Hardship as Training: Vincent Vu’s Lessons on Grit & Problem-Solving

Vincent Vu’s journey is extraordinary. From escaping Vietnam by boat at age seven and spending six years in a refugee camp, to immigrating to the U.S., rebuilding his life from nothing, and eventually becoming an engineer leading global teams across the world.After three failed startups, Vincent founded Kinis AI, a movement-intelligence platform using balance, gait, and motion analysis to prevent falls for aging populations. His story is a masterclass in grit, reinvention, and solving real human problems.We talk about hardship as training, why curiosity beats expertise, what barefoot marathons taught him about mindset, and what returning overseas Vietnamese need to know about building in Vietnam.-We discuss:02:10 Growing up in a refugee camp05:40 Coming to the U.S. and rebuilding from zero10:20 Learning English, identity, and early hardship14:00 Studying architecture and getting laid off18:30 Becoming an engineer and leading global teams22:30 Starting Kinis Barefoot with no experience27:00 Manufacturing challenges and the early failures31:40 Pivoting to Kinis AI after discovering the fall-prevention problem36:10 Movement intelligence: balance, gait, and “movement age”40:50 Why mindset matters more than talent48:20 Returning to Vietnam after decades abroad52:10 Lessons for overseas Vietnamese thinking about moving back56:40 Building a mission-driven company1:03:00 Purpose, integrity, and teaching the next generation1:06:30 Closing reflections-Connect with Vincent:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentvuai/Connect with Quang:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ovquang/https://www.instagram.com/quangJoin OV: https://joinov.com