Sok-Kheng Taing

3VC is an enabler, supporting the next generation of ambitious founders with a bold vision, an expert network and smart money, always supportive through good times and challenging times, like a sports team fighting for victory and the greater good.

I immigrated to Austria as a child. My parents took a high risk when they escaped the civil war in Asia following their dream to see their children grow up in a better world and lead a life of peace. I grew up with the attitude that if you take the risk to change the status quo, if you work hard and persevere against all odds, it's worth it! In the beginning, you may be alone, but along the way you find companions. Like a founder who embarks on an exciting venture with an idea and the determination to make it happen – even risking failure – to find like-minded people, supporters, customers and investors.

After graduating with a Master’s degree in business from the University of Linz and working for five years in various marketing and IT-ecommerce management roles, I co-founded Dynatrace with an amazing team in 2005. Today, Dynatrace is one of the market leaders in the software intelligence domain with 3000+ employees worldwide.

Being a startup co-founder shaped my thinking: it pays off to get into customer acquisition as early as possible, to understand the pain points of the target audience, already with a product idea or, even better, an MVP version. Sales is as challenging and complex as the technical product development itself. Ideally, the founding team is a powerhouse executing product development, marketing, sales and finance in parallel.

I am most interested in founders who want to solve a problem that they struggle with: a challenge that has caused them sleepless nights for months, or years. Trying different solutions available on the market, still not being satisfied, unwilling to accept the status quo, stepping up to solve the problem for themselves, their peers and the world.
You have to convince others and develop a technical solution that can change the market. I love these personalities and am curious to learn and understand their journey. This starting point is a crucial success factor in being innovative, going the last mile and staying ahead of the competition. The most creative and ambitious founders are those who understand the problem down to the smallest detail and develop a real gut feeling for what will come next.

As of today, looking back, I've made most of my dreams come true. Now, I want to dream with the next generation of ambitious founders. So much will change in the next few decades, with people, infrastructure and systems becoming even more dependent on software, data and artificial intelligence. New technologies like quantum computing are ever-emerging and as they mature get deployed across organisations and businesses. And it is clear to me that humanity's most pressing challenges are crazy complex and can only be solved with a multi-faceted technological approach and diverse teams.