The 3rd Startup Weekend was held between April 27-29, 2012 this year

They Stayed Awake for 54 Hours and Designed a Project to Create 5000 Jobs!

The Istanbul leg of the Startup Weekend took place between April 27 and 29 with the key sponsorship of Özyeğin University and Microsoft Turkey. Participants competed against time to transform a bright business idea into a start-up company within just 54 hours. Targeting to achieve 2.5 million TL in its first year, “Office Space” became the premier choice of the panel of judges formed of leading investors, entrepreneurs and faculty members of Turkey.

The second and third place winners were Armood.com with their solution similar to IMDB, but for amateur composers and singers, and Talkdme.com with their location based anonymous video chat service offering, respectively.

The top three winners now get ready to take their first step into the business world at the Startup Factory Boot Camp!

Bells of Glory Ring for Office Space

The project “Office Space” developed by a team of 7 including students and entrepreneurs won the first place at the Startup Weekend. At the end of the sleepless and challenging marathon, Armood.com placed second with their solution similar to IMBD but for amateur composers and singers while Talkdme.com earned the third place with their QR coded, location based video chat service offering.

The  Venture Supporting Entrepreneurs Received The 1st Prize

Young entrepreneurs met on Friday and started working on transforming their business ideas into real businesses. After 54-hours of hard work and sleepless nights, teams presented their projects to the panel of judges and the audience on Sunday. Office Space gained great appreciation with its professional office space solutions for innovative young entrepreneurs. The project aims to bring young entrepreneurs that own a bright business idea but lack the necessary office space with business owners that have available office space. Office Space allows business owners to rent empty spaces or desks in their offices to young entrepreneurs at favorable rates. The project is also expected to provide unique networking opportunities and create synergy between industries. The creators of Office Space expect to achieve 2.5 million TL of turnover by serving 5000 people in their first year.
  

“It is the execution, not the idea that matters in entrepreneurship.”

The opening addresses were delivered by Özyeğin University Rector Prof. Erhan Erkut and Melek Pulatkonak, Assistant General Manager at Microsoft Turkey. The competition was inaugurated by Clint Nelson, the creator and co-founder of the Startup Weekend.  In his opening address, Prof. Erhan Erkut drew attention to the importance of entrepreneurship both for Turkey and the world and said: “Although unemployment hovers above 50% around the world, almost no new jobs are created by large and established corporations. Entrepreneurship is the only way to go for the world economy.” Prof. Erhan Erkut also recommended Özyeğin University’s new Master of Entrepreneurship program to young entrepreneurs at the Startup Weekend and added: “Don’t be afraid of sharing your idea because someone else has  probably had the same idea you have. Your idea will evolve until you actually bring it into life. It is the execution, not the idea that matters in entrepreneurship. Persistence and hard-work will eventually pay off. The more you share your idea, the more you develop it. Who knows, perhaps you will find the right partner and make your dreams come true by sharing your idea.”
Melek Pulatkonak from Microsoft Turkey also highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship and stated: “As Microsoft Turkey, we believe that our country must rank among the top consumers of information technologies. In line with this belief, we implement a substantial number of projects. We also believe that entrepreneurs must be supported in quest to contribute to Turkey’s economic growth.  We aim to encourage entrepreneurs to improve themselves and become more competitive by providing them the necessary technological support through our BizSpark program which celebrates its third year both in Turkey and around the world. Grupanya, Trendyol and Pabbuc.com are among the most successful graduates of our BizSpark program. Furthermore through our Açık Akademi (Open Academy) program, we endeavor to support entrepreneurs who seek to gain a share in the applications market and strive to bring this new economy to Turkey. I believe that the young and entrepreneurial participants of the Startup Weekend will be the representatives of a new generation that will take Turkey one step further.”

The Startup Weekend Offered A Global Entrepreneurship Experience

In quest to promote young entrepreneurs with bright ideas to take a step towards the business world, the Startup Weekend facilitated the creation of 10 different teams that consisted of software developers, managers, marketing professionals, web designers, investors and budding entrepreneurs.

Organized since 2007 in the leading cities of the world including New York, Washington DC, Toronto and Hamburg, the Startup Weekend’s Istanbul leg offered a truly international experience and served as a meeting point for pioneering entrepreneurs, leading executives, high-impact marketing professionals, successful web designers and budding entrepreneurs.

Winners Get the Chance to Make Their Dreams Come True

The top three winners of the Startup World were admitted to the Startup Factory Boot Camp and thus gained an unprecedented opportunity to make their dreams come true. Each winner was also presented with a Windows Phone by Microsoft Turkey and a ticket for the Webrazzi StartUP Summit.
The winning teams will receive a 2-week training at the Startup Factory Boot Camp.

The Startup Weekend Brought Leading Entrepreneurs and Academics Together

The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges formed of the leading figures of the business world and the academia including İhsan Elgin, Director of Özyeğin University Center for Entrepreneurship, Melek Pulatkonak, Assistant General Manager at Microsoft Turkey, Numan Numan, Co-Founder of 212VC, Özgür Alaz, Founder of Promoqube, Mehtap Özkan, Co-Founder of Golden Horn Ventures and TIMAR Ventures, Taylan Demirkaya, Coordinator at Embryoniks, Kıvanç Onan, Country Director of PayPal Turkey, Aslı Kurul Türkmen, Search and Services Portfolio Manager at Endeavor Turkey, Kazım Yalçınoğlu, Board Member of METU-Tech-BAN, and Pınar Kapralı Görsev, Co-Founder of Enkuba.

The Startup Weekend also featured prominent mentors that shared their own entrepreneurship experience as well as technical and academic knowledge to help young entrepreneurs start their own businesses for three days. Daron Yöndem, Regional Director at Microsoft Turkey and Founder of Deveload, Kerem Özsü, General Manager at I-Con,  Serkan Ünsal, Founder of Dakick.com,  Altuğ Bilgin Altıntaş, Founder of Kodcu.com, Umut Gökbayrak, Founder of 8digits, Bora Yılmaz, Business Development Director at Tahincioğlu Holding, Taylan Demirkaya, Coordinator at  Embryonix, Mustafa Dalcı, Founder of Userspots, Kutlu Kazancı, Co-Founder and Chief Sales Officer at WeDecide, Ufuk Kayserilioğlu, Co-founder of Enkuba, İhsan Elgin, Director of Özyeğin University Center for Entrepreneurship and Jason Lau, Supervisor at Özyeğin University Center for Entrepreneurship were among the mentors that worked along with participants over the weekend.