Hanoi, January 2026 – In a small café in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Henry Duy – CEO and founder of GDT Agency – shares the journey from a young man from Thanh Hoa coming to the city in search of opportunities, to becoming the leader of one of the most reputable ad account rental agencies in both the Vietnamese and international markets.
Starting from Thanh Hoa – Where Dreams Were First Planted
“I was born and raised in a small rural district of Thanh Hoa,” Henry begins the story, his voice still carrying a strong hometown accent. “My family were farmers, and my parents worked tirelessly so I could go to school. When I was young, I never thought I would work in technology, let alone start my own company.”
“The first time I set foot in Hanoi, I got lost at Giap Bat bus station,” Henry recalls with a smile. “I stood among the crowds and felt like a grain of sand in the desert. But deep inside, I had a strange belief that this place would change my life.”
The Early Days of Making a Living in Hanoi
During his first two years in Hanoi, Henry did all kinds of jobs: sales staff for a real estate company, freelance content writer, and even helping out at a café in the evenings to earn extra income.
“There were months when I lived only on instant noodles,” he says without hiding his emotions. “I rented a room for 1.2 million VND a month in Cau Giay, with no window. But I never regretted it. Because every day in Hanoi was a lesson.”
Later, Henry Duy accidentally learned about Facebook Ads through a free online course. At first, it was just curiosity. But when he ran his first campaign for a friend’s online clothing shop and generated three orders from 50,000 VND in ad spend, it felt as if he had found light at the end of the tunnel.
“That was the first time I felt I could create real value,” Henry says. “Not selling multi-level marketing, not chasing numbers like a sales employee, but using skills to help others do business better.”
From Freelancer to Professional Marketer
After that, Henry decided to quit his full-time job to focus on working as a freelance Facebook Ads marketer. His income in the first month was 3 million VND. The second month: 5 million VND. By the sixth month: 15 million VND.
“My parents back home didn’t understand what I was doing,” Henry laughs. “They only knew that I was ‘sitting at a computer’ and making money. Once, my mother even asked: ‘You’re not scamming people, are you?’”
But the success did not last long. In July 2018, Henry experienced the biggest shock of his career.
The Defining Shock
Henry was running the largest campaign he had ever handled for a client in the health supplement industry – a budget of $500 per day, ROI 4.2. The client was satisfied and preparing to sign a long-term contract. Henry was already dreaming of renting his own office.
Then one morning, he woke up to a notification: “Your ad account has been disabled.”
“I sat staring at the computer screen from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.,” Henry recalls. “I didn’t eat, didn’t drink, just sat there asking myself: ‘Where did I go wrong?’”
He submitted appeals five times. All were rejected. The client canceled the contract and demanded compensation. Henry lost all his savings trying to resolve the issue.
“That night, I called my mother,” Henry says, his voice choking. “She said: ‘If it doesn’t work, just come home. Your parents are still here.’ But I replied: ‘I can’t come back yet. I need to understand where I went wrong.’”
A Year and a Half of Learning and Preparation
After that shock, Henry did not give up. Instead, he spent nearly 18 months:
- Deeply researching Facebook’s advertising system
- Reading all policy documents and joining international agency communities
- Taking on extra jobs to cover living expenses
- Learning how to set up Business Manager according to enterprise standards
- Accumulating capital and experience
“There were months when I slept only 4–5 hours a night,” Henry says. “During the day, I worked as a content writer. At night, I studied Facebook Ads. On weekends, I set up ads for small shops at very low prices—not for money, but to gain real data to learn from.”
In early 2019, Henry opened his first Agency account. This time, he didn’t rush. He spent six months just ‘nurturing’ the account: running small budgets, building a clean history, and learning how to operate safely.
In September 2020, an old friend—also a marketer—contacted him. That friend had just lost his third account in two months and was desperately looking for a solution. Henry offered to rent him an Agency account for $150 per month.
After just two weeks, four more people asked for the same service, including two clients in the Philippines through referrals.
“That’s when I realized I wasn’t just solving my own problem, but the problem of an entire global marketer community,” Henry says.
March 2021: GDT Agency Officially Established
On March 15, 2021, in a small 30m² room in Thanh Xuan, Henry Duy officially registered the establishment of GDT Agency, an agency ad account rental provider with a team of 20 employees. GDT stands for Global Development Together. According to Henry Duy, this name is not merely a brand, but a direction set from the very beginning.
“I wanted to build a place where marketers and businesses could truly feel secure when running ads, without worrying about their agency ad accounts being interrupted or ‘disappearing’ overnight.”
From that practical aspiration, Global Development Together has become the core philosophy guiding GDT’s operations: growing together with partners based on stability, transparency, and sustainability — values that GDT Agency continues to uphold to this day.
2021–2022: A Challenging First Year
The first year of GDT Agency was far from easy.
“There were nights when I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, asking myself: Should I give up?”
These were periods when accounts constantly encountered issues, cash flow was disrupted, and market trust was not yet strong enough to recognize a new brand. But it was precisely in those unstable moments that Henry Duy realized: if he gave up, all the experience and lessons he had accumulated would become meaningless.
He chose to move forward—not with recklessness, but by tightening every process, every operational system, and every risk-control principle. For him, overcoming the first difficult stage was not just about survival, but about laying the foundation for a longer, more sustainable journey ahead.
By the end of 2021, GDT Agency had 150 active customers. This was not an impressive number, but it was a solid foundation.
