After four years, realizing the need to improve his management skills, Son applied for the MBA program at Tsinghua University in China.

Nguyen Anh Son, born in 1998, was a Russian major at Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted in Hanoi. When he was at high school, Son initially intended to study engineering in Russia but he later realized that he was more suited to business, and decided to study in the US.

He made such a decision partly because of his family's "tradition." His parents are both alumni of Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), the most prestigious technology and engineering university in Vietnam. They run a private construction company. The success story of his parents fueled Son's determination to pursue his path.

He chose to study Business Administration at the College of Charleston in the US. His years of study at the school helped him build a solid foundation in business management. He completed his degree in just three years.

After graduating and realizing that there were "more and more opportunities in Vietnam than the US," Son returned to Vietnam to establish his own company specializing in producing and installing aluminum profiles and roller doors. Starting a business in a field where there were many ‘sharks’ but with support and advice from parents, Son had advantages, though he sometimes made mistakes.

“About 20-30 percent of my first clients were brought by my parents. If you are a 'small fish' venturing out to swim alone, it would be tough to survive,” he recalled.

However, during the four years working as CEO, Son explored new directions and expanded the customer base. Recognizing his shortcomings in management and company development, he decided to pursue an MBA program to fill those knowledge gaps.

This time, Son wanted to study at Tsinghua University in China, one of Asia's leading universities; he believed that this was the best option.

The applicants had to have at least three years of experience, along with unique qualities, a future orientation, and program alignment. Son had six months to prepare his application, including the GMAT, essays, and recommendation letters.

In his essay, Son detailed his experiences running a company at a very young age. Additionally, he highlighted bilateral relations between Vietnam and China, and Vietnam and the U.S. in trade, predicting the development of import/export and investment in Vietnam.

What made Son confident was his performance in the interview round. The interview with Tsinghua University's top professors and experts lasted only 10 minutes, but candidates had to answer tens of questions.

"The questions were rapid fire to verify authenticity, while challenging candidate's ability to handle pressure, such as revenue, deployment costs, the number of employees, management methods and future directions... If you don't really run the business yourself and know your figures well, the professors can easily assess the authenticity of your records," Son said.

The recruitment process he experienced when running his business helped Son understand the purpose of interviews. He answered all questions honestly, from stepping back to serve as a company advisor and appointing a trusted manager as CEO for the two years of his MBA to how his parents supported him in his early business phase.

With this approach, Son was accepted into the MBA program with a 50 percent tuition scholarship. He became the first Vietnamese student to join Tsinghua University's global MBA program.

Son has been studying at Tsinghua for four months. He describes this period as "extremely valuable but also incredibly challenging".

"My classmates either have started their own businesses or are managing top global companies,” he said. “Tsinghua has also given me opportunities to connect with investors from leading Chinese companies and several renowned CEOs from Asia and the world," Son said.

In addition to his current company, Son has also established another business specializing in import-export consultation for Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises. The young entrepreneur aims to develop solutions to optimize supply chains, making it easier for Vietnamese businesses to access international markets.

Thuy Nga