Larry Truong - reap what you sow
Larry Truong, the 35-year-old general manager of American Power Conversion (APC) Singapore, talks about Nelson Mandela, and suggests that you hold your business meeting on a cosy sail-junk moving slowly among limestone formations in Halong Bay, Vietnam Can you share with us the contributions you’ve made to the IT industry?
When I moved from USA to Southeast Asia in 1994, there was minimal awareness of the importance of power protection in the IT market then. I was able to influence the ASEAN market on the needs of power protection … in addition, I further developed APC's Southeast Asian business and operations by setting up five offices in the region … today, APC continues to ensure availability wherever data is created, transmitted or stored by providing end-to-end solutions.
What helps you to sustain the passion for your job?
I like the constant challenges faced in this fast paced IT industry. These include external and internal challenges from maintaining APC's position as a leading global end-to-end availability solutions provider to strategies to stay ahead of competition, to creating innovative value-add products & services to both channel partners and customers.
I derive great satisfaction knowing that the projects I've initiated have come to fruition and that I have contributed to the success of my company - APC (world-wide) is now a Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 company with reported sales of $1.48 billion for the year ended December 31, 2000.
What are you core values regarding money and business?
I believe in making it easy for customers and partners to do business with APC. From the first contact to the implementation of APC solution to post-sales service & support, I want to ensure that APC customers are well attended to; to the extent where APC can anticipate our customers' needs.
I strongly believe we reap what we sow. All worthy things must be righteously earned in our daily life through hard work and commitment.
How do you define success? Do you consider yourself to be successful? I define success as meaningful accomplishments. I firmly believe I am successful in my business of creating awareness of distributed power protection among the consumers (corporations, government agencies) to improve availability of their computer networks.
Away from work, I am also a successful family man who is grateful to God for blessing me with a loving wife and a beautiful baby.
Any role model whom you look up to?
I look up to Nelson Mandela for his role in leading the struggle for a democratic South Africa. I also respect his efforts in facilitating the reconciliation of former enemies and uniting a nation torn apart by years of racial divides.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
Developing a committed, well synergized team proactively working together for the best interest of the company. This is especially important now when the economic outlook is not positive. It is great and heartwarming to know that the whole team is supporting me while we, as a team ride through this difficult period together.
How about your biggest regret?
While being in Asia has been rewarding, I regret not being able to spend time with my siblings who are residing in the US. If I could turn back time, I would have taken a sabbatical to spend time with my father before he died from cancer.
What is your favorite form of relaxation?
My favorite form of relaxation is to spend time with my family – playing with my son, talking to my wife.
Which in your opinion is the best place in Asia to hold a meeting for four? On a sail-junk moving slowly among the thousands of limestone formations in Halong bay, Vietnam.
Which Web sites do you visit most often? What kind of books do you read?
Besides the APC Web site, I often visit the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times Web sites. I occasionally visit the Red Herring Web site too. I am generally interested in books on business management and non-fiction.
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