Venture capital investors eye further growth in Turkey despite turbulence
Venture capital investors eye further growth in Turkey despite turbulence.
“Venture capital investments in Turkey are still immature but have still been attractive, with the increased interest of international angel investor networks and the activity of domestic investors,” Demet Özdemir, the Ernst & Young Turkey corporate finance company partner and growth markets leader in the area of EMEIA, told state-run Anadolu Agency on Jan. 10.
Although venture capital investments in the country are lagging compared to developed economies, Turkey is a “very promising market” for investments with a medium- to long-term perspective, said Özdemir, particularly pointing to the technology and healthcare sectors as being more attractive for venture capital funds in Turkey.
The country has many startup companies with innovative ideas but often no financial institution they can turn to for the funds needed to get their businesses up and running.
According to Startups.Watch, Turkey’s first digital enterprise and investment analysis platform, the number of capital investments in Turkey made by CVCs (corporate venture capital, corporations making systematic investments into startup companies), VCs (venture capital, firms focused on financing startups and small businesses with long-term growth potential), and individuals in technology-based ventures, rose sharply from only 11 in 2010 to 85 last year.
Some Turkish companies such as MV, Koç Holding, and Sabancı Holding are very active in corporate venturing, and their investment arms are focused on technology in particular.
MV Holding, a founding partner of Turkcell and KVK, became a 24 percent shareholder in Cardtek, a company providing innovative end-to-end payment solutions for financial institutions, processors, and telecom operators, and is one of Turkey’s fastest-growing technology firms.
Inventram, a technology-investment company of Koç Holding, invests in early-stage startup companies with growth potential.
Mitsui & Co, one of Japan’s large-scale holding companies, partnered with Inventram last November, with a 30 percent share.
“Last year’s political developments may have reduced the interest in venture capital investments in Turkey, especially from international investors, but this is believed to be a temporary issue,” said Ali Coşkun, the director of Boğazici University’s Center for Applied Research in Finance (CARF).
8 Sources of Startup Funding: Have You Checked Them All?
While it’s an idea that has crossed nearly everyone’s mind at one point or another, very few actually capitalize on such thoughts.
There are a number of common barriers that are inherent to the startup process itself, but none are more critical than the first step: obtaining the necessary funds to begin with.
How to Fund a Startup in 2017 Enter Into a Partnership One of the most common and most straightforward methods of funding a new business, investing partners can bring a lot more to the relationship than startup capital.
While some prefer their investors take a passive role, others involve key stakeholders and partners in every part of the decision-making process.
Take Out a Loan In some cases, taking out a loan with your local bank might be the only option when it comes to launching your business.
Microsoft’s Oculus Rift device, a virtual reality headset, also enjoyed crowdfunding success to the tune of $2.4 million.
In fact, nearly 60 percent of small business owners relied on credit cards to avoid falling into bankruptcy during the 2008 recession.
Although some would rely on their personal accounts, many banks and institutions offer cards that are meant specifically for small business owners or startup entrepreneurs.
Join a Startup Program Startup programs, sometimes referred to as incubators or accelerators, provide would-be entrepreneurs and up-and-coming millennials with a wealth of information, resources and access to funding opportunities that are geared specifically toward new businesses.
While many of these are great solutions when seeking the initial capital needed to launch a business, many entrepreneurs find themselves returning to these channels when pursuing their career goals, expanding their operations and maintaining competitiveness.
Silicon Valley Needs Startup Drano
Shira Ovide is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering technology.
But there are four basic steps to startup investing: 1) Persuade people to give you lots of money.
3) Cash out those shares in an IPO or acquisition.
There’s no problem with steps one and two.
And venture capital funds wrote $101 billion worth of checks to startups last year, a new report by CB Insights and Pricewaterhouse shows.
But the amount of money being cashed out — step three — is not keeping pace.
Total value of IPOs and acquisitions of U.S. startups with venture capital investors: I will continue to torture a metaphor about a clogged pipe to describe the situation in Silicon Valley.
Investors keep stuffing money into one end of the pipe, but the amount coming out the other end isn’t where it needs to be.
At last year’s pace of nearly $50 billion worth of startup acquisitions and initial public offerings, it would take bankers about 14 years just to clear out the 184 tech startups valued at $1 billion or more each, which have a collective value of $650 billion, according to CB Insights.
