Acclimatization

In the first few moments upon arriving at my internship location, I experienced a corporate culture shock unlike anything I had anticipated. The company that I will be interning for the remaining of the summer is Impact Vietnam, a boutique investment bank specializing in advisory and capital raises in agribusiness, consumer goods, technology, hospitality, healthcare and energy in Vietnam. Impact Vietnam is the bridge between investors seeking entry into the Vietnamese markets and business owners in need of capital and strategic investors. Impact Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City office currently has 3 full-time employees in a shared office with IDG Ventures. The firm is currently experiencing astounding growth, partnering with multiple new clients every week. The office is coursing with excitement for the future and fueled to put forth maximum effort and close deals as soon as possible without reducing quality. The purpose of all this is to make a name for themselves as the investment bank for investors looking to enter the Vietnamese market.

Driving down the crowded streets of Ho Chi Minh City in an overpacked bus of interns, and the sounds of scooters buzzing and honking as they overpass our vehicle, filling me with anticipation as we arrive to our destination. Upon arrival to Impact Vietnam’s office, my co-intern and I were introduced to the talented individuals we will be working with for the next six weeks, which fueled me with excitement to have the opportunity to learn from them and their impressive careers. After a brief introduction to the company, my co-intern and I were assigned tasks to complete. My co-intern and I had a moment of confusion as we were unclear about the expectations we were supposed to meet. The first corporate culture shock we exhibited is the prevalence of work autonomy in Vietnam. Our tasks were to complete two information memorandums of current clients that will be presented to investors. Our supervisor mentioned current challenges they’ve had with their information memorandum template and motivated us to use our creativity to produce a new format. Excited by the autonomy we had with the projects, we began working on an information memorandum that resembled the firm’s unique style while also containing an in-depth analysis of the investment presented. After completing the majority of our project, we had our first progress meeting with our supervisor. Our supervisor was very pleased with our work and was impressed by the creativity and in-depth analysis we had provided. Although he was pleased, we were redirected to use the firm’s previous template because the one we had created required too much time and wouldn’t be sustainable for the boutique investment bank. Although it was discouraging at first, I found the situation as an opportunity to adapt quickly and learn more about different approaches a firm can take to close deals with investors. This experience changed my approach from that of meticulously trying to gather as much information as possible, to recognizing the importance of relevant information investors want to be confident with their investment decisions.