# Entity Plan: TS Education

Vietnamese EdTech platform + founder academy. Y2 Q3–Q4 launch with school-network or university partner. Tier-2 entity (mix of private EdTech customers and MoET public-school deployments).

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## Identity

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Entity name | TS Education Pte Ltd + TS Education Vietnam Co. Ltd |
| Group | TS Ventures (sub-cluster: Vertical SaaS) |
| Target launch | Year 2, Q3–Q4 |
| Mechanism | Greenfield |
| Tier (D17) | **Tier 2** — MoET (Ministry of Education and Training) regulatory + public-school customer touch |
| Legal structure | Singapore HoldCo + Vietnam OpCo per D1 |
| Vietnamese majority required | No at launch |

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## Mission and Wedge

**Mission:** Be the digital operating platform for Vietnamese education — from K-12 schools to universities to corporate L&D to consumer continuous-learning. Three integrated product lines + cross-customer continuous-learning consumer surface.

**Three product lines:**

1. **K-12 + University platform** — student information systems (SIS), learning management (LMS), assessment, parent communication. For private + public schools.
2. **Corporate L&D** — corporate training platforms, skills tracking, integration with TS People HRIS (Y2+ cross-portfolio)
3. **TS Founder Academy** (consumer + cross-portfolio brand surface) — founder education curriculum, executive education, masterclass-style content; also serves as TS Holdings recruiting and ecosystem brand asset

**Specific customer wedge:** Vietnamese private-K-12 schools, Vietnamese universities (private + public), Vietnamese corporates needing structured L&D — segment between consumer EdTech (Topica/Funix consumer-led) and enterprise (international SAP SuccessFactors-style).

**Why now:**
- Vietnamese education digital-transformation mandate (Decision 749/QD-TTg)
- Decision 1373/QD-TTg digital learning in higher education
- Vietnamese private-school sector growing (Phoenix Group, EMASI, BIS, ISHCMC)
- Corporate L&D demand growing (Vietnamese skills gap; FDI training requirements)
- AI tutor + adaptive learning capability now usable
- TS Founder Academy serves dual purpose (commercial + ecosystem brand)

**Why us:**
- TS Holdings brand attracts education-curious operators
- TS People cross-portfolio integration (corporate L&D ↔ HRIS)
- TS Founder Academy compounds founder ecosystem visibility + recruiting (per operator-ceo-recruiting.md)
- TS National AI for adaptive learning AI (sensitive workloads if applicable) + TS Intel for commercial AI tutoring

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## Market and Competition

**TAM (Vietnam, 2026):**
- Vietnamese K-12 + university software market: ~$100–200M, growing 25%+
- Vietnamese corporate L&D: ~$80–150M
- Vietnamese consumer EdTech (executive/professional education): ~$150–300M

**SOM (5-year):** $10–20M ARR

**Competitors:**

| Competitor | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| **Topica, Funix, MindX** | Consumer EdTech scale | Consumer-led; weak B2B school + corporate |
| **EMG Education, EIC** | International curriculum schools' captive systems | Captive only |
| **CIA Education, Edupia** | Vietnamese K-12 tech | Sub-scale; narrow product |
| **Cốc Cốc Education, ELSA** | Vietnamese consumer EdTech | Consumer-only |
| **Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning** | International L&D content | Vietnamese-localization weak; price points |
| **MISA School / EduSoft** | Vietnamese SIS incumbents | Older tech, weak modern features |

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## Customer Strategy

**ICP:**
- Vietnamese private-K-12 networks: Phoenix Group, EMASI, BIS, ISHCMC, Greenfield, Royal School
- Vietnamese universities: FPT University, RMIT Vietnam, BUV, VinUni, USSH, Open University
- Mid-large Vietnamese corporates needing L&D: FPT, Vingroup units, Sun Group, Vinamilk, Masan, Sea Limited Vietnam, Grab Vietnam
- Consumer (TS Founder Academy): Vietnamese executives, founders, ambitious professionals

**First 10 customer targets:**

1. **Anchor university partner** (FPT University or BUV — academic + private; growth-oriented)
2. **Phoenix Group K-12** (multi-campus private school network)
3. EMASI School System
4. ISHCMC / BIS — international curriculum schools
5. RMIT Vietnam — university adoption
6. CMC University — academic anchor
7. **TS portfolio internal** L&D (corporate L&D for TS portfolio entities ~500+ employees by Y3)
8. FPT Corporation corporate L&D
9. Sun Group corporate L&D
10. **TS Founder Academy launch cohort** (Y2 Q4) — 50–100 consumer customers

**Acquisition motion:**
- Y2: Anchor partner co-launch; founder direct outreach to top 10 private schools + universities
- Y3+: Dedicated AE; MoET-channel BD; corporate L&D cross-sell via TS People

**Pricing:**
- K-12 / University platform: $5–20/student/year (tier by features); enterprise contracts $50K–500K/year
- Corporate L&D: $10–30/employee/year + content licensing
- TS Founder Academy: consumer subscription $200–2,000/year; cohort programs $5–25K
- Internal portfolio: cost-plus 5%

**Customer wedge gate (D18):** University-network anchor LOI + 2 K-12 networks committed + Series Seed term sheet.

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## Capital and Cap Table

**Y2 launch capital:** $4–6M total

- Founder direct: $300K
- Series Seed: $2–3M at ~$10–15M post-money
- Anchor school-network strategic equity: $1–2M (~10–15% stake)

**Cap table:**

| Stakeholder | % |
|---|---|
| TS Holdings | 55% |
| Anchor school-network | 10–15% |
| CEO + CTO + key team | 18% (CEO 12%, CTO 4%, key team 2%) |
| ESOP | 12% |
| External | 5–10% |

**Capital trajectory:** Y2 launch $4–6M; Y3 Series A $5–8M; Y5 Series B $10–15M.

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## Operator-CEO Profile

**Required:** EdTech operator OR education-sector senior leader + tech aptitude. 8+ years experience. Vietnamese national.

