The reason I’ve sold my most personal business to date, and why it actually felt good.

I used to think that I would never sell any of my businesses ever, simply because each of them feels like a baby to me that I could never part from. But little did I know, it’s also a big limitation I place on these “babies”. If anything this past 10 years of entrepreneurship has taught me, it is that our potential is incredibly limited if we stay within the restrictive boundaries (and attachments) of our personal identity, or in other words, our ego. 

Our ego tells us that whatever we create should be ours forever. Our ego also tells us that whatever we succeed at should remain our own success forever. However, what the ego fails to see (or accept), is that whatever we personally (and physically) own or hold on to, also dies with us when we are gone.

This year has been a turbulent one. COVID-19 shook us all to the core, not only changing the way we live, but also forcing us to change the way we see life and re-evaluate our purpose. I spent a lot of time this year, reflecting on what I have done, and my role in this world from now until I am gone. I realized that everything I have created so far, is very impermanent, and very personal. Products that I sell would carry my brand, but it would also wear and tear or become obsolete in many years; physical spaces such as restaurants will eventually close down if we are unable to continue the lease, and with that goes everything that was in it. The only thing that remains over time, the only thing that I do leave behind, if anything, would only be the vague memories of the experiences I created for the people I served. 

How do I let those positive experiences stay with our people longer? How can my entrepreneurial journey feel more sustainable, when it has proven to be so rocky and unsustainable in the past? 

These burning questions drove me towards creating TGL - The Good Life - my first virtual product, where I share fitness workout videos, nutrition plans, meditation audios and mindfulness lessons (in partnership with a psychologist I deeply respect) through a mobile app. It is the first wellness app of its kind in the country, with the sole aim of improving the quality of life of my fellow Vietnamese Women. 

With TGL, I can be both creative and authentic, while serving more people than I could ever do physically. Throughout 2020, despite the limitation from the pandemic, I felt immense freedom through writing, filming and editing wellness content for the app myself, at home or in my office-studio. Knowing that there are fellow women listening to my meditations and streaming my workouts on a daily basis to stay healthy in the mind and body during this turbulent times, really keeps me going forever more. Just over a year, TGL has gathered a user base of over 20.000, with almost little to no advertising. 

However, the novelty of enjoying my personal freedom in creation gradually wore off, after a year of running the app almost entirely alone. Fatigue set in. And at one point, I felt it would be selfish if I continued to maintain TGL this way, not allowing it to fly and grow to new heights by holding on to it like my own baby, again tying it so closely to my own identity and ego. If one day I decide that I needed a break and shut down, the app would shut down too, and with that, our users will lose whatever they had hoped they signed up for. This thought has brought me tremendous guilt (and shame), and also led to my burn out, as I never dared stopping. Isn’t it ironic, that I created a wellness app to promote health and balance, only to eventually suffer from burn out in the process of running it? 

A few months ago I reconnected with Usman Sheikh - the owner of HOV Venture Fund. Me and Usman go way back (18 years, in fact) and have been friends since our very first days in NUS (National University of Singapore). In fact, we became instant good friends when we joined a freshman orientation outing together. I even mentioned him in my first memoir, as he was one of the first people to see my potential in starting it out in the food industry after seeing my food blog and coming to my place for a dinner party that I prepared from A to Z. Long story short, Usman has been around to witness my growth from a clueless university student, to a marketing professional in Singapore, to a food blogger, and eventually an entrepreneur in Vietnam. He has been quietly watching from afar, and always sending me encouragement along the way. Our communications remained friendly but more infrequent in the past 10 years of me being knee deep in my start ups. He’s gone all tech and I’ve gone all food & lifestyle. We would never think that one day, our paths would cross again, or in this case, merge. 

I never knew that through the past year of creating content daily for TGL, through learning, communicating and sharing about wellness, I had another “fan” watching. And that was Usman. During one of our yearly “happy birthday” catch-ups, I told him about some VCs that were interested in TGL and asked him whether I should consider pitching to them. I knew I could trust Usman, as he runs his own VC and always has my best interest at heart. Little did I expect, he offered to invest himself! 

It was a no brainer for me. Usman and I, though through our own different ways, have always been searching for a way to serve this world better, to create positive change, to make a difference and a lasting impact that could help people live and work in a more fulfilling way. I love the way Usman and his team at HOV constantly strive to break the status quo through innovative solutions in technology & connectivity. Now with TGL, we found a common playground. It still is technology, but with the soft & warm touch of human wellness & mindful connections driving it. 

My faith in this partnership is so strong, that I had no second thoughts in handing the entire TGL business to HOV in a very friendly (and quick) acquisition deal. I believe TGL will have a much more sustainable future, and a more fertile ground to grow on, in the hands of Usman and HOV’s strong team, who will bring its design, development, distribution and financial capabilities to help propel TGL to new heights, while I continue to do what I love best: being in charge of TGL’s creative direction, content production and drive our community engagement in Vietnam. 

This is why I feel so good about this whole deal, from start to finish. In fact, this is also the first time, I honestly don’t care about my own interest, returns, equity or anything else that would matter a lot in any investment negotiation or transaction. It feels good not to care. Because it feels good to just focus on doing good without fearing that someone is going to take advantage or take things away from me. TGL is not something I should be afraid to lose, as long as it remains with the people I created it for - my fellow Vietnamese women. 

Now with HOV as the new home for TGL, I am confident that TGL will take on a bigger life of its own, and change the lives of more and more women for the better (and changing mine in the process too). I can’t wait to continue building TGL, this time, in a much more sustainable way, with the right team, and the right partners. 

I hope you continue to support me on this new journey as I dabble deeper into the world of both Wellness & Tech, for a better future for all. 

Much love, Chi Anh.  

(See Press Release on TGL acquisition below)