Our first day in Istanbul

After surviving the immense subway network of Istanbul, we arrived at Fit Startup where we had to wait for a little while. Luckily, we used our time wisely by discussing the nonlinear beer prices of the previous night and decoded the WiFi password. Then, Eray Erdoǧan started with a presentation about the Koç University Entrepreneurship Society. The society resembles the YES!Delft Students association in their mission to inspire students to become entrepreneurs. They facilitate multiple activities, ranging from a simple idea box, to an entrepreneurship platform equivalent to YES!Delft Students’ Entrepreneurship Forum and to international events, including a trip to Delft and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship in The Netherlands.

Ayşe Inal followed Eray’s quick presentation with an informative session about the Galata Business Angels (GBA) and angel investment in Turkey in general. Angel investors are individuals who like to get involved with start-ups in an early stage, both by coaching and by giving financial support. She told us by which factors angel investors judge start-ups: the team, their problem solving skills, their business model, the competition, their sales channels, their revenue model and their financial projections. It is worth mentioning that of the 1,000+ applications, only 12 received an investment from the GBA.

Finally, the Fit Startup Factory presented their model and shed their light on the start-up ecosystem in Turkey. This ecosystem, as opposed to Tel Aviv’s, is less developed. One of the most important differences is the large population of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey and that the family businesses have a large impact on today’s society. We went to digest this informative presentation at a restaurant with a perfect view on the Bosphorus, where we ate delicious fresh grilled fish.
We continued the day with sightseeing in the İstiklal Avenue, which is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul. The Dutch Consulate-General was situated here in a beautiful building, where we were greeted by Robbert Schuddeboom. He elaborated on Turkey’s current situation and expectations over the next couple of decades. According to him, the world will change a lot in an economical point of view and that Asia will play a much bigger role on a global level. Furthermore, he expects Turkey to be the fourth economy of Europe in ten years’ time. He invited us to be more internationally orientated in order to be prepared for this future. He concluded by stating that entrepreneurship is in the blood in the Turks and that Turkey represents a large and growing market.

After all this information about Turkish culture, we decided to experience it ourselves and dined a great kebab, followed by a drink with the Istanbul skyline at our feet.