Phuoc Tran is the Co-founder and CEO of Anfin, a Y Combinator-backed investment app. Before Anfin, he founded VRED, a sales agent platform that had over 500,000 agents across Vietnam.

👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

Anfin is an investment app that intuitively connects users to the Vietnamese stock market. Our vision is to build an integrated brokerage offering a variety of asset classes — from stocks and bonds to crypto.

My job at Anfin is to build the team, recruit talented people and align them to work on relevant tasks that move our north star metrics. Moreover, I work closely with our team members on important projects that continue our growth.

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🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I'm surprised by the enthusiasm among young people about investing. They actively engage with our app, provide a lot of constructive feedback and help us improve our products. Furthermore, they create many groups on social media to exchange, learn and share tips about investing.

🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Being able to build and grow Anfin is the biggest highlight of my career so far. I'm grateful that I have found great co-founders to join me on this amazing journey.

I'm also grateful that a lot of talented individuals chose to join Anfin in the early stages of our journey to build the best investment app in Vietnam.

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🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

What I'm seeing is that Vietnam is among the fastest-growing economies in Asia. As the economy grows, people will have more income to save and invest. However, only a small percentage of people are well-served by traditional financial institutions.

Moreover, the proliferation of internet access and smartphone penetration allows small startups to build products and reach tens of millions of people in financial services. It's another powerful trend!

💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

It's better to find co-founders who can support you and share the burden.

It's also an important skill to unlearn old knowledge and remove old beliefs in the face of market changes and adapt. Learn to build up mental and physical resilience to endure the obstacles.

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🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

History and psychology!

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🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Gattaca.

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Chocolate!