Trung Dung
Encyclopedia
Trung Dung is a Vietnamese-American businessman. His life story has been profiled in many leading publications including Forbes
, Financial Times
, The Wall Street Journal
and San Francisco Chronicle
, as well as in Dan Rather
's book The American Dream.
, his father, a lieutenant
in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
was captured by the invading North Vietnamese Army and their Viet Cong allies, and sent to a reeducation camp
. Upon his father's release, the family secretly immigrated to the United States
by escaping from Vietnam on a night in 1984.
, received his MBA from BKU and holds bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science
from the University of Massachusetts Boston
, where he was the top graduate from the Math and Computer Science Department. He had enrolled there despite poor English and financial resources because of his mathematics ability.
Dung worked as an engineer at Open Market
, a developer of Internet commerce software, before deciding to start his own business.
He established OnDisplay Corporation, a software development company, with the aim of designing software to select and retrieve information from related webpages and arrange it in a layout most convenient for the user. As his business experience was limited, no investor could be found. When it appeared that his idea would never be implemented, it was accepted by Mark Pine, the executive director of a division of Sybase Software Company. Two weeks later, OnDisplay had more than 80 clients, including Travelocity
. It was one of the 10 most successful IPOs in 1999 and was sold to Vignette Corporation in 2000 for USD1.8 billion.
Dung then founded Fogbreak Solutions, which engaged in business applications aimed at optimizing the flexibility and efficiency of assembly lines. Dung was the chief executive officer
of the company, which creates enterprise business applications to optimize supply chain flexibility and liability. Fogbreak is funded by a group of blue-chip investors including Matrix Partners
, Greylock
, and Sigma Partners. After a few unstable years, investors decided to withdraw support. In May 2004, Nilesh Jain and Trung, founded Bluekey Services.
Dung is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Education Foundation. In May 2004, Trung Dung was awarded a Golden Torch Award at the Vietnamese American National Gala in Washington D.C. In 2006, he returned to Vietnam for the first time and said “I had never thought I would have returned".
His success story was told in publications such as Forbes, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He was one of 17 successful American immigrants profiled in The American Dream, a book written by Dan Rather
.
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
and San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, as well as in Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
's book The American Dream.
Early life
Dung was born in South Vietnam. During the Fall of SaigonFall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
, his father, a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
was captured by the invading North Vietnamese Army and their Viet Cong allies, and sent to a reeducation camp
Reeducation camp
Reeducation camp is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former regime of...
. Upon his father's release, the family secretly immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by escaping from Vietnam on a night in 1984.
Career
Dung completed some postgraduate work in Computer Science at Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, received his MBA from BKU and holds bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from the University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
, where he was the top graduate from the Math and Computer Science Department. He had enrolled there despite poor English and financial resources because of his mathematics ability.
Dung worked as an engineer at Open Market
Open market
The term open market is used generally to refer to a situation close to free trade and in a more specific technical sense to interbank trade in securities.-Use of the term in economic theory:...
, a developer of Internet commerce software, before deciding to start his own business.
He established OnDisplay Corporation, a software development company, with the aim of designing software to select and retrieve information from related webpages and arrange it in a layout most convenient for the user. As his business experience was limited, no investor could be found. When it appeared that his idea would never be implemented, it was accepted by Mark Pine, the executive director of a division of Sybase Software Company. Two weeks later, OnDisplay had more than 80 clients, including Travelocity
Travelocity
Travelocity is an online travel agency and wholly owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corporation, which was a publicly traded company until taken private by Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group in March 2007...
. It was one of the 10 most successful IPOs in 1999 and was sold to Vignette Corporation in 2000 for USD1.8 billion.
Dung then founded Fogbreak Solutions, which engaged in business applications aimed at optimizing the flexibility and efficiency of assembly lines. Dung was the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the company, which creates enterprise business applications to optimize supply chain flexibility and liability. Fogbreak is funded by a group of blue-chip investors including Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a US based private equity investment firm focusing on venture capital investments. The firm invests in seed and early stage companies in the United States and India, particularly in the software, communications, semiconductors, data storage, Internet or wireless sectors.The firm...
, Greylock
Greylock
Greylock Partners is one of the oldest venture capital firms, founded in 1965, with committed capital of over $2 billion under management. The firm focuses on early stage companies in the consumer, enterprise software and infrastructure as well as semiconductor sectors.Today, Greylock operates out...
, and Sigma Partners. After a few unstable years, investors decided to withdraw support. In May 2004, Nilesh Jain and Trung, founded Bluekey Services.
Dung is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Education Foundation. In May 2004, Trung Dung was awarded a Golden Torch Award at the Vietnamese American National Gala in Washington D.C. In 2006, he returned to Vietnam for the first time and said “I had never thought I would have returned".
His success story was told in publications such as Forbes, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He was one of 17 successful American immigrants profiled in The American Dream, a book written by Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
.
External links
- Trung Dung Founder of OnDisplay and Fogbreak Software
- Fogbreak Software Home Page
- Former OnDisplay Founder To Speak At Technology in the Vineyards
- Three Top TriValley Entrepreneurs, Technology Company CEOs Join TTEC Advisory Board
- Forbes.com: Forbes 400 Richest in America
- Golden Torch Award, by the Vietnamese American National Gala
- Vietnamese refugee a success on the Internet - He started with determination, $2, AP, 2000
- Biography