On Sunday 13 December, I'm back on a TEDx stage. TEDxHanoi asked me to speak at PLAY, and for someone who has spent his whole career around nightlife, games and esports, that theme feels like it was written for me.
It will be my third TEDx talk. The first two were at TEDxRMIT in Ho Chi Minh City: "Why You Need Mentors" in 2016 and "Trust the Journey" in 2017. This one is my first in Hanoi.
Why PLAY
This year's theme is "Let's Reimagine Play." A lot of people still treat play as the thing you do after the real work is done. I've built a company on the opposite idea.
At GAM, play is where the #GAMFAM finds its people. It's how young Vietnamese players earn a shot at the world stage, and how a whole country got to cheer for its own team at the Esports World Cup in Paris this year. Play is serious business, and it's also where some of the best lessons of my life came from.
What I'll talk about
I won't give the talk away here. The TEDxHanoi team has a moment planned on stage, and you should see it the way they built it.
What I can tell you is this. It's about what a lifetime of games taught me about uncertainty, and about making the first move before you feel ready. I learned that lesson in a game long before I ever used it in business, and I've leaned on it every time I bet on something new, from a one-way ticket to Vietnam in 2014 to GAM in 2021.
The TEDxHanoi curation team has pushed me hard to make this talk land for everyone in the room, not only gamers. I'm grateful for that, and I can't wait to share it.
Who else is on the PLAY stage
I'm in very good company. Twelve speakers and performers share the PLAY stage, from rap and musical theatre to maths class, city planning and competitive Tetris. Three I can't wait to see:
Two more feel like home for a GAM guy: Leo Hoang, who brings Vietnamese culture to life through games at LacBird, and Tetris Vietnam, the community behind the country's Classic Tetris championship. Here's the full lineup:
Stage image (top), speaker card and portraits: TEDxHanoi. The lineup as published by TEDxHanoi, in their alphabetical order, and subject to change.
Come to Hanoi
TEDxHanoi PLAY is on Sunday 13 December 2026 at Star Galaxy, 87 Lang Ha, O Cho Dua Ward, Hanoi. The program and the full speaker lineup are on the event page: play.tedxhanoi.org.
If you're in Hanoi, come and say hi after the talk. If you're not, the talk will be online later, and I'll share it here.
See you in Hanoi. Vietnam to the world.
