How to redirect your domain name to a wpengine’s site
Say you have:
1. signed up for a wpengine account (mine is sachmy.wpengine.com)
2. uploaded some template
3. added some posts
and everything looks good. Now you are ready to redirect sachmy.wpengine.com to ndat.org (this is the domain you bought)
Here is how:
1. Go to your dns hosting companies (godaddy,namecheap,etc) and
a. add a A name record ndat.org that points to the IP address of sachmy.wpengine.com (log in wpengine to get this IP address)
b. add a C name record http://www.ndat.org that points to ndat.org
Note that it may take up to 24 hours for this change to take effect
2. Log in my.wpengine.com and redirect both sachmy.wpengine.com and http://www.ndat.org to ndat.org
3. Log in wordpress admin and change your site info
That is it. Go to ndat.org and http://www.ndat.org you should see your wpengine site. If not file a ticket w/ wpengine support. They should be able to help you out
Ruby on rails dev shops in Vietnam
Most universities in Vietnam teach PHP. Most outsourcing software companies in Vietnam use PHP or ASP.NET. Good ruby on rails dev shops are few and far in between. Having the advantage of living in Vietnam (and becoming pretty active in the tech community in Saigon and Hanoi) for the past few years, I have had the privilege of knowing a few of them. So here they are in no particular order:
1. East Agile (uses agile/xp methodologies)
2. Tech Propulsions Lab
3. Larion Computing
4. Seta
If I miss some other companies, let me know in the comment section below
Hitchhiking in Saigon, Vietnam
Yesterday around 12:15am I was walking home feeling a bit tired. At the intersection of Ton That Tung and Bui Thi Xuan, I saw a young man on an electric bike and asked if he could give me a lift. After a brief moment of hesitation he said yes (understandably so as Saigon by night is filled w/ unscrupulous characters, a subject for another post). I hopped on and he rode me to Bui Thi Xuan and Cong Quynh, where he had to turn left and I right. I hopped off and thanked him as he disappeared into the night.
Pedestrian guide in dealing with aggressive drivers in Vietnam
In Vietnam, cars and trucks are pretty reckless. They don’t slow down or yield to bikers or pedestrians. Here is what you do:
1. You walk along the street or hem (alleyway) and see a taxi approaching
2. He doesn’t yield
3. You don’t want to yield but you don’t want to get hurt
4. You maintain your speed. When you are next to him, turn slightly and brush your shoulder against his side mirror, closing it up
5. Keep walking.
Lean startup (Vietnamese style)
There is a man in front of my house selling coconut juice. His name is Anh 7.
He:
1. gets discounted lunch from the restaurant across the street (20K vs 25K)
2. uses the neighbor’s house to store his stuff at night
3. uses the public restroom for free (or in exchange of coconuts)
4. receives calls for free with the security guard’s phone next door
5. pays no rent or tax
6. spends no money on marketing (There is no need when Saigon heat is nearly 40°C and the streets are teeming w/ scooters)
Startups in Vietnam
Vietnamese are entrepreneurial by nature. It is no surprise there are lots of tech startups. Most of whom cater towards the local market and do the following:
1. sell ads via news sites (kenh14.vn)
2. sell goods via e commerce sites (nhommua.com)
3. sell games (vng)
A few cater towards international market. However they tend to focus on:
1. trivial mobile games or clones of successful US mobile apps
2. software outsourcing (primarily php, ruby on rails and iphone apps)
The exception is alley labs. They are based in hanoi and have produced a couple of high quality mobile games. The founder however is an MIT graduate who decided to stick around after having such a good time wandering around the northern mountains of Vietnam.
Yesterday I googled ycombinator in Vietnam/Vietnamese and received 0 results. I googled paul graham and the result was also nil. There is no incubator in either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh (except for vcombinator and 5desire but they are very new and have no proven track record). There is no coworking space in the whole of Vietnam. Nobody here has heard of Eric Ries or know what lean startup means. That is abysmal compared to neighboring countries such as Singapore, China or Taiwan where startup culture is thriving. I dont think the government will do much. A few individuals started action.vn ( a news site on tech entrepreneurship), vye (tech event organization) but they lack startup experience. My best hope is for someone who is a male Caucasian or Vietkieu (overseas Vietnamese. One classic example is Trung Dung, the CEO and founder of mobivi), has done startup in Silicon Valley, exited with tons of money and decided to move back to Vietnam to get a girlfriend or wife. Someone like Eduado Saverin Are you that someone?
Price collusion in Vietnam
Me: Why was yesterday’s price 10K per kilo but today’s 8K?
Mango guy: Mango was cheaper this morning at the wholesale market
Me: There are over 20 mango carts here on the street. Surely you all don’t go to the same market.
Him: No we don’t
Me: How do you make sure the guy up the street isn’t selling the mangos cheaper?
Him: We call each other
Me: WHAT?
Him (smiling gleefully and poking me in the stomach): Yup. We have each other’s number and we change the price in sync!
Me:😕
Buying a real Nike hat in Vietnam
In Vietnam, you can buy:
1. a fake Jordan hat made of shitty material and poor stitches
2. a half fake half real Jordan hat made of good material and poor stitches. Usually the material is smuggled out of Nike factory and stitched by an untrained seamstress somewhere else
3. a real Jordan hat made of good material and good stitches. Usually the material is smuggled out of Nike factory and stitched by Nike seamstress somewhere else or the finished hat could be smuggled straight out of the Nike factory
4. a real Jordan hat imported from US or Europe and sold in luxury malls
Today I bought 3 for 12usd at an alleyway shop near my house
On Nike’s site (and almost everywhere else) its 24usd
How to do business in Vietnam
Location: on the sidewalk of Saigon, at the corner of Ton That Tung and Suong Nguyet Anh, District 1
Date: 2-22-2012:
Me: Why is this table tilted? My fish sause is sliding.
H (restaurant manager): I m sorry. Why don’t you sit inside? It is better
Me: Why would you put out such a shitty table?
H: Well we are not supposed to put tables out here on the sidewalk. Today the police is patrolling. If they see it they will confiscate it. We d rather they take our crappiest table than a nice one.
Me: I see. Why don’t you give them money?
H: We do. And they leave us alone most of the time. But every once in a while they need to do their job, confiscate some tables and write up a report. It keeps their boss happy
A reverse migration
Location: Phan Rang, Vietnam
Time: Tet 2012
Person talked to: Huy
Old Occupation: unknown
Return date: some time in 2011
New Occupation: beer distributor
Reason: financial hardship
Person talked to: Minh
Old Occupation: bike mechanic
Return date: Tet 2012
New Occupation: loan shark
Reason: financial hardship
Person talked to: Doan
Old Occupation: port helper
Return date: Tet 2012
New Occupation: quan nhau owner (possibly)
Reason: financial hardship
Person overheard: Chị Bé
Old Occupation: shop helper
Return date: some time in 2011
New Occupation: selling clothes on the streets of Phan Rang
Reason: financial hardship
Person overheard: Hiep
Old Occupation: truck driver
Return date: some time in 2010
New Occupation: unemployed (on paper), gambler (otherwise)
Reason: hiding from the Saigon loan sharks due to unpaid gambling debt
These young men and women after high school moved from Phan Rang to Saigon in search of a better life. Instead they found hardship. In the end they returned.
dat's diary 