1. 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 1

2. Old vs. New Company Founded in No. of employees Market cap Assets Function 2 Turkish Airlines 1933 23,160 $4.3B Planes Sends people Whatsapp 2009 55 $19B Servers Sends messages THY + Turkcell + Tupras = $14.6B Market cap

3. To be an Entrepreneur in Turkey Erhan Erkut, MEF University 3 StartupIstanbul 30 September 2014

4.  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 4

5. …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 5

6. Given all of this..  …Turkey should be an entrepreneurial hub  Is it? 6

7. How does Turkey compare to Israel? CriterionTurkeyIsrael Population75M8M No. of NASDAQ companies 070 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 7 http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.575541

8. Mappedinisrael.com 8

9. 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 9 6. Government actions

10. 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 10

11. 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. 11

12. 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… 12

13. 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 13

14. 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 14

15. 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) 15

16. 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 16

17. It is your choice… 17

18. 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… 18

19. 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 19

20. 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…” 20

21. Erhan Erkut Contact Info:  Twitter: @ErhanErkut  E-mail:  erkute@mef.edu.tr  erhanerkut2000@gmail.com  Blog: www.erhanerkut.com 21