Former Olympia contestant graduated from university in the US, now CEO of a technology company

After 25 seasons, the Road to Olympia competition is still an intellectual playground loved by a large audience, attracting excellent students from many high schools nationwide.

Coming out of the competition, not only the champions but many other contestants also left their mark with significant successes in their careers. Among them, Dang Viet Dung is a notable name.

Former contestant of Road to Olympia year 4 Dang Viet Dung.

As a student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Dung represented the school in the national English competition before competing in the fourth year of Road to Olympia. Although he did not receive high achievements in the program, Viet Dung impressed with his outstanding knowledge and foreign language ability.

Dung became a student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology but dropped out to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Amherst College in Massachusetts (USA) with a full scholarship. After graduating, he worked for the beer manufacturing group ABInbev and the strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company – environments that, according to him, helped him develop a systematic thinking and confidence in the face of uncertainty.

Former Olympia contestant graduated from university in the US, is now CEO of a technology company - 2

Not stopping there, Viet Dung continued to study for a master's degree at Harvard Business School. In 2014, while in graduate school, Dung decided to stop and return to Vietnam to become CEO of Uber Vietnam.

In 2018, he joined VNG - Vietnam's first technology unicorn, holding the role of Director of Payment Business, directly in charge of ZaloPay. This was also the time when Viet Dung began to be involved in major projects in the fintech ecosystem, creating a foundation for him to embark on his own entrepreneurial journey.

Since 2019, Dang Viet Dung has been the founder and CEO of Nano Technology Services Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Nano Technologies Singapore - the unit operating the financial technology platform used by many businesses.

In the Gala program celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Road to Olympia, talking about the reason for returning to Vietnam, Dang Viet Dung said: " In foreign countries, starting a business is not too difficult, but to do something big enough, I believe Vietnam is a place where all the factors converge - if you have determination, experience and capacity. The domestic market still has a lot of room to break through."

Returning to Vietnam, having held many positions and implemented many business models, Dang Viet Dung affirmed that he wanted to realize his plans right in his homeland, because he believed that the greatest opportunities were here.

Mr. Dang Viet Dung in the Gala program celebrating 25 years of Road to Olympia.

Viet Dung also shared another valuable lesson after participating in the Road to Olympia competition : confidence when facing unclear things, especially for start-ups like him.

When recalling the story of the past, Viet Dung told a "half-crying, half-laughing" memory: although he learned English very early and confidently placed a "hope star", he still could not remember the word "crayon". "That also reminded me that there are many things we do not know. That is the motivation to strive" , he said.

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