Duc is helping build Tech in Asia

About

from Journalism to Product

Hello, and thanks for visiting my personal website. I'm Duc, currently based in HCMC, Vietnam. I work at Tech in Asia (YC W15), the largest English-language media company focused on Southeast Asia's startup ecosystem. Think of us as TechCrunch + Crunchbase for SEA.

I build products for my internal team to boost our productivity. I also create products for our users (no big successes so far; I'm still learning how to make something people want). I also do data journalism.

I earned a bachelor's degree in business and built my product and engineering skills through online courses and hands-on projects. The simple chatbot below is one example.

My product principle is simple: help users get their jobs done with as little effort and time as possible. If you want to learn more about me, I hope this chatbot helps you do so without having to scroll through this website. I know you have plenty of more important things to do.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Gmail, Substack, GitHub, and X. If I'm not on vacation, I often read and reply to messages.

Have a good day.

What do you want to know about Duc?

I can help you explore Duc's work, projects, career path, and working style.

Work

I love building things that save people time

I started my career as a reporter covering business and the economy, then became the first data journalist at Vietnam's largest newspaper, was hired as the data journalism lead at Tech in Asia, and now I do a lot of product work. You can read my career journey here.

Selected projects

Tech in AsiaStarted: August 2025Status: Ongoing

Editorial Workspace

Problem: My 17-person editorial team relied on several Google Sheets and Tableau dashboards for recurring work. These disconnected tools made information harder to find and created repetitive work and context switching.
Solution: I built a web app with Next.js, TypeScript, Supabase, and n8n that brings source management, company financials, LinkedIn publishing, and article-performance review into one authenticated workspace.
Outcome: The workspace saves the team time by reducing tool switching, making information easier to find, and giving everyone a consistent way to handle recurring editorial work.

Tech in AsiaStarted: January 2026Status: Ongoing

SEA Signals: Newsletter

Problem: Professionals looking for clients, partners, jobs, or sales leads need timely updates on important Southeast Asian companies, but those signals are scattered and easy to miss.
Solution: I built a daily email product that turns Tech in Asia's funding data and later selected financial signals into concise alerts. I use Redshift as the data source, generate the newsletter through n8n workflows and OpenAI Codex with specific skills, review each edition, and send it through Mailchimp.
Outcome: I launched a repeatable workflow for publishing timely company alerts with less manual work. SEA Signals remains an active experiment, with its retention and business model still being tested.

Tech in AsiaStarted: May 2026Status: Ongoing

Database Query for Agents

Problem: Coding agents and teammates need accurate database context before writing SQL. Table documentation, query conventions, and privacy rules can otherwise become scattered or outdated.
Solution: I built a shared GitHub repository containing approved table documentation, schema snapshots, read-only Redshift and Postgres query skills, reusable query workflows, and validation rules. It gives Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and teammates the same starting point for database work.
Outcome: The repository makes database querying more consistent and easier to hand over. I designed it with privacy in mind, keeping credentials, real query outputs, local analyses, and user email addresses out of shared GitHub history.

GitHub repository for shared database documentation and agent query workflows.

Tech in AsiaStarted: January 2026Status: Ongoing

n8n Automation Workflows

Problem: Recurring editorial, data, hiring, and HR tasks required manual collection, processing, and updates across several tools.
Solution: I built and maintained n8n workflows that extract financial data from statements, send article performance updates to Slack, and use the TinyFish Agent API to collect and organize job openings at large global AI companies for users. I also helped HR set up an automated workflow for birthday and work anniversary congratulations. I documented the workflows in a repository so teammates and coding agents can maintain them safely.
Outcome: The workflows reduce repetitive manual work. They make recurring reporting, data collection, and internal operations more consistent and easier to hand over.

Slack updates showing successful article performance syncs and an AI hiring crawl.

ABG AlumniStarted: October 2025Status: Ongoing

ABG Alumni Connection

Problem: Members had to use several group chats to find alumni with relevant experience or connections. As the community grew beyond 600 members, requests and member information became difficult to find.
Solution: I worked with a volunteer team of three to build a web app using Next.js, TypeScript, Supabase, NextAuth, Gemini, and Resend. Its three key features are a member directory, AI matching, and event management.
Outcome: Around 60 alumni actively use the platform to find other members and access community information.

ABG Alumni interface for finding professional, personal, job, and recruiting connections.