To be fair, I’m comparing the $50 billion worth of startup cash-outs in the U.S. with the global stockpile of richly valued startups, but the picture is the same: Tech startup money is stuck, and Silicon Valley needs Drano to clear the money clog.
Startup funding gets off to robust start in 2017
Funding for startups is off to a strong start in the new year.
On Tuesday, three new funds were unveiled – Marvelstone Ventures, East Ventures and InseadAlum Ventures.
Marvelstone Ventures, the venture capital (VC) arm of Singapore-based private-investment group Marvelstone, has S$20 million in funds, The Business Times has learnt.
I am looking forward to seeing the adoption of high-end innovation in emerging markets before spreading to the developed market.”
East Ventures, a Singapore-based VC firm, on Tuesday said that it has raised a US$27.5 million fund for tech startups in South-east Asia.
This is the fifth fund by the 2010-founded VC firm, and will target more seed and Series A investment rounds.
The Singapore-based investment firm has raised S$1 million to invest in global, seed-stage startups co-founded by at least one former student of Insead.
InseadAlum Ventures will provide each startup with seed funding of between S$50,000 and S$200,000, mentorship, as well as access to Insead alumni and faculty networks.
Its first investment is in UK-based smart thermostat startup Switchee, where it participated in a £480,000 (S$838,906) seed round.
Meanwhile, Legalese, a homegrown startup aimed at automating legal services, has snagged S$600,000 in angel funding.
Foxtons Falls to Lowest Since IPO as Sales Revenue Slumps
Foxtons Falls to Lowest Since IPO as Sales Revenue Slumps.
Foxtons Group Plc, the London-focused property broker, fell to the lowest since its initial public offering in 2013 after reporting revenue for last year that fell below analyst estimates and warning that trading conditions will remain challenging in 2017.
The broker dropped as much as 12.4 percent after saying adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are expected to decline to about 25 million pounds ($30 million) for 2016 from 46 million pounds a year earlier.
Analysts had expected about 28 million pounds.
The shares were down 5 percent in London trading at 94 pence as of 10:32 a.m. Tax increases and uncertainty over Britain’s vote to leave the European Union have reduced the number of property transactions in the U.K. capital, hurting Foxtons’s revenue.
At the same time, the company has been opening new branches, and warned in July it may have to slow the pace of that expansion because of market conditions.
“The group will do well to see profits flat in 2017.” Foxtons reported revenue from home sales of about 12 million pounds in the final quarter of 2016, down from 20 million pounds a year earlier.
Lettings revenue was largely unchanged at about 13 million pounds.
“We expect trading conditions to remain challenging in 2017,” Chief Executive Officer Nic Budden said in a statement Wednesday.
“Should current levels of sales activity continue in the short term, it is likely that 2017 volumes will be below those in 2016.”
Consolidation is the way ahead for Indian startups, say entrepreneurs
Consolidation is the way ahead for Indian startups, say entrepreneurs.
With a number of startups, some big names from food tech, shutting shop and over 100 getting snapped up in mergers and acquisitons, the theme at a panel discussion at International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, for its startup summit Emerge was apt: Is consolidation of startups a sign of market maturity?
Emerge is the second startup summit of IMI.
Pic courtesy : Emerge, IMI Talking about consolidation and mergers, all the speakers on the dias – Saurabh Kochhar, Founder, Foodpanda; Dinesh Homagi, Co-Founder and CEO, Wow!
Every industry has a life cycle and as a startup takes off with a business model and at times unlimited growth, they soon will find competitors and the growth pie has to be shared with others.
Thus mergers and acquisitions become the name of the game and solidifies the combined entity’s hold on the sector.
One of the reasons for consolidations and mergers are because e-commerce as a sector is doing badly in India.
The golden era of Indian startups, when any and every entrepreneur managed to get funding, is surely all but over but there are still some venture capital funds that are willing to give money to those who are willing to disrupt the market, experts say.
The whole ecosystem got light headed on account of easy money flow to fund ideas and companies.
Serious question are being asked to start-up founders now before VCs decide to fund them.
Singapore’s Garena Picks Goldman for $1 Billion IPO
Singapore’s Garena Picks Goldman for $1 Billion IPO.
Garena is considering listing in the U.S., the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
If completed, the deal would be a boon for backers such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and mark the largest technology IPO out of Southeast Asia.
