Tu Pham is the founder and CEO of Prep, a Vietnamese test preparation platform that uses Deep Learning to help learners learn and practice for their upcoming exams before entering universities or applying for a job. 

The company raised a $2M seed from Touchstone Partners, East Ventures, and Cercano Management back in April.

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

I run an edtech company that specializes in test preparation, preparing learners for important exams, especially language proficiency ones, before they enter universities or apply for a job. 

One of the greatest issues in the field of test prep is the lack of interaction time between learners and teachers. For example, based on our research, a student in a language classroom has on average only just over a minute per lesson to speak and receive feedback from their teacher. 

That's why in addition to teaching, we use deep learning technology to develop virtual practice zones where users can speak, write and receive instant feedback from our virtual teachers. 

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

I have a PhD in railway transportation management, and I worked for the Vietnamese national railway company for 5 years before pursuing my education and technology career. 

I would later attend my second Master's course in teaching languages at Lancaster University, then taught myself to write codes before Prep. 

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

As a teacher, I have educated more than 1,000 students until they reach IELTS Band 7.0, helping them get to universities and secure the jobs they want. 

As a edtech product builder, together with my team, I created cutting-edge test practice tools like the virtual speaking and writing rooms that helped us triple our number of new customers in just a few months.

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

Deep learning and generative AI are fueling the development of technology in general and edtech in particular. We are seeing AI replacing teachers in teaching, giving corrective feedback, scoring and even motivating students.

The greatest reason for this change I think is that educational companies and institutions want to deliver quality education to a greater number of learners at a lower cost. 

This may lead to great changes in the role of teachers in the next several years.

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

Putting all the shiny techs aside, the things that help an educational product become successful are (still) the right methods and the right learning contents, consistently delivered from the curriculum to the lesson level. 

These items go deep and are often not seen on the surface, yet without them no edtech companies can thrive. So if you might need to rethink if you think you can get overnight success in this field! An education product you build today might show its greatest impact in 10 or 20 years, later than what would happen in most other industries. 

However, once it is successful, the success will be long-lasting, benefiting not just the product builder but also the whole society.

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

Future of education. 

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

Lord of the Rings.

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

Watermelon gelato.

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FYI. We’ve edited this interview for clarity.