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"The biggest problem I see with Vietnamese founders pitching US VCs isn't their product or market — it's their narrative," Pham Thu Huong shares. "They describe their company like a financial report, not like a story of market conquest."
US VCs invest in vision and founders, not just numbers. Understanding this difference is the first step.
Four Things US VCs Actually Want to Know
1. "Why you?" — Founder-market fit. The unique reason you're the one building this. Not your CV — but your experience, insight, and connection to the problem. 2. "Is the market really big?" — VCs want 100x returns. That requires a billion-dollar market. Explain market size bottom-up, not top-down. 3. "Why now?" — Your timing thesis. What changed in the last 2-3 years that makes this solution viable today? 4. "Why do you win?" — Your moat and differentiation. When someone copies you, why do you still win?
“Good Vietnamese founders often lose on the first slide — they don't know how to tell their story the way US VCs want to hear it. This is a learnable skill, not innate.”