Quoc Luong grew up scavenging for food on the streets of Saigon – and went on to become one of Vietnam’s most accomplished deep-tech founders. After teaching himself English at 26, he earned scholarships to Cornell and UC Berkeley, built a life in Silicon Valley, and ultimately returned to Vietnam to found Realtime Robotics (RtR): the country’s first high-tech drone company to invent, design, and manufacture world-class UAV systems. Today RtR drones are used in commercial operations across the U.S. and even by U.S. Army units. Quoc shares how he built a 70-person engineering organization in Saigon, why Vietnamese engineers can compete with the best in the world, and how Vietnam can become a global deep-tech nation through conviction, invention, and doing more with less. We talk about his early life, the discipline forged in hardship, what PhD training taught him about thinking deeply, the long road from copying to inventing, and why he believes Vietnamese talent can build globally dominant hardware companies. - 01:22 Introducing himself & the moment he says “I’m doing drones” 02:12 Family background, father’s reeducation & early life in Vietnam 03:13 Learning English at 26 & meeting his “American mom” 04:15 Winning scholarships to Cornell and UC Berkeley 07:47 First impressions of the U.S. & adapting to academic life 11:23 Early years in America: surviving, catching up & gratitude 15:14 PhD track: learning to think deeply and systematically 20:00 Corporate consulting → discovering drones → original idea 22:42 Realization: they must build their own drones to succeed 24:53 Returning to Vietnam & assembling an engineering team 26:33 From learning → catching up → inventing: the 10-year journey 30:16 Hera drone: designing a world-leading UAV from Vietnam 33:40 Patents, gimbals, multi-camera tech & engineering breakthroughs 35:02 U.S. commercial traction, Army use cases & global expansion 40:05 Why Vietnam can build deeptech: talent, cost advantages, mindset 53:00 Funding gaps, advice for founders & why Vietnamese can build globally 1:01:18 Closing reflections on education, growth & conviction - Connect with Quoc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quoc-luong-3140461a/ Connect with Quang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ovquang/ https://www.instagram.com/quang Join OV: https://joinov.com
