What Did Shark Bình Say Before His Home Was Raided and He Was Taken into Custody?

Shark Binh (real name Nguyen Hoa Binh, born in 1981) is currently the most talked-about figure. Just before his legal troubles, on October 6th, the entrepreneur hosted a live stream sharing business knowledge and life insights on the topic of Leadership Thinking in Times of Turbulence.

The live stream lasted approximately 1.5 hours. This is considered his final sharing session before being prosecuted and detained.

What is Leadership?

At the beginning of the live stream, Shark Binh posed the question: What is leadership, and do we need a leadership role? In other words, is developing leadership skills solely for business owners, or is it something everyone should learn and reflect upon?

Shark Binh then argued that “leadership” is not just for those in high positions but is an essential skill for everyone. Each individual is a “leader” in their own way—first and foremost, leading themselves, as those who master themselves are more likely to succeed. As one matures, they need to lead their family, children, work, possibly a team, or even an entire organization. In other words, leadership is present in every stage and aspect of life.

“I personally believe that the term ‘leadership’ is important for everyone, even for an employee earning a regular salary. All of us, every person among the 8 billion people worldwide, are leaders.

First, we lead ourselves, because I believe the most successful people are those who optimally and positively self-lead. I still call this self-leadership, a very important skill. There’s a saying, ‘The greatest enemy of a person is themselves,’ so if we can lead ourselves, we will achieve much success in life.

As we grow up, we start families and have children, and then we need to lead those around us: leading our spouse, children, and family… If a family has its ups and downs, the role of the father or mother as a leader is crucial.

Then, when we enter society, if we excel and succeed, we manage teams or even an entire company,… we become leaders of organizations in society” — Shark Binh shared.

According to Shark Binh’s observations, small businesses often confuse the role of a leader. Taking his own company as an example, Shark Binh mentioned that he started his business in 2001 and only had a 15m² office by 2005. At that stage, being a startup with just himself, he juggled many roles—leader, manager, employee, cleaner, and parking attendant…

In times of economic turbulence, a business is like a ship sailing through a foggy ocean, facing a massive storm. Therefore, the business leader needs to be a good navigator to steer the ship in the right direction, with the primary role of generating new ideas.

At this time, the leader needs free time to relax, gather more information, and discuss with colleagues to “cook up” information, ultimately producing the final idea.

“Two things are needed: a good ship—meaning a good team, product, and market; and the right direction. A ship, no matter how good, without direction will go astray. I’ve been through phases of just working and grinding but going in the wrong direction, resulting in wasted effort and meaninglessness” — Shark Binh said.

“On the Brink” of Bankruptcy 5 Times

In the next segment, Shark Binh shared that he has been in business for 24 years, starting with 2 million VND and nearly going bankrupt 5 times. Therefore, the “shark” wanted to share his experiences and insights on business and life issues with everyone.

One of the most notable points was his view on virtue. Shark Binh mentioned that from a young age, he has lived and worked by the motto of “accumulating virtue.” According to Shark Binh, virtue is an invisible energy, passed down from generation to generation.

For this entrepreneur, accumulating virtue follows the formula of Giving – Kindness – Filial Piety – Legacy. Here, “kindness” means living cleanly and kindly, without harming others. “Personally, in business and life, I always strive to be kind, not to harm anyone, and not to cause suffering” — Shark Binh shared.

Later, Shark Binh directly answered comments to interact with the audience.

When asked, “Does Shark Binh consider himself virtuous?”, the entrepreneur replied that by sharing the formula for virtue, he has already practiced it himself. However, there is no measure or tool to quantify virtue, so he cannot confirm whether he is virtuous or not.

Nevertheless, Shark Binh emphasized: “I never intend to harm anyone or take what isn’t mine. Everything is based on my intelligence, talent, sweat, and effort”.

Regarding how to face failure, Shark Binh shared that he has gone through many difficult phases and failures, even “on the brink” of bankruptcy 5-6 times in over 20 years of business. And it is these failures that have brought him many lessons:

“Lessons from failure help us avoid future failures. I’ve experienced many incidents, competitions, and near bankruptcies. Back then, I was a naive young man, and over 20 years, I’ve been ‘on the brink’ of bankruptcy 5 times, so I’ve developed some resilience. When we are desperate, on the verge of failure, the most important quality is calmness—rest and silence.

Next, we need to assess whether our business is still suitable for the times and think about finding our greatest strength”.

Speaking of his most painful failure, Shark Binh mentioned chodientu.vn. This was Vietnam’s first e-commerce platform but was later outcompeted by foreign e-commerce giants with capital hundreds of times larger.

At that time, investors declared they would not continue investing and requested to withdraw their remaining capital. Shark Binh had to arrange for them to withdraw. However, it was this failure that allowed him to turn his life around. From 2004 to 2013, while running chodientu.vn, the company “always relied on the ‘mother’s milk,’ living off the kindness of investors.”

“We only truly fail if we gain nothing from the ashes. After each failure, we must distill what assets or values remain to create something new” — Shark Binh shared during the live stream.

To the question: “What is the ultimate goal of an entrepreneur? And how can one serve the country and nation while remaining a legitimate business?”, Shark Binh responded:

“I’ve gone through many phases and stages. There were times when I only thought about earning money for myself, my family, and then for relatives, friends, and the community, and the nation.

However, to summarize, the saying goes, ‘Wealth is the foundation of virtue.’

The first stage, the lowest level for an entrepreneur, is to earn money for oneself and one’s family to meet material needs. Next, think about those around you—those who have struggled together, investors, shareholders,… to also become wealthy. Not as much as us, but perhaps 1/2, 1/3, 1/5, or 1/10 depending on their contribution.

The third stage is thinking about society. At this point, we think about creating good products that do no harm and bring positive value. The fourth stage is thinking about the country and nation, like when we have money, we use it to bring pride and industry to the nation. For example, an electric vehicle company is currently doing this. Finally, the highest stage is for humanity.”

At the end of the October 6th live stream, Shark Binh affirmed that although he has achieved certain results, he is still learning. Therefore, if there are any mistakes or differing opinions in his sharing, he hopes everyone will comment openly to explore the issues together.

Shark Binh also mentioned that he had prepared about 23 slides for this live stream but ran out of time, stopping at around slide 8. At that time, the entrepreneur hinted that there might be a second or third live session on this topic.