Female student studying abroad decided to return home to build an international-class Vietnamese travel app

From a business development manager in the UK returning to Vietnam to start a business, Vu Thi Thai An - founder and CEO of Tubudd - chose to face challenges instead of safety. With the desire to bring emotional local travel experiences, she turned fear into motivation, turned difficulties into lessons and continued to expand her dream to an international level.

Turn limitations into… strengths

Living and working in the UK as a business development manager, An could have chosen to stay with a fairly stable income and status compared to many young people. However, she believes that "stable" is not her limit. The decision to return to Vietnam did not come from a hasty jump, but was the crystallization of the desire to be challenged in a different playground, where she could have a greater influence and contribute more to the community. She recalls her thoughts at that time: "If I stay abroad, I will not be able to be someone, no money, no status, no relationships. But if I return to Vietnam, Tubudd can be something very promising and I can also be someone bigger."

The idea of ​​establishing Tubudd comes from the love of travel and the desire to improve the experience for international visitors who want to understand more about Vietnamese life. Instead of mass tours, An and his team wanted to create a platform that connects tourists with "local buddies" - local people with knowledge, enthusiasm and the ability to create close, personalized experiences. Tubudd is not a one-time idea but is nurtured from research, practical experience and observation of the tourism market when An was abroad. The platform began to be nurtured in Manchester, then strongly shifted to Vietnam when the team realized many opportunities to connect local tourism with international visitors.

Businesswoman Vu Thi Thai An

However, dreaming and realizing dreams are two completely different things. When starting out, she and her partner experienced "hungry" days. They had to work full-time without salary for a long time, self-funding the initial capital from personal savings and contributions from co-founders, constantly looking for investors in the context of the scarcity of angel investors in Vietnam.

Going from 0 to 1 is already a step forward, taking small but sure steps. Startups are at the bottom of the mountain, can only climb up, cannot climb down"

Tubudd CEO Vu Thi Thai An

It is also because of "poverty" that An encountered a difficult problem like many other startups: human resources. When there is not enough budget to pay competitive salaries, recruiting people is difficult, retaining people is even more difficult. To solve that problem, Thai An chose to build trust and inspire with her own vision to gather talent. She explained: "Except for those who are passionate or want to learn, no one likes to work for a startup. But the value that a startup brings is huge, not money. Those who stick with it will learn how to accept challenges, so they can survive anywhere."

Thanks to that policy, a unique culture has been created at Tubudd, where each employee is flexible in taking on many different roles, from marketing, sales to customer support, and even office cleaning. Startups do not have rigid departments, but rather a place where each person practices adaptability and creativity. People stick with Tubudd because they believe they are learning things that go beyond the value of a normal job. And what Thai An has done in human resources is to create strong people who can "go anywhere", not just work for a salary. This is a fundamental factor for the success of every startup.

Startups must have a global vision.

After a while, the Tubudd App was available on app stores, providing services to find local buddies, book schedules and customize experiences according to travel needs. This model targets independent travelers, who are increasingly making up a large proportion of the industry. An believes: "Vietnam already has so many strengths, why not focus on being professional to go faster?". But the Covid-19 pandemic continued to challenge Tubudd to a "life or death" match in the context of tourism gradually freezing. At that time, instead of giving up, An chose to adapt by streamlining the team, continuing to participate in domestic and international competitions to expand the network. She shared: "Participating in competitions is like playing basketball. The more you throw, the greater the chance of getting the ball into the basket."

CEO Vu Thi Thai An in a discussion with foreign partners

Up to now, after nearly 8 years of construction and development, Tubudd currently has about 900 local buddies in 40 cities in 12 countries, of which about 700 buddies are in Vietnam. In terms of technology and products, Tubudd not only maintains services such as Local Buddy, Visa, Fast Track, business service assistant... Tubudd is currently entering the phase of expanding services and diversifying products, especially after announcing the Health Buddy service in December 2024, which is a medical tourism support segment, connecting foreign guests with local medical facilities, helping with translation, supporting hospital admission records, and choosing a trusted hospital. Tubudd's goal is to raise an additional 1 million USD in 2025 to strongly develop Health Buddy and expand its scope of operations. Previously, Tubudd received a "6-digit" investment from TheVentures fund (Korea) in 2022, helping to upgrade its brand and products.

Thai An's aspiration does not stop at affirming her name in Vietnam. From the beginning, she thought about a broader picture: "My aspiration is to be a global enterprise, bringing benefits to the world, not just within the scope of one country." That is why Tubudd not only focuses on expanding its domestic network but also targets Asian markets. For her, each new market is an opportunity to experiment, learn and prove that a Vietnamese technology startup can completely reach beyond borders. To do that, An determined that it needs the support of investors, not only capital but also trust. She believes that, once trust is given, Tubudd can develop more quickly and become part of the international tourism ecosystem.

From a girl who dreamed of becoming a diplomat to a tech travel startup CEO, Vu Thi Thai An's journey does not stop at building an app or developing a local buddy network. Her story is a testament to the power of perseverance, the ability to turn fear into motivation and the desire to spread value.

Turn fear into motivation

The years living in the UK gave An an insight into the competition and invisible barriers that a young Asian faces, especially the fear of failure. In Vu Thi Thai An's startup philosophy, fear is an ally, not an enemy. She compares fear to a shadow that always follows her, and the most effective way to deal with it is: "You can't stay in the dark forever to avoid that shadow, you have to learn to dance with the shadow and be friends with it." This philosophy helps her overcome the pressure of raising capital, loneliness in leadership, and days when the team has to work without pay.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/nu-du-hoc-sinh-quyet-ve-nuoc-xay-app-du-lich-viet-dang-cap-quoc-te-20251013183842401.htm