The enterprising Vietnamese-American man behind the success of Klout, an emerging global media company based in the U.S., has inspired local youths with his success story.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

Tran Binh is one of the two men running Klout, a website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank its users according to online social influence.

In determining the user score, Klout measures the size of a user's social media network and correlates the content created to measure how other users interact with that content.

It also offers several innovative ways to bring influencers and brands together.

Klout was recently acquired by Lithium Technologies, an American software company, for US$200 million.

The other Klout director is an American.

The firm’s accomplishments are astounding, including running over 500 campaigns and producing more than 10 billion pieces of branded content for the world's most successful marketers, according to its website.

Over one million people use Klout services every month, govtech.com said.

Binh left Vietnam for the U.S. as a toddler with his mother, who toiled hard to provide for him and his three siblings in their new country.

“My mother is a great source of inspiration for my start-up spirit. Her drudgery taught me invaluable lessons on life values since I was young,” Binh said.

When the Internet was in its infancy, his mother bought him a computer.

The boy got hooked on the device instantly, and taught himself to write simple software programs which allowed him to chat with his friends.

At 13, Binh developed games for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1, two popular home video game consoles back then.

He went on to major in computer science at university and work on several projects.

Upon graduation, the young man was hired by a company which specialized in car repair software.

There he met Joe Fernandez, an American, and the two set up their own company offering online education management services in 2003.

The duo later split up before resuming their partnership and founding Klout Inc. in 2008.

Binh explained “Klout” means one’s influence on others.

“We encountered immense difficulty to start with. As the Internet and information science had yet to thrive like now, gathering a colossal amount of data to cater to our clients was a daunting task,” Binh revealed.

The duo and their staff made gradual yet steady improvements to their apps.

Klout Inc.’s staff count has risen to 700 from 90 when the company was founded.

Expat Vietnamese businessman Tran Binh. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Binh disclosed that he and some friends in the U.S. are working on a project to launch HalaL Guys, a chain comprising of some 200 big restaurants which would dot the entire length of the U.S. and adopt the Mediterranean style.

The franchise project would provide jobs for over 1,000 workers and create start-up opportunities for aspiring youths, he noted.

Earlier this month, Binh partook in an inspirational “Forbes Vietnam - Under 30 Summit” in Ho Chi Minh City, which addressed some 1,000 young audience members, including young entrepreneurs, artists, social activists, specialists, and students.

The summit, which featured celebrated American singer Katy Perry as one of its guest speakers, was meant to boost the startup spirit and encourage young Vietnamese who crave success to share their plans on how to build their future careers and make their voices heard on matters of vital importance in their life.   He is also working to launch a fund worth some $10 million to provide assistance and counseling to young Vietnamese people.

“I wish to connect the successful young Americans of Vietnamese origin with their peers at home. As technology is getting much cheaper now, launching a fruitful start-up just requires two young people to look toward the same direction, being single-minded in their innovative plans, benefiting from predecessors’ assistance, and learning from their experience,” Binh stressed.

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