2022–2023: A Turning Point with Global Expansion
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Despite many challenges, by 2022 the number of agency ad account clients continued to grow, especially in international markets.
From that point on, GDT Agency began developing in two parallel directions:
- The Vietnamese market
- The global market
By the end of 2023, GDT Agency had more than 400 customers, over 100 employees, and offices in two countries: Vietnam and the Philippines.
2024–2025: A Period of Strong Growth
The year 2024 marked a period of remarkable growth for GDT Agency.
Key milestones included:
- Staff size growing to over 200 members
- Reaching more than 600 active customers simultaneously in both Vietnam and international markets, with an 89% customer return rate
- Expanding the headquarters office in Vietnam to over 300m²
Why Serve Both Vietnam and the Global Market? A Heartfelt Answer
Many people have asked Henry: “Why don’t you focus on just one market for easier management?”
Henry pauses for a moment, then explains.
Regarding the Vietnamese market
“I grew up from a poor rural background. I understand the pain of small business owners in Vietnam. They don’t have much money, yet they are often the ones who suffer the most from account-related issues.
That’s why I always want to bring solutions and dedicated service to customers in my home country.”
Regarding the global market
“I also want to prove that an agency from Vietnam, though small, is not insignificant—and can serve international markets well,” Henry says with pride.
“Every thank-you message from a client in Australia, Singapore, or the US makes me feel that I’m contributing, even in a small way, to improving the image of Vietnamese professionals globally. The global market doesn’t just bring revenue. It helps GDT Agency learn international-standard operations and improve service quality.”
Business Philosophy: “Trust Is the Only Asset That Money Cannot Buy”
Henry shares the philosophy he has followed for nearly five years.
“Many people ask me: ‘Why not scale faster? Why not accept every client who wants to rent accounts?’” Henry laughs. “My answer is: because I don’t want GDT Agency to become an agency that sells cheap accounts and leaves customers to deal with the consequences on their own.”
Instead, GDT Agency operates under a ‘Trust-first, Scale-later’ model:
1. Choosing clients, not accepting everyone
“I reject an average of 3–4 clients every month,” Henry reveals. “Some even offer to pay double, but if they run policy-violating or loophole-exploiting content, I still refuse. One bad client can destroy the entire system I’ve worked so hard to build.”
2. Building ad accounts like building a brand
Every Agency account at GDT Agency is ‘nurtured’ for at least 3–6 months before being rented out, with clean spending history, standard BM structure, and never linked to risky assets.
“People often ask me: ‘Why not create accounts quickly and in large numbers?’ I reply: ‘Anything built too fast will break quickly. I want to build something that can last.’”
3. Supporting clients as partners, not just renters
“We have a 24/7 support team, advising clients on how to run ads safely—even refusing when clients want to scale too aggressively,” Henry says. “Once, a client wanted to increase from $200 to $2,000 per day in just two days. I advised against it. He was a bit upset, but a week later he thanked me after seeing many other accounts get banned for doing exactly that.”
4. Absolute transparency about risks
“I always tell clients that no account is 100% safe,” Henry emphasizes. “Meta’s AI is getting smarter. What GDT Agency does is reduce risks to the lowest possible level—and if issues arise, we have a resolution process within 24–48 hours.”
The Most Memorable Moments Over Five Years
When asked about the most memorable moments, Henry doesn’t talk about revenue or awards. Instead, he shares small stories about customers.
The story of a hometown friend
“In 2023, a friend from my village in Thanh Hoa started selling local specialties online. He called me and said: ‘Duy, I heard you work with Facebook. I want to sell nem chua online but don’t know how.’”
“I didn’t just rent him an account; I guided him in detail on setup, content writing, and audience targeting. After three months, he called back and said: ‘Duy, this month I made 200 million VND. My family doesn’t have to work as hired labor anymore.’”
“That’s when I realized how meaningful my work really is.”
Goals for 2026: Unfinished Dreams
I have never viewed GDT Agency as a short-term project. From the very beginning, when the market was still skeptical and I myself was struggling with countless account-related risks, I understood one thing: if you want to go far in the advertising industry, you must build operational capability, not just results.
For me, 2026 is the stage for GDT Agency to move to a new level—not just as an ad account provider, but as a sustainable advertising infrastructure partner for businesses.
From ‘Renting Accounts’ to ‘Operating Advertising Systems’
In the coming years, my biggest goal is not to expand at all costs, but to standardize and upgrade the entire operational ecosystem of GDT Agency.
We don’t want to be known as a place that “solves temporary problems,” but as a place where businesses can build, maintain, and scale advertising long-term in an increasingly strict Meta environment.
That means GDT Agency will focus deeply on:
- High-trust Agency account systems
- Standardized Business Manager, payment, and operational behavior management processes
- Reducing reliance on appeals and increasing proactive risk control from the root
Global Expansion – Without Losing Discipline
I believe the Vietnamese market is the foundation, but operational thinking must meet global standards. In 2026, GDT Agency will continue expanding ad account rental and management services to international markets, especially regions with high requirements for stability and transparency.
However, expansion does not mean loosening principles.
On the contrary, the more global we go, the more GDT Agency must maintain strict operational discipline, risk standards, and the “slow but steady” philosophy that has guided us since day one.
Conclusion: From Hanoi to the World
Finally, Henry Duy shares:
“GDT Agency does not promise unrealistic things. We promise just one thing—we will stand with you, even in the most difficult moments.”