Businessman Nguyen Tien Dung: Desire to export Vietnamese intelligence to the world
Having worked hard to build AWING, businessman Nguyen Tien Dung wants to prove that Vietnamese people are capable of creating a unique business model that can be replicated globally.
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| Businessman Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of AWING Technology and Communication JSC. |
“The unique free wifi platform”
We met businessman Nguyen Tien Dung in the cool green space of AWING office on Chua Boc street (Hanoi), 2 weeks after he announced the successful capital raising of tens of millions of USD from NTT - a large Japanese telecommunications corporation. It was AWING's first capital raising round since its establishment. The deal was "closed" within just 2 months.
In fact, AWING has been profitable since its second year of operation. The company pursues a lean model to optimize costs, with 35 employees, serving about 25 million customers. Receiving investment capital from NTT, therefore, does not have much financial significance for AWING. However, CEO Nguyen Tien Dung explained that this is a necessary cooperation, helping the company "stand on the shoulders of giants" to bring Vietnamese intelligence to the world.
At the time AWING announced this wish, many people were skeptical. Because if you listen to it, AWING's service is no different from technologies that have existed for a long time in the world. Simply put, when users want to access free wifi at cafes, restaurants, shopping malls..., within the first 30 seconds of connection, the phone screen will display the brand's advertisement with the words "Powered by AWING" and ask the user to enter information about age and gender for the first time. After these 30 seconds, the user can access wifi normally.
Advertising via free wifi has appeared in the world in the early 2000s, when retailers wanted to collect customer data to listen to feedback, provide information about new products or introduce promotional programs. But CEO Nguyen Tien Dung affirmed that the AWING model is different from the rest of the world.
AWING does not own any physical locations, does not sell goods or services, does not sell hardware or software infrastructure to broadcast wifi. What AWING provides is a technology platform that connects thousands of free wifi locations together, then uses algorithms to help brands place ads that are relevant to the user files of each location.
For example, when customers drink coffee at Highlands, they can connect to free wifi and see advertisements of Honda, Yamaha, Vietcombank, Nivea, Acecook... appear on their phone screens, instead of information related only to Highlands - like many models in the world are doing.
“Google’s search bar looks simple, but behind it lies a lot of complex technology. The same goes for AWING’s software platform,” the head of AWING explained.
Upholding the philosophy of Truthfulness - Compassion - Forbearance
As a person who is trying to practice Buddhism, CEO Nguyen Tien Dung upholds the philosophy of Truthfulness - Compassion - Forbearance throughout his business journey. That is sincerity, honesty, always thinking of the benefits of others, not just thinking of one's own benefits, and patiently moving forward.
In previous years, free wifi service was provided in many crowded places in Vietnam, but the quality and transmission speed were not high, because wifi was considered a supplementary service, not requiring investment. Understanding this, Mr. Dung and the founding team thought of upgrading the wifi system for users. However, the problem is, if we do it like previous models, investing in wifi infrastructure and doing business ourselves, the more we expand, the more capital we need and the start-up cannot increase its scale.
To create a widespread, high-quality free wifi network without having to “burn money” on investment, Mr. Dung and his colleagues have built an ecosystem consisting of 5 components: wifi users, internet providers, equipment providers, advertising brands and business locations. Each location will be responsible for investing in wifi infrastructure, but at a more preferential cost than the market price, because it is provided by units specializing in internet equipment and services in the ecosystem.
AWING is only responsible for integrating software and distributing advertising according to brand requirements. A portion of the revenue will later be shared by AWING with business locations. In case there is no advertising from the brand, business locations can use AWING software for free to run their own advertising.
“In the AWING ecosystem, everyone benefits: Users access good quality free Internet, partners earn revenue, and advertisers can target potential customers based on location,” emphasized the AWING representative.
Thanks to the “win-win” model for all parties, AWING has built a network of more than 7,000 locations in 60 provinces and cities across the country. The platform has become a partner of many major brands such as Highlands, Golden Gate restaurant system, Vincom, TopsMarket, WinMart, Circle K, 7-Eleven, CGV, airports, etc.
