Mr. Thomas Cong, Founder and CEO of Congero Technology Group, is a native of Vietnam. He grew up in postwar Saigon when the country was poor, unstable and people tried to escape communism and poverty left and right. As a young gifted student, he worked hard and read a lot of books to expand his curiosity. His life took a lucky turn for the better when he received a study-abroad scholarship from former Czechoslovakia in 1989. 

“It was just in time to experience the fall of the Berlin wall in Eastern Europe and to witness the Velvet revolution on the streets of Czechoslovakia with my own eyes,” Mr. Cong said. 

After completing his master’s program in Computer Science in 1996, Mr. Cong came back to Vietnam for about a year but could not find a career he was happy with. As his return visa was about to expire, he decided to go back and take his chance in the Czech Republic. In the following two years, he worked for a software company from Denmark, traveling and staying extensively in Norway, France and Germany. 

“By that time, the dotcom boom was accelerating,” he said. “I was talking casually to a recruiter and next thing I knew I got the offer to move to the U.S.”

In 1998, to his own surprise, Mr. Cong received an offer letter in just a few hours after sending his profile following the conversation. He packed his stuff, got on a plane and started his new journey in Richmond, Virginia, United States.  

Throughout his education and early career, Mr. Cong soon realized the importance of technology and how the tech industry would radically expand in the near future. As the Internet started when he was finishing his college education, he knew that it was going to be life changing. 

“There was no doubt in my mind this thing is going to change the world,” he said. “Technology is driving and transforming everything we do, our work and lives. We need to embrace and make good use of it.”

Work hard, dream big, think differently and always do it right. I don’t believe in taking shortcuts – in life.

Thomas Cong, Founder & CEO

And rightfully so, Mr. Cong “embraced” and “made good use of” the tech industry. By the time he met his wife, settled down, and had his first child, he thought it was time to build a tech company on his own. As much as he loves the freedom and flexibility of running his own business, it did come with many challenges in the beginning.

“Obviously it came with the headache of not having steady paychecks, finding your own customers and keeping them,” he said. “In the first few years I was mostly by myself, then a few other colleagues joined me, and we became a more regular business. We continued to grow organically until the cloud technology started to accelerate everything.”

The cloud technology did accelerate everything for Mr. Cong and Congero Technology Group. Up until today, the company has more than 35 employees with headquarters located in five countries including the United States, Costa Rica, India, Canada, and Mexico. 

When asked if he had any advice for young people in tech, Mr. Cong emphasized the need to stay flexible and up to date, as technology can change so quickly that they can end up playing catch up. 

“Find a niche you like and work hard to get really good at it,” he said. “The industry nowadays pays for specialized expertise; they don’t want generalists with a bit of knowledge of everything.”

Besides taking care of his business and spending time with family, our CEO enjoys playing musical instruments such as the piano and saxophone. He also uses Duolingo to learn new languages for leisure. 

Mr. Cong’s ultimate goal is to be completely independent from the day-to-day work cycle, where he can find time to travel the world and work on educational projects.