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Tokyo to Saigon — The Only Way Out of a Death March
On the last working day of 2022, a single message from a friend in Vietnam started our adventure in Ho Chi Minh City. Then came a local project that fell apart — and a line from an old university professor: the only way out is to cut features to the bone. A story about the power to cut, and to finish.
Tokyo to Saigon — A CEO Takes Vietnamese Lessons from a Middle Schooler
How I went looking for a Vietnamese teacher after opening a company in Ho Chi Minh City, and ended up learning from someone I never expected. Wrestling with six tones, and discovering — through Sino-Vietnamese — that Vietnamese is a distant relative of Japanese.
Tokyo to Saigon — The Back Alleys of Saigon and the People I Won't Forget
The days I kept flying to Saigon to build a company. What stayed with me wasn't the mountain of paperwork — it was the people in every back alley. The hotel owner pouring whisky, a bus company running twenty-five years on, a bar master with a philosophy, and Hector's wedding. A story about the warmth of a city.
Tokyo to Saigon — Becoming One Team Across Two Countries
Members split across Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City, on either side of the sea, slowly becoming one team. A silly weekly question, the spirit of mutual aid in a Saigon morning, a study group on audio technology. How a guy who dislikes recurring meetings found a way to build trust in the first year of a cross-border team.
Tokyo to Saigon — Seeing One Bank Account Through
Every form had to be rewritten in blue pen, and at the big bank we were shot down over a missing document. A story of not giving up — of Ms. V's turnaround, and a young banker's message: I saw your money. The record of opening our corporate and personal accounts in Vietnam, seen through to the end.
Tokyo to Saigon — Building a Company Across the Sea
Registration, an investment license, a business license, accounting, labor, and hunting for an office. A hands-on record of the unglamorous, grinding reality of actually standing up a company in Vietnam.
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