Mr. Dung shared that from the very first day of establishment, AWING has determined to focus on conquering large partners, leaders in each industry. Established in early 2017, by the end of the year, the business promoted working with its first partner, the Highlands coffee chain. "Many start-ups choose to work with small partners, in the style of easy first, difficult later. But AWING chooses the difficult first, because it will have inheritance and easy to sell advertising later," CEO Nguyen Tien Dung explained.
At the time when they had nothing in hand, AWING convinced Highlands to use their software with sincerity and determination. Mr. Dung said that until now, he still cannot forget the time when the software "rolled over and became immobile", the whole team thought about withdrawing from Highlands because they were worried about not being able to cooperate. However, instead of avoiding or making promises, the AWING team frankly admitted the problem and found every way to fix it. "Thanks to our sincere attitude, our partners trusted us, believed that we could say and do," Mr. Dung confided.
From Vietnam to the world
After graduating from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Nguyen Tien Dung went to Japan to work at IBM as a senior engineer in the field of chip manufacturing. He then received a scholarship from the Korean Government and completed his master's degree at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Working and studying abroad instilled in him a spirit of innovation, making him yearn for the goal of finding a suitable startup model in Vietnam.
In 2007, Dung decided to return home. He started several projects but all failed. After that, he gradually realized that he needed to change.
“When I first started my business, I wanted to be famous and make a lot of money like everyone else. But in reality, the success rate of startups is very low. Therefore, when building AWING, instead of focusing on sales, we focused on bringing value to all parties,” Dung shared.
The advantage of low Internet prices and the generosity of shop owners has helped AWING quickly gain a foothold in the Vietnamese market, with a growth rate of up to 3 digits per year. But the founding team's ambition does not stop there. They want to export the AWING model to the world, where free wifi service has not been effectively exploited; or will develop public Internet, if free wifi is not popular or the quality is not high enough.
According to the AWING team, the advertising market in Thailand is worth about 4 billion USD, in Indonesia about 6 billion USD, in Japan nearly 60 billion USD and in the US more than 500 billion USD... This is a huge market, but CEO Nguyen Tien Dung also frankly admitted that exporting a business model like AWING is unprecedented. In addition, businesses will have to face challenges in terms of capital and challenges in the process of building a brand.
In recent years, AWING has been approached by many investment funds, but no cooperation has been reached. Because, more than just a story about capital, AWING needs a partner to help create similar conditions in Vietnam in foreign markets. Only when connecting with NTT Group, AWING's search for a partner has yielded results.
NTT is actively supporting AWING to promote network deployment in Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan through the Group's "limbs". In the immediate future, the two sides have determined that it is necessary to create a suitable environment in the countries for development, in which the cost of Internet transmission and wifi infrastructure needs to be at a reasonable level, creating motivation for business locations to be willing to invest, then the AWING model can be exported.
“Vietnam is a favorable incubation environment for AWING and other startups. I believe that if we started in another country other than Vietnam, AWING would not have achieved what it has today,” CEO Nguyen Tien Dung affirmed.
Truthfulness - Compassion - Forbearance is the characteristic "enzyme" of AWING
How is the philosophy of Truthfulness - Compassion - Forbearance reflected in AWING's corporate culture?
“True” means sincere, genuine. AWING does not have a culture of exhortation and flattery, but must look straight at the truth. “Kindness” means thinking of each other’s interests, cooperating with each other, instead of only thinking of one’s own interests. “Forbearance” means being calm, tolerant, always looking at problems from one’s own mistakes first, and not blaming others.
The culture of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is difficult to practice at first, but later, when employees are imbued with it, it will form a unique "enzyme" (biological catalyst - PV), helping businesses improve their internal strength and transform it into results.
Who is your idol in business?
I love the inspirational stories of the ancients. They adhered to very high ethical standards in business. At AWING, we are not talking about good business people, we are talking about ethical business people.
Nowadays, many businessmen are good, but somewhat reckless. They are good, but I do not praise their good qualities. I often look back to the stories of the ancients and admire those who have great personalities and always demonstrate ethics in business.
What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey?
I am not used to giving advice to people, because my perspective and method of building AWING will be very different from many businesses out there. But in my personal opinion, in this day and age, we should do things honestly, correctly, and properly.
People often talk a lot about “growth”, but I assume that if your business is like a balloon, you just pump air in a moderate amount, don’t pump too much, or it will burst. We should look at the nature of the business correctly, from there we can make the right decisions and good, sustainable results will come.
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