I know this plays into the hands of the "Asian people work really hard" stereotype - and you don't need to look any further than myself to break that stereotype (because I'm kind of a lazy S.O.B) - but in all reality, after you fled your ass from Vietnam, get stranded for six months, and then get imprisoned for another four, creating a company that's a top 10 finalist among the 50 Fastest-Growing Asian American Businesses should really be just like dusting some dirt off you shoulder (sorry, I couldn't resist - I was having a Black Album flashback):
As a teenager in the late ‘70s, Tran and his sister Thu-Hong fled Vietnam on a commercial ship from Panama that took 2,500 refugees to Hong Kong. Stranded in a Hong Kong port for six months and imprisoned for another four, the brother and sister finally got to the U.S. with the help of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and lived in Fort Collins with a foster family.
They spoke no English and had few possessions, mostly the clothes on their backs. In 1981, Tran's sisters, Thu-Van and Thu-Nga, also made it to Fort Collins. In 1992, Tran sponsored his parents, Be Tran and Ngo Vo, his older sister Thu and brother, Mai-Quang, so they also could come to the United States.
Since then, Tran, his family and co-founder Bruce Hottman, have worked 70, 80-hour weeks to build ITX, a successful software and network support company that continues to grow.
Read the full article at The Coloradoan.