Presentation of Prof. Erhan Erkut from MEF University at Startup Istanbul organized by Etohum on 30th of September, 2014

1. Prof.
Erhan Erkut
MEF University
StartupIstanbul 2014

2. Jack Ma's Original Sales Pitch
 Must watch for all wantrepreneurs
 $60,000 investment in 1999, $230B in 2014
 3 important messages in one minute
1. Not just a domestic website
2. 8-to-5 is not enough
3. Our brains are just as good as their brains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up9-C4_8dVo
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3. Old vs. New
Company
Founded in
No. of employees
Market cap
Assets
Function
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Turkish Airlines
1933
23,160
$4.3B
Planes
Sends people
Whatsapp
1999
55
$19B
Servers
Sends messages
THY + Turkcell + Tupras = $14.6B Market cap

4. To be an Entrepreneur
in Turkey
Erhan Erkut, MEF University
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StartupIstanbul
30 September 2014

5.  Central location bw. East & West
 Large & growing economy
 Large & young population
 Stable political climate
 Large university system
 Liberal investment climate
 Developed infrastructure
 Low taxes, tax exemptions
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6. …and for entrepreneurs
 High penetration…
 Internet
 Smart phones
 Credit cards
 Well-developed delivery systems (door2door_in24)
 Expats returning from USA
 Government support for startups, angels, uni’s
 Techno-parks
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7. Given all of this..
 …Turkey should be an entrepreneurial hub
 Is it?
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8. How does Turkey compare to Israel?
Criterion Turkey Israel
Population 75M 8M
No. of NASDAQ
0 70
companies
Largest exit to
date
Gittigidiyor
($200M, Ebay)
NDS
($5B, Cisco)
Startup
financing (2013)
$80M for 60
companies
$2.3B for 600
companies
GDP/capita $10,500 $37,000
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http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.575541

9. Mappedinisrael.com
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10. Why is E’ship weak in Turkey?
1. Values (power distance, risk aversion, fatalism)
2. History (empire committed to conquest)
3. Economy (state controlled, centrally planned)
4. Education system (groom state employees)
5. Ecosystem (all players weak)
HBR article
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6. Government actions

11. Government and entrepreneurship
 The current gov’t. is business-friendly
 A number of pro-e’ship initiatives
 Startup financing for entrepreneurs ($50K)
 Tax break for angels (%25)
 Financing of university tech transfer offices ($2.5M)
 Initiatives harming e’ship
 Internet restrictions
 Over-promotion of the construction sector
 Modifications in the education system
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12. The 4 Pillars of Western Civilization
1. Democracy (participative)
2. Capitalism (regulated)
3. Rule of Law (indept. dispute resolution)
4. Civil society (NGO’s, social networks, …)
The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die –
Niall Ferguson
Individual freedoms and a functioning legal system
are important for entrepreneurs.
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13. Why should you try to become an
entrepreneur anyway?
0. Istanbul is destined…
1. It is in your DNA
2. Change the world
3. Autonomy matters
4. The Alternative is…
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14. It is in you!
All human beings are entrepreneurs. When we
were in the caves, we were all self-employed.
As civilization came we became “labor” and
forgot that we are entrepreneurs.
Muhammad Yunus
The will to create is encoded in human DNA and
creation is the essence of entrepreneurship.
Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha
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15. Change the world!
The best reason to start an organization is to make
meaning—to create a product or service that makes
the world a better place.
Guy Kawasaki
 Doing something no one has done before
 Improving something that has been done before
 Citius, Altius, Fortius
 Adopting a good solution to a new environment
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16. Autonomy matters!
We are born to be players, not pawns.
We are meant to be autonomous individuals,
not individual automatons.
Daniel Pink
4 T’s of Autonomy
 Task (what)
 Time (when)
 Technique (how)
 Team (with whom)
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17. Now that you graduated from U
 Get a job…
 9-t-5 …or 6, 7, …
 5 days a week …or 6
 Fixed income, small raises
 20 vacation days …maybe
 Race for promotions
 They decide, we implement
 They manage our career
 Our tombstone reads “He
was diligent and obedient”
 Great option for robots, and
avatars
 Start a company…
 7:00 am to 2:00 am
 7 days a week
 No income, maybe later
 Vacat-what?
 Co-create with team
 We decide/implement
 Control our fate
 Tombstone: “She made
the world a better place”
 This is what humans are
made for
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18. It is your choice…
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19. But can I be an entrepreneur?
 Entrepreneurship can be taught and learned
 Few individuals are not cut out for e’ship
 Very low risk tolerance
 Low perseverance
 Dislike team work
 Just want to be a cog
 Ethics-schmetics
 Get rich quick
 But then again, these individuals are…
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20. Suggestions for university students
with entrepreneurial plans:
1. Do not expect much from your university
2. At least one internship + summer job
3. Read at least 5 entrepreneurship books
4. Follow etohum activities
5. Get to know the players in the ecosystem
6. Spend a day in an incubator or accelerator
7. Select 5 startups and follow them closely
8. Offer free part-time help to a start-up
9. Work for a company for 5 years
10. Try intrapreneurship at the company
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21. Suggestions for university students
with no entrepreneurial plans:
1. Do not expect much from your university
2. At least one internship + summer job
3. Find the organization that suits you the best
4. Congratulations…you are a corporate slave now
5. When you had enough, go to the previous slide
6. Remember to say “Hoca tolds us so…”
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22. Erhan Erkut Contact Info:
 Twitter: @ErhanErkut
 E-mail:
 erkute@mef.edu.tr
 erhanerkut2000@gmail.com
 Blog: www.erhanerkut.com
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