In 2015, despite a comfortable life in Vietnam, Tuan Le's parents decided to sell all their assets and move the family to Toronto, Canada, hoping for a better future for their two children.

However, the price of this change was relentless work.

"I remember one time my father came home at 7 AM after a night shift, and my mother lost nearly 2 kg in a week from overwork", recounted Tuan Le, now 25 years old.

The sight of his parents' exhaustion awakened the young man, who was grappling with depression due to language barriers. Tuan stated, "Give me 10 years, and I will help you both retire."

Tuan Le with his parents in Canada. *Photo: CNBC*

This became Le's motivation to start from nothing. During days spent secluded in his room, he taught himself video editing using video games. Recognizing its potential, Le began taking freelance video editing jobs for YouTube channels, earning about 20 CAD (over 350,000 dong) for each 20-minute video.

His passion for video editing led Tuan to pursue it professionally. In 2018, one year after graduating high school, he enrolled at Toronto Film School. Among his first assignments, Le created a short film about his parents, which was recognized by the school. However, after four months, he dropped out, feeling the "environment was not suitable."

The young man applied to numerous companies across Toronto but faced rejections. Undeterred, he accepted an unpaid three-month internship at a content production company, solely to learn how to write emails, negotiate contracts, and manage a business.

A turning point arrived in early 2019, when Le proactively offered to create free promotional videos for small restaurants in exchange for meals. As TikTok surged in popularity, he quickly pivoted to short-form videos and implemented a bold policy: a money-back guarantee if videos failed to achieve sufficient views.

He proposed clients pay 2,000 USD for the production of 10 videos. The first video garnered 700,000 views, and the next reached 300,000. Some viral content helped one restaurant's account gain about 9,000 followers overnight. Based on these results, Le developed case studies to attract new clients.

After three months of unpaid work, Le left the company and founded ShortsCut in late 2022. The business officially launched in 1/2023, specializing in producing short videos for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. In 2025, the company achieved revenues of 1,1 million USD (approximately 27 billion dong) and a net profit of nearly 500,000 USD. The team expanded from one person to 15 multinational employees.

The stable income enabled Le to fulfill the promise he made at 15. Each month, he sends his parents 5,000 CAD (approximately 90 million dong) for their expenses and comfortable retirement. Although no longer burdened by financial pressures, his parents still maintain a small produce stall two days each week, viewing it as a source of joy and a way to socialize with friends, rather than a means of livelihood.

"It might sound crazy, but if you want to play this game, you have to embrace a bit of madness", the 25-year-old said, discussing his goal to raise the company's revenue to 100 million USD in the next five years.

Ngoc Ngan (According to CNBC)