It may open the door for offerings from other local startups, including ride-hailing leader Grab and e-commerce operator Tokopedia.
“Once you have a success story coming out of the region, it becomes easier for others to emulate.
Garena, which is also backed by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, would join Japanese messaging provider Line Corp. in selling shares in the U.S. to fund expansion.
Garena was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Forrest Li as an online gaming company in 2009.
The firm was valued at about $3.75 billion when it raised $170 million in a fundraising round in March 2016.
He decided he couldn’t continue as a corporate manager and enrolled in Stanford’s MBA program.
He started Garena as Southeast Asia’s version of Tencent and has since become a citizen of Singapore.
Colorado Grants $2.3 Million For Marijuana Health and Safety Research
Colorado Grants $2.3 Million For Marijuana Health and Safety Research.
The state of Colorado has approved the funding of a half dozen research grants into marijuana.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment announced the grants at the end of 2016.
Both medical and recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado.
Research Studies When voters made recreational marijuana legal in 2012, the state formed a Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee to monitor the public health impacts of cannabis use.
The committee makes recommendations on the research grants.
A three-year study with researchers from the University of Colorado and the Colorado School of Public Health.
Acute Effects of Dabbing on Marijuana Intoxication, Driving Impairment, and Cognitive Functioning.
Duration of Marijuana Concentration in Breast Milk.
A two-year study by Colorado State University.
10 Executives Reveal the Biggest Money Mistakes Enterprises Make
Even if your ego isn’t tempted by the allure of a “big office,” physical space shouldn’t be the default choice for expanding in the 21st century.
Not only do existing customers cost less, they’re your company’s most profitable source of ongoing revenue.
Spending your way to success Jennifer Cue, CEO of Jones Soda: “The worst mistake you can make is trying to spend your way to success. “Of course, the only thing worse than overspending is cutting back and not leading by example. “A few years ago, I hired someone to manage a crucial technology transition.
Takeaway: As humans, we prefer to buy from people we know and trust.
But it also makes you lose perspective, and you start carelessly spending money on every new tool, database and service that will help you continue to grow revenue.
Takeaway: Few organizations — especially enterprise organizations — put their data to work. “Early on, we invested a lot of time and energy in speculative design work.
But, in the end, spending funds on key hires to offset the work bogging you down allows you to focus on growing your business, building strategy and helping your team members become more successful at their jobs.
To Motivate Your Employees, Give Honest Feedback
To Motivate Your Employees, Give Honest Feedback.
Positive feedback To give positive feedback, the easiest way to start is to see employees doing something right and comment on it.
We coach the managers we work with to make it a practice to praise employees on at least one specific item each week.
Our next piece of advice: When praising employees, make sure that you are: 1) specific about what you liked; and 2) you link their behavior back to the goals of the organization.
Negative feedback Negative feedback is more difficult for most managers.
But, here are a few tips: First, don’t layer negative feedback in between positive comments: Mary, you are a valuable employee and we really appreciate what you do for our team.
Instead, the first time you have an issue with an employee’s performance, let him or her know.
Mary, I would appreciate your being on time to future team meetings.
If you get a negative response, you can discuss the issue further and hopefully come to an understanding.
Giving employees negative feedback is uncomfortable for most managers.
Can’t Afford a Full-Time CFO? Here Are 3 Options to Try
If the resources are there, hiring a full-time accountant or chief financial officer (CFO) is obviously the best choice.
But oftentimes, for a small business or an operation that is strapped on cash, a full-time position is not an option.
A virtual CFO is largely identical to a conventional CFO, the only difference being that a virtual CFO works remotely.
A virtual CFO can also offer one-time assistance with strategic transactions, financial processes, business planning and budgeting, making this type of service one of the most versatile financial options around.
Business-plan or forecasting software Are you entirely sure that your accountant is actually an accountant?
LivePlan gives you business plan insights, for $20 per month.
If so, consider a part-time or interim CFO.
A part-time CFO is a great option for a small business that requires the knowledge of an financial advisor, but doesn’t have the budget for a full-time position.
An interim CFO is the perfect solution for a business that is currently searching for another full-time CFO.
But all hope is not lost for the budding business owner: There are many options out there that offer comparable knowledge and expertise for a fraction of the price.
The 5 Career Paths to a Wealthy Life
“Decide exactly what you want and resolve to persist, no matter what happens until you achieve it,” says Entrepreneur Network partner Brian Tracy.