**Sourcing:**
- Topica, Funix, MindX, Edupia senior executives (commercial EdTech)
- BUV, FPT University senior executives with operating background
- Vietnamese diaspora returnees from Coursera, Khan Academy, BYJU'S, Duolingo
- Phoenix Group, EMASI senior school administrators with tech ambition
- MoET former officials (rare)

**Compensation:** Founder-shareholder variant. CEO 12% + cash $90–120K + bonus.

**CEO gate:** Named candidate Y1 Q4. CIR Y2 Q1. Offer Y2 Q2.

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## Founding Team

| Role | When |
|---|---|
| Operator-CEO | Y2 Q2 |
| CTO / Co-founder | Y2 Q3 |
| Head of K-12 + University Platform | Y2 Q3 |
| Senior Engineers × 3 | Y2 Q3 |
| Head of TS Founder Academy (content + community) | Y2 Q4 |
| Sales BD Lead | Y2 Q4 |

**Headcount:** Y2 end: 7–10 · Y3: 20–35 · Y5: 60–100 · Y8: 150–250.

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## Product / Tech Strategy

**MVP scope (Y2 Q4 – Y3 Q1):**
- K-12 / University SIS v1 (student records, attendance, grades, parent communication)
- LMS v1 (assignment, quiz, content delivery)
- TS Founder Academy launch cohort (first 50–100 customers)
- Corporate L&D pilot with TS portfolio internal use

**Wave 2 (Y3):**
- AI tutor + adaptive learning (TS Intel commercial AI; TS National AI for any state-secret-adjacent national-curriculum work — rare)
- Mobile-first student/parent app
- LXP (Learning Experience Platform) features for corporate L&D
- TS People HRIS integration (corporate L&D ↔ HRIS bidirectional sync)

**Build vs license:**
- Content (for TS Founder Academy): in-house build + license from international partners
- Mobile + video infrastructure: standard
- AI tutoring: TS Intel partnership

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## Go-to-Market

- Y2: Anchor partner co-launch; founder direct outreach
- Y3+: Dedicated AE; MoET-channel; corporate L&D via TS People bundle
- TS Founder Academy: TS Media collaboration; founder personal brand; cohort marketing
- Vietnamese education conferences (VINASA, EduTech Asia Vietnam)

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## Milestones

| Horizon | Target |
|---|---|
| Pre-launch | Anchor LOI + Series Seed + CEO + CTO signed |
| Y2 Q4 (launch) | SIS + LMS v1; 3 school customers; TS Founder Academy cohort 1 |
| Y3 Q2 | $50K MRR; 8+ schools; corporate L&D pilot live |
| Y3 Q4 | $150K MRR; TS Founder Academy 200+ paid; first MoET pilot |
| Y4 Q4 | Series A; $400K MRR; 20+ schools |
| Y5+ | International expansion via TS Indonesia / TS Thailand |

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## Top Risks

1. **K-12 sales cycle length** (often 12–18 months) — gates revenue. Mitigation: TS Founder Academy + corporate L&D have shorter cycles.
2. **MoET regulatory shift** — public-school market depends on MoET program stability. Mitigation: focus on private + corporate first.
3. **TS Founder Academy executional risk** — content business with brand-dependency on founder personal time. Mitigation: scope tightly (4–6 cohorts/year); leverage TS Media for content production.

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## Cross-portfolio synergies

| Internal | Direction |
|---|---|
| TS People | Corporate L&D ↔ HRIS bidirectional (strong) |
| TS Intel | Commercial AI tutor capability |
| TS National AI | National-curriculum-AI if state-secret-adjacent |
| TS Media & Creative | Content production for TS Founder Academy + school marketing |
| TS Pay (Y3+) | Student fee payment workflow |
| TS Notary (Y3) | Diploma + certification notarization (cross-sell) |
| TS Tech Consulting | Digital-transformation projects for large universities |

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## Tier-2 requirements

Standard Tier-2 + PDPD critical for student data (minor's data is sensitive).

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## Exit scenarios

| Scenario | Probability | Outcome | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic sale to international EdTech (BYJU'S regional, Coursera, Chegg) | 10–15% | $80–250M | Y5–Y7 |
| Strategic sale to Vietnamese (FPT, Vingroup VinSchool, EMG) | 15–20% | $50–200M | Y5–Y7 |
| Sustained portfolio entity | 35–45% | $5–12M ARR | Y4+ |
| Stall | 15–25% | Sub-scale | Y4–Y6 |
| Fail | 5–10% | Wind-down | Y3–Y4 |

**5-year target (75th):** $30–80M
**8-year target (75th):** $80–250M

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## Dependencies and gating

- Anchor university or K-12 network LOI signed
- Series Seed term sheet
- CEO + CTO signed

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## Related documents

- [../aggressive-8-year-growth-plan.md](../aggressive-8-year-growth-plan.md)
- [../operator-ceo-recruiting.md](../operator-ceo-recruiting.md) — TS Founder Academy ties to recruiting playbook
- [ts-people.md](ts-people.md) — strong corporate L&D synergy
- [../../notes/decisions.md](../../notes/decisions.md) — D1, D3, D5, D17, D18