William Do, CEO of HOBBIT Investment addressed the worshop "Managing investment in a flexible environment", held by VIR. Photo: Duy Vu

William Do showed that, traditionally, even if entrepreneurs have a fantastic business idea, typical fundraising processes require significantly more effort, time, and money. Fundraising in crypto may offer an alternative that is best suited for blockchain-related projects. The blockchain and crypto space is presenting novel approaches to raising funds that have not been possible in the past.

In the current market conditions, how hard is it for projects to raise funds here?

People tend to invest with an open mind when the market is good. When the market suffers, investors are more aware of their money. Hence, if a project aims to get investment during the downtrend period, it needs to have a stronger push than it would typically require. An intense pique of interest is the first step towards winning the trust and possible investment from your potential investors. Indeed, it is difficult to do so, especially when investors are most likely to reject even a good project at the moment.

Related to that, what do projects have to focus on to persuade investors to work with them? Understand your audience and gain their support.You have to go back to the core values of your project and what it offers. The strength of your supporter base could be critical in attracting investors' attention.

Actually, you need to collect all the ingredients. It has to be under certain conditions. Then, at the right moment, you introduce them to the market, and the market will welcome the project. If not, then it is really hard for them to even look at your projects.

You need to collect all the ingredients. It has to be under certain conditions. Then, at the right moment, you introduce them to the market, and the market will welcome the project. If not, then it is really hard for them to even look at your projects.

If the economy is bad, everyone is cautious about their money. They want to keep their money in their pockets. If you want money out of their pockets, you need to give them a stronger push than you normally would do. If you do that, people will look at your project with more intense feelings. If you don’t create intense feelings for them to look at your project, you already failed from the first moment that you present your project to the market.

In addition, you need to know two types of audience to convince them to jump onboard. First, they are your community supporters who are using your products. The project should have a solid product to convince the community to support it. It can be your friends, family members, and a circle of people around you who have to trust and believe in your products. From there, you will build a larger community.

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The second type of audience you need to focus on building is the support from investors. It doesn’t have to be financial investors. It can be any kind of investor who invests in your project in terms of time, effort, equipment, facilities, or even human resources. They will help you build slowly and surely the things that you lack when you raise funds. It is worth noting that investors will look at different aspects of the project, including the chance of acquiring users, the solidity of the product, and the community supporters.

Interest and knowledge of blockchain ventures, NFTs, crypto currencies, etc. are skyrocketing, and currently, Vietnam is looking to improve regulations when it comes to transactions as well as rights and obligations. What do you think are the main points that the government here needs to focus on first, to make things easier for both developers and investors?

First and foremost, I believe that the Vietnamese government could assist and enhance the growth of the blockchain industry in Vietnam by providing access to clean and resourceful information. From then, both developers and investors can do their research to inspect and evaluate the quality of a project or an investor's ability to make vital decisions.

Is it more important for developers to retain their original vision and core values or to be flexible enough to change if the situation requires it?

While it is crucial to hold on tight to the core values, projects must be flexible in selecting the most suitable strategies to cope with the situation at hand. If a project cannot adapt and adjust quickly to the fast-changing pace of the blockchain and crypto space, then it is hard for them to survive in the market.

When a new segment becomes popular, it attracts a large number of groups, meaning it is more quantity-based rather than quality-focused. What needs to be done in Vietnam to ensure that quality comes first, or is it okay to welcome large numbers of projects and let the strongest survive?

As an investor, when deciding to invest in a project that is following a trend, I would look into how that new segment is going to help build our company’s ecosystem in the long run. So for me, the process of inspection and evaluation with lots of discussions will take place to ensure quality always comes first. If all investors do their homework, it will also pressure the projects to put quality on top because otherwise, there will be no funding.

I often see whether the projects receive trust from their supporters like their families and friends. The way they treat their colleagues and supports is also important. Meanwhile, the viability of the ideas and the possibilities for scaling-up are also taken into consideration. After careful considerations and evaluation process with my team, I will go ahead and make final investment decision.