Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 25, 2021

Eren Bali arrived in Silicon Valley from Turkey in 2010 hoping to relaunch Udemy , his online education company. Eren came to the US from Turkey to work at a Silicon Valley tech startup, which is actually where I first met him a few years ago. EB : If you go really back, I was born in a small village in South-east part of Turkey.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Turkey Los Angeles California 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

And as I like to say, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” I know that I had things easier as a new VC because I came into the business in 2007 when the market was frenzied like today but an order-of-magnitude less so and the world wasn’t living in public.

Software Review 150

Software Review Turkey Portfolio Syndicate 150

Occam's Razor

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Consumer Barometer was created by IAB Europe with TNS Infratest and Google as partners. I spend 70% of my time in the US and for those discussions I'm primary looking at speed (connection above), mobile penetration (yes, 2007 was the year of mobile!), and mobile intent to purchase (I love this data).

Global 136

Global Czech Republic Russia Norway 136

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s a bit like if you bought a $1 million home in 2007 and want to sell it for $1 million today. One is slightly better and priced at $1 million, which you know from Zillow is what they paid for it in 2007. Another is slightly worse but priced at $700k and was bought in 2007 for $1 million. Ready to talk turkey.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I don’t believe in cold turkey transition. If you don’t hear anything else I’m saying in this presentation, remember this, an unsupportive spouse can kill a business faster than a bad marketing plan, so you want to make sure that your spouse or partner is bought into what you are doing. Let me tell you guys something.

Social Media 60

Social Media Small Business Software Review Technical Review 60