Founder’s Journal (part 4): The Final End

Here is to a new beginning

it’s been three days since MỞ graduation event in Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, I want to take some time to document this period of my life - probably one of the most significant part of my youth.

—

today during lunch, I called my parents to chat. to my surprise, my mom, dad and brother all asked me whether I am sad that MỞ has ended.

throughout the past four, five years building MỞ, I barely got asked by my parents and my brother about MỞ. throughout this time, I always thought they were either uninterested or viewed it without much importance. as a result, I got into the habit of not sharing much.

last May, when I decided to return home and pursue MỞ full-time, I couldn't directly tell my parents. knowing they would be worried and disappointed, I framed it differently: 'I cannot find a job in the US so I think I might have to go back to Vietnam and I will try to find a job there.'

today, my mom told me:

“mẹ xem video MỞ đóng và đọc comment của học viên thấy khá là cảm động. có vẻ như bọn con đã tạo ảnh hưởng tới kha khá học viên nhỉ.”

“i watched the closing video and read students’ comments. i found them quite touching. it seems like you guys have made quite of an impact on students.”

i was shocked. I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

then, i told them, trying to be strong,

“con cũng qua giai đoạn buồn rồi. con nghĩ việc MỞ đóng không phải là mãi mãi đâu. con vẫn có máu build trong người. khi nào vững vàng hơn, con sẽ quay lại cách này hay cách khác.”

“i have passed the sadness stage. i think MỞ’s closing is not forever. I might come back again”

to my surprise, both my mom and dad answered,

“bố mẹ cũng nghĩ vậy. bố mẹ nghĩ con dành thời gian học và lấy kinh nghiệm xong lại quay lại. bao giờ mở công ty lại thì tuyển mẹ làm trợ lý nhé:)”

“we think so too. we think you can take the time to learn and come back later. when you open a second business, remember to hire me.”

these words of validation from my mom and dad are very new to me. a year ago when i got back to Vietnam, they told me to do MỞ for fun on the side but remember to find an ‘actual job’. i listened, said ‘vâng ạ’, and continued my love for MỞ.

four years, i always tried to validate to them that this is an actual job, this could be my career, i could follow my passion…

i couldn’t help but felt so grateful. perhaps part of the reasons why they have never supported me was because i don’t often share what MỞ is and what I am actually doing with it. perhaps they never supported me because i rarely shared what MỞ was and what I was actually doing. most times, i thought avoiding discussion would prevent conflicts.

i cried bro 😭. i know seeking their validation is bad but i really felt like i have earned their trust in me. i'd planted a seed that one day, i could be a founder again.

—

my journey with my parents is not far away from my journey with MỞ.

good things, good change really does take time.

during MO graduation in Hà Nội, i cried because i was reminded of the long journey we have been on. seeing the students and the staff who have bet on us during the first two years when we were all over the place trying to survive and grow, i couldn’t help but cry.

MỞ Graduation HN’s Warm Up Circle

from running offline events to try to sell, learning everything from scratch, pivoting strategies and directions so many times, running 5 people courses to now 200+ people course—we've come so far.

and how lucky i am to meet all these wonderful people in my life throughout all the ups and downs of startup life.

they are:

• the instructors who poured their heart into building their curriculum, into sharing their passion with the students.

• the teammates who helped us build a brand, do marketing & sales, build product, run community, establish culture.

• the students and community leaders who were early adopters, who participated actively in the course, helped us improve the course, grow the community and share the product with others.

we are all part of the MỞ team. MỞ is nothing without our team effort.

we have all contributed a part, regardless of its size, to the birth and growth of MỞ.

and even though MỞ might have ended, regardless of the reasons, im so happy to know that there are many people out there who are going to keep the dreams, the questions, the open hearts and open minds alive.

MỞ Graduation SG

and i hope the values and culture that we cultivate here will help us cross paths again in the future.

—

my journey with MỞ was always filled with excitement.

there has not been a day, as long as I can remember, when I get tired of working on MỞ. i can work tirelessly days and nights building it with my team. whenever i think about the wonderful people i get to work with, i feel so inspired to keep moving forward. whenever i get to design an experience, i get so excited. maybe it’s a gift of me not dreaming too big and not having to do sales (haha), but i just genuinely enjoy every second and every process of my work the past 4.5 years.

when can i find such a good team again??? :(((

success takes time, patience, and resilience. as i close this chapter, i'll remember how "baby Fuong" consistently showed up, executed ideas, built products, supported the team, and closed things beautifully and meaningfully.

i will remember to bring “baby Fuong”’s work ethics and commitment to my future endeavors.

—

to close, i just want to give a special thanks again to a few people who have supported me throughout the past 4,5 years in my entrepreneurship journey.

1. thank you to my team Tung, Gia Hoa, Dung, Quynh, Mai, Nguyen, Quang, Nghien, Finny, Khoi, chi Huong, anh Tuan who have chosen to stay regardless of MỞ’s ending decision to make the last 4,5 months the most epic and wonderful time ever. thank you for showing up to students, SSLs, the community in and outside MỞ till the last days.

2. thank you to my family who has supported me and given me space to try and commit to MỞ.

3. thank you to Minerva for inspiring me to dream of the impossible, to imagine a new way of thinking, learning, working. and of course, the possibility of online learning:)

4. thank you to my Minerva friends Jade, Esther, Eugene, Gabriel, Nikita, Rena, Trang, Ha, Aniket, Diana and Chau for supporting me to pursue entrepreneurship, hyping me up whenever I doubted myself, listening to me as I shared updates and wonders about MỞ throughout different cities, and brainstorming business ideas with me.

5. thank you to Women Leaders Circle for holding space for me to process the end of MỞ during May and June, for giving me hope about my next chapter.

6. thank you to all the mentors, ex bosses, professionals I’ve met along the way who have given me advice on startups, Edtech, and supported me in my journey.

7. thank you to Tung for being my partner in crime the past 4,5 years. it’s crazy how different our strengths are but somehow work well together. thank you for dreaming big to take us where we are now and for giving me the belief that I can be lead in my own ways.

kudos to all of us for trying and learning and growing together.

on to new adventures together 🌹 🙌

MỞ Graduation HN

—

thank you for reading ❤️

i am always grateful to have you on my learning journey.

From Your Internet Friend,

Fuong.