Entrepreneur Nguyen Tuan Duong: Successful entrepreneurship stemming from moments of being "pushed to the wall"

After six years of founding and running Dr.Ruột, businessman Nguyen Tuan Duong spoke with a reporter from the People's Representatives Newspaper about his entrepreneurial journey, the difficulties, failures, and lessons learned that led to his success today.

Rising from 6 failures

The idea to establish Vietnam Intestinal Healthcare Joint Stock Company (Dr. Ruột) by CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong ( Hanoi ) did not come about randomly. Prior to this, he had experienced three failed companies and six failed projects, facing mounting debt pressure.

Nguyen Tuan Duong - CEO of Vietnam Intestinal Health Care Joint Stock Company

Before starting his own business, Tuan Duong had a stable job as an Assistant General Director at Lienvietpostbank Commercial Bank.

A major challenge arose when his son developed serious digestive problems, requiring him to spend most of his time in the hospital. Lacking sufficient time to care for his child, Mr. Duong decided to leave the bank and try his hand at new projects. However, many projects failed in quick succession; on one occasion, he had to unload a container of goods at night due to a malfunctioning warehouse storage system, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dong.

The money saved from his time working in banking was constantly "gone and never returned." The family's total assets at the time were approximately 12 billion VND, and Mr. Duong was allowed to use 4 billion VND to start his business. But this money was also quickly depleted due to unsuccessful projects.

For six long years, the couple took their child to various hospitals for checkups while simultaneously struggling to pay off their debts. But the journey seemed almost hopeless; the solutions only provided temporary relief without addressing the root cause of the problem.

Seeing his child suffer from illness and burdened with overwhelming responsibilities, Mr. Duong felt cornered. In despair, his belief in himself compelled him to try one more time. In 2019, Mr. Duong founded the Intestinal Health Care Joint Stock Company (Dr. Ruột), pioneering the development of products from resistant starch to address digestive problems for Vietnamese people.

The initial stages of starting the business were extremely difficult. The biggest challenge was that the concept of resistant starch, although widely used in medicine worldwide , was still very new and not widely known in Vietnam.

To gain a deep understanding of the product, the young CEO spent a lot of time reading documents from developed countries and researching reports from international organizations. He "found his way" to Australia – a country that highly values ​​healthcare – to observe the working environment and learn how businesses create products and reach consumers.

Upon returning to Vietnam, in addition to adopting modern solutions, he researched and recognized the great value of folk remedies and the experience of farmers. These are all traditional secrets that have been tested and proven over time.

What worries Mr. Duong is that the rate of patients with digestive disorders, especially constipation and colon-related problems, has not decreased year after year. On the contrary, according to international statistics, the number of new cases continues to increase steadily by 15-18% each year.

Delving deeper, Mr. Duong understood this was a large-scale "social problem." In Vietnam alone, it is estimated that around 40 million people experience intestinal problems to varying degrees.

"I understand that entering this market requires addressing a major and urgent problem. Because behind it is not just a business story, but the quality of life of tens of millions of Vietnamese people," Mr. Duong shared.

Gaining market coverage after its fundraising round on Shark Tank.

During the first three years of his startup (2019–2021), young CEO Dr. Ruột focused on selling products to highly qualified and reputable customers within the community.

"Convincing this customer segment is difficult, but I understand that once I win them over, reaching the mass market will be easier. My strategy is to target business owners, so that the product can quickly spread to employees and partners," Mr. Duong shared.

After three years of operation, Dr. Ruột has built a network of 479 quality customers, initially establishing the position of resistant starch in the Vietnamese market.

CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong successfully raised capital for his resistant starch product on Shark Tank Season 5.

The turning point came in 2022, when CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong successfully raised capital for his product on Shark Tank, becoming the highest-funded startup in season 5. Within just 8 months of airing, the number of customers skyrocketed to 22,000. Demand far exceeded supply, with many customers having to wait up to 4 months to receive their products.

From struggling to find individual customers, the business found itself in a situation where "even with maximum speed, it couldn't keep up with demand." Some days, the company headquarters had to temporarily close because the number of customers exceeded expectations. Revenue increased tenfold compared to before, opening up a new growth trajectory for the young CEO.

The highlight of Dr. Ruột's Resistant Starch is its use of technology to restructure starch from Vietnamese agricultural products. Therefore, maintaining a stable raw material supply is a "vital" factor for the project.

To verify the quality and sustainability of the growing areas, CEO Tuan Duong personally went to the highlands to conduct surveys. At that time, the price of one kilogram of fresh raw materials only ranged from 1,300 to 1,800 VND. Low income led to a shrinking of cultivated land, and farmers faced the risk of abandoning their traditional crops.

Recognizing the precarious state of agricultural products, Dr. Ruột pioneered a solution by opening up a new value chain: purchasing raw materials at stable prices, applying advanced processing technology, and creating sustainable outlets for products. This model has supported thousands of farmers, contributing to elevating the status of Vietnamese agricultural products in the nutritional market.

Starting as a small business, Dr. Ruột has gradually established its position, successfully building the market for resistant starch with over 80,000 satisfied customers.

With numerous contributions, the company was honored by the United Nations as one of the Top 10 Social Impact Businesses (SIB Signature Vietnam) in 2024.

Starting a business is like a boxing match.

The journey of Dr. Ruột from a small business to establishing its position in the gut health care market has been fraught with difficulties and challenges. To reap the rewards, it requires not only a clever strategy and execution but also unwavering resilience in the face of adversity.

"Starting a business is like a boxing match: whoever can endure the pain better will win. The same applies to business; whoever can withstand physical, mental, and especially capital-related pain has a higher chance of success," CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong emphasized.

From an "unknown" concept, Dr. Ruột's resistant starch has attracted over 40,000 customers who trust and use the product.

Besides running his own business, CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong actively supports young startup projects. Drawing on his experience from failures, Duong helps startups view problems realistically, build appropriate strategies, and inspire them.

The first piece of advice CEO Tuan Duong gives to young entrepreneurs is: "Start from the real needs of life." Entrepreneurship is first and foremost a journey of self -discovery , finding your passion, and creating a product that benefits the community. Only when the product solves a societal need, is practical, and has a unique competitive advantage will the business have a chance of success.

"The biggest weakness of young people is their tendency to be 'fanciful,' creating expensive products that don't solve any problems. I've encountered many such projects. Startups that are detached from reality find it very difficult to succeed in the long run," CEO Nguyen Tuan Duong emphasized.

Recalling the key lesson learned from coffee tycoon Dang Le Nguyen Vu, Tuan Duong highlighted three factors that contribute to the success of a start-up.

Firstly , there's the spirit of the farmer: diligence, hard work, and perseverance, working day after day, month after month. Secondly , there's the warrior spirit, not allowing external factors to shake their resolve.

Ultimately, a startup needs a core team and a big-minded mindset. To create significant value, you need people with the courage and willingness to think beyond current limitations.

Regarding future direction, CEO Tuan Duong stated that Dr. Ruot is entering the final stages of completing key projects. One of the important projects is a 1,500 m² production plant, meeting ISO 22000 and Halal GCC standards. Once operational, the plant will help Dr. Ruot enhance production capacity, diversify products, and move closer to its goal of expanding into international markets.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/doanh-nhan-nguyen-tuan-duong-khoi-nghiep-thanh-cong-tu-nhung-luc-bi-don-den-chan-tuong-10399593.html