🇻🇳 From Idea to VC-Backed: Growth, Challenges & Setting North Star Metrics
​Building a startup is tough — but you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
​Join us for a casual evening in HCM where three founders will share their journeys of going from an idea to raising VC funding: the learnings, the setbacks, and everything in between.
​Our speakers, Charles Lee (CoderSchool) and Kevin Junker (SmartSolar), both went through the Iterative program, where founders work on growing 5–7% per week. They’ll talk about how they approached growth, the frameworks they used, and the lessons they wish they knew earlier.
​Joining the panel of speakers is also Ella Trinh (Vulcan Augmetics). Since 2018, Ella has led Vulcan’s tech development and commercial growth to serve amputees across 10 countries, including conflict-affected areas in Middle East and Eastern Europe.Â
​👉 Here's your chance to learn, swap stories, and meet other builders in Vietnam.
​What We’ll Cover
​North Star Metrics – How to pick the one metric that truly drives your startup forward.
​Growth Framework – A simple way to know if you’re on the right track: growth that compounds. Learn the framework Charles and Kevin use.
​Founder Challenges – Real war stories of pivots, growth pains, and how they pushed through setbacks.
​Come for the insights, stay for the community.
​A shoutout to our community partner Block71 Vietnam for doing this event with us!
​Meet the Speakers
​Charles Lee – Co-founder of CoderSchool, Vietnam’s largest Silicon Valley–style technical school with 2,000+ alumni. Before CoderSchool, Charles spent a decade in Silicon Valley consulting for Walmart Labs, designing courses for CodePath, and mentoring for Bloc.
​Kevin Junker – Founder of SmartSolar, helping accelerate the transition to clean energy in Southeast Asia. Previously at McKinsey, Kevin later joined a digital bank in Vietnam, where he grew the company to 100+ employees, 60K+ active users, and $50M+ in monthly transaction volume.
​Ella Trinh — Co-founder & COO of Vulcan Augmetics, an award-winning med-tech startup based in Vietnam that develops robotic arms and wearables sensor technology for underserved patients in emerging markets and conflict zones. A winner of tech and social impact and women-led awards such as She Loves Tech, she also mentors young changemakers across Southeast Asia, believing in the power of bold ideas and local leadership.
​Who Should Join
​Founders or future founders who...
​Want to understand what being VC-backed really means
​Are struggling with growth and setting north star metrics
​Love to meet other builders in HCM
​Agenda
​8:00 – 8:25 PM — Arrive + mingle
​8:25 – 8:55 PM — Fireside chat with Charles, Kevin, Ella & Shen Nan
​8:55 – 9:00 PM — Q&A
​9:00 – 9:55 PM — Networking & hangout
​10:00 PM — Wrap up
​Light bites and drinks will be provided!
​About Iterative
​Iterative was founded for founders, by founders. We are an accelerator program focused exclusively on Southeast Asia. No fees, an upfront investment of up to USD $500K and 3 months of targeted growth and fundraising support, which culminates in a Demo Day to a network of 400+ investors. Apply for the program.
​Since we’ve been founded in 2020, we’ve invested in 100+ companies and 200+ founders. These companies have gone on to raise $178M and are collectively worth over $1.2B.
​Our mission is to increase the GDP of Southeast Asia through entrepreneurship. To do that, we need to (1) make entrepreneurship more accessible to more people and (2) give founders the tools and support to be successful. As part of this mission, we run events like this to help founders solve their biggest problems.
​About Iterative Startup Academy
​This event is brought to you by Startup Academy — as part of our mission, we run events like this to help you on everything you need to know to be a successful founder.
​Startup Academy is a free collection of courses, guides and templates on how to build startups in Southeast Asia. Whether you’re exploring an idea or scaling up, we’re here to support your journey.
​Sign up for Startup Academy here and learn from those who have done it before and been successful.
​About BLOCK71 Vietnam
​​BLOCK71 is a global network of innovation hubs and startup communities, backed by National University of Singapore (NUS Enterprise). Across 11 cities in 6 countries—Singapore, Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Saigon, Nagoya, Tokyo, Suzhou, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Silicon Valley—BLOCK71 supports entrepreneurs with the space, resources, and connections they need to succeed. Learn more at block71.co.