“The way I saw it was if I studied hard, then I can help my parents. Maybe they didn’t have to go pick mangoes anymore.”

Story #44, Long Phan, Vietnamese-born Entrepreneur and Technologist 

Story written and interview conducted by Selene Ho

Edited by Margherita Marras

“If they catch you leaving, they will either imprison you or shoot you on the spot” is what Long Phan’s father often told him since he was the age of three. 

Phan and his family fled Vietnam in 1978 after the Fall of Saigon. The country was in turmoil, and the Northern Vietnamese government was cracking down on dissent. Many people sought refuge in other countries because of the risk of staying. But leaving the country came with its own challenge. “If people left, then they had no one to conquer. It was a crime to leave Vietnam at the time,” Phan said. 

Phan and his family managed to escape the country by boat. “My dad and some other men commandeered a boat,” Phan said. Nonetheless, the journey at sea was difficult. “You had to ration food and water. Everyday, per person, the ration was one spoon of rice. So very quickly, we ran out of food and freshwater.” 

Phan and his family spent nine months at a refugee camp in Indonesia before arriving in the United States. “[The camp] gave us a little money, some supplies, some rice…but Indonesia is made up of islands.You're in a refugee camp on an island in the middle of nowhere. Basically, you live outside,” Phan said.  

During their stay in Indonesia, Phan and his family were fortunately able to contact family members in Hawaii to help sponsor them to the United States. “[My family] filed for immigration into the U.S. and by December 1979, we were granted green card immigration status into the U.S. So we got on a plane and landed in Honolulu.” 

Upon arriving in Hawaii, Long and his family faced many challenges. “There were 13 souls living in a 2 bedroom unit with 1 bathroom,” Phan said, explaining his tight living conditions. As Phan’s parents often worked, one of his earliest memories in America was helping his dad. “[My dad’s] full time job was to go around the island and pick different fruits. I went to help him pick mangoes on the weekends. He used a stick to pick the mangoes and I would take the mangoes and put them in a box.” Phan’s mom owned a grocery store in Chinatown. “Out of the 365 days in a year, she worked 364.” Despite the hardships Phan’s parents encountered, his parents never gave up on their dreams for their children. 

“I thought the best way I could help my parents and family was to study really hard and get into a good college,” Phan said. Phan attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after high school and obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He went back to MIT in 2009 for his Ph.D. 

“My first job out of college was at Lehman Brothers, where I was in fixed income sales and trading,” Phan said. Phan’s finance goal after college was to “strike it rich, as a Wall Street trader.” He quickly made a name for himself as an accomplished trader. 

Nevertheless, Phan still cared about his immigrant family and he was determined to give back to his community.“By the time I was 25 years old, I bought my first house, which was in Honolulu. I bought it so my parents and family could have the house,” Phan said. 

After Wall Street, Phan progressed to more technological and entrepreneur endeavors. “During my Ph.D., I started a company for energy efficiency. Then in 2014, I started another company doing hybrid electric aviation, making large drones. Right now, I am looking into AI generative and GPT technologies.”

Phan is a successful technologist and entrepreneur, but he is also a proud immigrant. From escaping Vietnam on a boat and being a refugee for nine months, he credits his parents' hard work and sacrifices for his success. “The way I saw it was if I studied hard, then I can help my parents. Maybe they didn’t have to go pick mangoes anymore.”