He Could Have Built His Startup Anywhere. Why Did He Choose Vietnam?
Tonomo is building in Vietnam and selling globally, betting on the country’s talent, ambition, and long-term growth not just lower costs.
While many founders are chasing Silicon Valley or Singapore, John Zhao made a different bet: build the product team in Vietnam, sell to the world.
For most software startups, Vietnam is still viewed as an outsourcing destination.
For John Zhao, founder of Tonomo, it’s something else entirely.
It’s where he believes the next generation of global product companies can be built.
After living across the United States, China, Mexico, Thailand, and Taiwan, Zhao moved to Ho Chi Minh City less than a year ago. Today, roughly one-third of Tonomo’s growing team is based in Vietnam and that number continues to increase.
His reasoning isn’t simply about lower costs.
It’s about where the future is heading.
Betting on Vietnam Before Everyone Else Does
Tonomo develops software for professional real estate media companies.
Their platform manages everything behind the scenes from bookings and scheduling to payments and client management for photographers serving residential properties, luxury homes, hotels, and Airbnb operators.
The customers are located across Australia, Europe, and North America.
The product is increasingly being built in Vietnam.
According to Zhao, this isn’t because Vietnam is currently the world’s strongest engineering hub.
Instead, it’s because Vietnam offers one of the strongest combinations of talent quality, affordability, ambition, and long-term growth.
“We’re really betting on where Vietnam will be five or ten years from now.”
That distinction matters.
Many companies choose locations based on today’s advantages.
Tonomo is choosing Vietnam based on tomorrow’s.
Vietnam’s Advantage Isn’t Just Cost
Global startups often compare hiring markets based on salary.
But Zhao argues that cost is only one piece of the equation.
Recruiting experienced engineers in cities like San Francisco has become increasingly competitive.
Even companies with significant budgets compete against global technology giants for the same limited talent pool.
Vietnam offers something different.
There are still relatively few global product companies hiring locally.
That means startups can stand out not just through compensation, but through culture, career growth, and ownership opportunities.
For ambitious young engineers, joining an early-stage product company offers experiences they might never gain inside a large outsourcing firm.
Building in Vietnam, Selling Globally
One observation from the interview reflects a broader trend beginning to emerge in Vietnam’s technology sector.
Tonomo does almost no business inside Vietnam.
Instead, Vietnam functions as the product and engineering base while customers come from overseas markets.
This model has long existed in manufacturing.
Factories produce in Vietnam and export globally.
Software may be following a similar path.
Instead of exporting electronics or furniture, companies export digital products.
The country’s competitive advantage shifts from physical manufacturing toward intellectual production.
Vietnam has already become an important manufacturing hub.
The question now is whether software can become its next export industry.
The Startup Ecosystem Is Still Early
Ironically, Zhao doesn’t see Vietnam’s startup ecosystem as fully developed.
And that’s exactly why he likes it.
When Tonomo launched in 2020, many of its customers didn’t even exist yet.
Professional real estate media companies expanded rapidly during the pandemic as agents increasingly relied on video, drone footage, floor plans, and social media marketing.
The market grew around the product.
Vietnam, Zhao believes, feels similar.
Rather than waiting for a mature startup ecosystem to arrive, founders have an opportunity to help build it.
Being early creates risk.
It also creates leverage.
The Biggest Challenge Isn’t Talent
Despite his optimism, Zhao is candid about Vietnam’s difficulties.
The challenge isn’t engineers.
It’s bureaucracy.
Compared with jurisdictions where incorporating a company may take only a few days, foreign businesses entering Vietnam often navigate multiple approvals, regulatory requirements, payroll compliance, licensing procedures, and administrative processes.
For startups trying to move quickly, these delays can become meaningful operational costs.
Still, Zhao views them as temporary friction rather than structural barriers.
His long-term outlook remains positive.
Why Hiring Became the Company’s KPI
Perhaps the most surprising part of the conversation wasn’t about technology.
It was about hiring.
Instead of focusing solely on revenue or customer acquisition, Tonomo currently measures success by adding approximately one new employee every month.
Why?
Because the company has already achieved product-market fit.
The bottleneck is no longer customers.
It’s execution.
Growth depends on expanding the team faster than expanding demand.
For many startups, finding customers is the hardest problem.
For Tonomo, finding talent has become the next challenge.
Vietnam’s Greatest Competitive Advantage May Be Optimism
One recurring theme throughout the discussion wasn’t economic policy.
It was mindset.
Having lived across multiple countries, Zhao describes Vietnam as one of the few places where people remain genuinely optimistic about the future.
People expect their lives to improve.
Young professionals believe they can build careers.
Entrepreneurs believe new opportunities still exist.
That optimism creates something difficult to quantify on a balance sheet but incredibly valuable for startups.
Companies don’t just grow on capital.
They grow on confidence.
Final Thoughts
Vietnam is often discussed through familiar narratives: manufacturing, foreign investment, or supply chain diversification.
Technology tells a different story.
Instead of simply becoming a destination for outsourced development, companies like Tonomo suggest another possibility:
Build globally competitive software from Vietnam.
Serve customers worldwide.
And invest before everyone else realizes where the next opportunity is.
Because, as Zhao puts it:
“By the time everyone knows Vietnam is the place to be, it’s already too late.”