What does 'gambling game' boss Phan Sao Nam say about technology?

Phan Sao Nam: If we are good but poor, we cannot live a healthy life (Photo: IT)

The investigation agency said that during the investigation, it discovered a huge online gambling ring, involving thousands of people from within and outside the country. This gambling ring was run by Phan Sao Nam (former chairman of VTC Online) and Nguyen Van Duong.

Previously, on the afternoon of March 11, the Ministry of Public Security officially informed that the Phu Tho Provincial Police Department of Security Investigation had issued a decision to prosecute and order the temporary detention of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, former Major General, Director of the Department of High-Tech Crime Prevention (C50) under the General Department of Police (Ministry of Public Security) for organizing gambling.

Looking back at the time Mr. Phan Sao Nam held the position of Chairman of VTC Online, we can see the immortal sayings of this CEO.

Mr. Phan Sao Nam once answered the press: “Internet is a field I love and have researched since my student days. I always want to do the job I am passionate about.”

Also talking about his career, Mr. Phan Sao Nam said: “I think I am lucky! The first luck is choosing Korea to study abroad while all my friends go to England, America… Korea has a developed technology not too far from Vietnam, has a culture close to Vietnam and especially has miraculous “legends” about its rise. That really stimulates passionate young people.”

Speaking from a leader's perspective, Mr. Phan Sao Nam said, "If assigned the right job and proactively doing things that you are passionate about, human energy is tremendous."

Although he is a CEO, Mr. Phan Sao Nam's statements sometimes contain idealistic elements: "I always keep in mind the saying of the elders: "Heavenly time, favorable location, and harmony of people. I have the position I have today largely due to "heavenly time". But to run a company well, "harmony of people" takes the top position. If the leader puts forward policies and solutions that are agreed upon by many people, it will be much better."

Mr. Phan Sao Nam said: "If we are assigned suitable jobs and proactively do things that we are passionate about, human energy is tremendous" (Photo: IT)

“If a CEO cannot see the opportunity and seize it in time, he may have to move slower, if not fail. In the internet industry, the “right time” factor is even more important. Opportunities do not last long, especially in this period, it only lasts about 3 months. If we hesitate and do not decide, after only 3 months, that opportunity will no longer exist.”

Talking about the internet in Vietnam, Mr. Phan Sao Nam said: "This golden opportunity will not be repeated a second time. Any throne will collapse if the leader does not have the right strategy and tactics to lead his army."

Mr. Phan Sao Nam also has the ambition to compete with the "big guys" in the world: "I often joke that Vietnam's dotcom companies in the past were like "poor but good students", trying to get ahead by their own strength. But the race now is no longer limited to the domestic scope. We have to compete with big names in the world like Google, Facebook, Yahoo... If we are only good but poor, we cannot live well."

And when talking about the internet, Mr. Phan Sao Nam also visualized: "The beauty" of the internet is that it is an industry with a very fast growth rate, with lower investment costs than other traditional manufacturing industries, so the impact of economic downturn is there, but not large." He also said: "I am on the right track and can be completely confident to bounce back."

In an information technology conference, Mr. Phan Sao Nam, as Chairman of VTC Online, did the calculation: “Game businesses have been waiting for licensing since 2010 for 3 years, there are 7,500 people working in this industry, multiply that number and the entire game industry has been waiting for 22,500 years. Game industry revenue in 2012 reached about 6,000 billion VND, accounting for 0.2% of GDP, but up to now it has not been untied in management, causing businesses to face many difficulties.”