Startup Istanbul | Burak Buyukdemir

The Salary Trap: Why Founders and Early Employees Must Think Differently About Compensation

How to pay yourself, hire your first team, and use equity without guessing

Ed Kang from Startups.com revealed the 3 slides that make or break your deck in seconds. Here's what investors actually see — and what makes them close…

Mar 17 • Burak Buyukdemir

Do You Really Have PMF?

5 tests, 20 signals, and one uncomfortable question every founder needs to answer honestly.

Mar 12 • Burak Buyukdemir

Most Popular

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Become non-negotiable

Jun 29, 2023 • Alex Souza

Formula for success

May 29, 2023

Meaning of life

Jun 12, 2023

Navigating Red Flags: Essential Insights for Startups

May 21, 2023 • Burak Buyukdemir

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Almost Ready

Progress feels real. Outcomes require commitment.

Apr 13 • Burak Buyukdemir

Why Your Years Feel Like Weeks

What two days without a screen taught me about why years disappear.

Apr 10 • Burak Buyukdemir

Warm Signals Kill More Startups Than Rejection

Warm signals, polite delays, and the slow death of startup opportunities

Apr 7 • Burak Buyukdemir

Why I Stopped Asking Founders How Long Their MVP Took

AI did not just change the tools. It changed the timeline, the team size, and the economics of building.

Apr 3 • Burak Buyukdemir

AI Changed the Startup Game. Founders Need to Catch Up.

What worked a few years ago does not work the same way anymore.

Mar 31 • Burak Buyukdemir

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The Core Truth

A startup is not a small company. It's a search mission. Here's what Steve Blank taught us at Startup Istanbul.

Mar 26 • Burak Buyukdemir

A Note From the Field: Stop Playing Founder

Board meetings won't save you. Product-market fit will.

Mar 24 • Burak Buyukdemir

Don't hire corporate tourists

Big profile. Startup title. Corporate salary. Zero skin in the game. That’s not a believer. That’s a tourist. Don’t hire them in early stage.

Mar 10 • Burak Buyukdemir

Everything YC Teaches In One Conversation

Michael Seibel packed all of YC's startup wisdom into 14 slides. Here are the 9 principles every founder needs — with lessons from 26+ years of…

Mar 5 • Burak Buyukdemir

The #1 Cognitive Bias Killing Your Startup

Why past investment is costing you your future

Mar 3 • Burak Buyukdemir

I studied 87 YC Demo Day pitches. Every great one had the same 8 lines.

The 8 elements every winning pitch contains, 10 hook patterns that actually work, and the exact order that got 67% of top YC startups funded — all from…

Feb 26 • Burak Buyukdemir

Your Expertise Is Your Cage

Why knowing too much can be the biggest threat to building something new

Feb 24 • Burak Buyukdemir

Podcasts

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