much officially academically but looking back I you know the value of education middle school I group of teachers different group of friends by interaction with them I learn from them you know their behaviors the way they treated each other you know compare to my friends in my neighborhood who drop from school their world becomes became so limited because They didn't have any chance to talk to any teachers.

1:00:08And then when I moved up to high school, my world become larger and then vocational school and then the US and then Cornell right my world just grew bigger and bigger. To actually I don't know what I can myself you know when I was I could say something very beautiful but I think myself back then would shake his head and he wouldn't believe it wouldn't buy it.

Quang Do

1:00:47Awesome thank you so much for sharing your inspirational story I think many of us who will listen will be very proud of what you've achieved. Stay in touch you know maybe will be another episode in future once you launch your third innovation and you know is at a different stage and you built your team in the US and maybe you know through this story sharing even you find more more engineering more people join your mission thank you so much and yeah.

Quoc Luong

1:01:18Yeah thank you very much thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share my story and I hope that you inspiration to come up with even more significant in the future for Vietnam [unclear]. Thank you. Thank you.