In this video, Tracy discusses the five career routes to take in order to become wealthy.
Like Henry Ford and Bill Gates, start with an idea for a product or service and build it from the ground up.
Another plausible route to take is working your way up in a company.
The third way to get rich — although this one takes much experience and schooling — is to become a professional, such as a dentist, doctor, lawyer or architect.
People in these fields get advanced degrees and charge high prices for their services.
In fact, 5 percent of self-made millionaires are experts in sales for their industries, says Tracy.
Watch more YouTube videos from Brian Tracy on his channel.
Entrepreneur Network is a premium video network providing entertainment, education and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders.
Click here to become a part of this growing video network.
The Top 9 Social Media Strategists to Watch In 2017
“Ninety-nine and a half percent of the people who walk around and say they are a social media expert or guru are clowns,” says entrepreneur and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk.
The nine people on our list do both.
His videos have been watched by more than 100 million people in over 92 countries.
That’s because he used online marketing and social media to grow his family’s wine business from $3 million to $60 million in five years.
Vaynerchuk is one of the most tactical and hands-on social media practitioners, teaching you how to build lasting, profitable relationships online.
Why follow her: She’ll teach you by example exactly how to get followers to build your brand for you.
Image Credit: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 6.
Why follow him: You’ll learn how to engage with fans in a way that will make every one of them feel like your only fan.
DeGeneres has more than 100 million followers across her social media profiles.
Why follow him: Because authenticity can be learned, and Dogg is schooling everyone.
Recruiting Tips That Will Make You Rethink the Gig Economy
Let’s look at how employers can ensure their recruitment process is effective for the gig economy and how they can best evaluate their performance: Measure quality of hire and onboarding. “Quality of hire” data measures how a hiring team makes decisions and how well its hires fit into their roles and the company.
Use your own company’s quality of hire metrics to refine your process, in order to hire more efficiently.
Perform exit interviews.
When employers know their contractors’ competencies, they can set benchmarks to compare future contractors to.
Use this data to improve performance management for future gig economy workers.
Build a pipeline of top-performing gig workers to ensure the hiring team is making high-quality hires in a faster, more efficient way.
With a talent pipeline, hiring managers won’t be rushing into questionable decisions.
Building a pipeline of top performers from the gig economy is the best way to cut these numbers down.
Overall, employers can and should continue to build a stronger relationship with workers in the gig economy.
Employee Engagement and the Pursuit of Happiness
Employee Engagement and the Pursuit of Happiness.
With this equation, it would be wise for employers to institutionalize practices at work that support employee well-being and help to create a positive work environment.
In turn, organizations will benefit by having more engaged employees who will be more committed, more productive and more willing to go the extra mile — employees who say “how can I help” rather than “this isn’t in my job description.” *Need link to report* Employee engagement has measured surprisingly low in the U.S. for many years, most notably by the Gallup organization, which reports only 30 percent of American workers as engaged.
When you start to acknowledge the people in your organization, they will notice, and their work will respond to your well-deserved attention.
Create opportunities for employees to connect being accountable for their job responsibilities and work product as something to be proud of — and that being accountable represents success, not failure.
Small but meaningful engagement touch points can boost employee engagement at times it would naturally start to ebb.
Prioritize well-being initiatives over a “fun” work environment.
To transform your employee engagement initiatives into lasting results, be sure your organization is committed to turning the dial.
Seek out champions who want to be a part of moving the work forward to create a team of engaged employees and foster a positive workplace culture.
Happiness can and should be pursued and realized at work as a part of life, not something that happens off the clock.
4 Questions To Help Leaders Define Their Brand
4 Questions To Help Leaders Define Their Brand.
Since then, a lot of leaders have talked about personal branding, but few connect it to their leadership to evolve into what they and the people they represent want and need them to be.
According to my organization’s research, fewer than 15% of leaders have defined their personal brand, and only 5% are living it every day.
And if you can’t define your personal brand then how can you expect to know its value proposition (what your personal brand solves for)?
Your personal brand is the total experience of someone having a relationship with who you are and what you represent as an individual and as a leader.
Leaders who understand their personal brand can also answer these four questions about what that brand solves for – its value proposition – in just a few words.
Challenge you to think about what this means and what your personal brand is capable of solving for and thus delivering to the communities you are serving – both in and outside of the workplace.
I also aim to attract new readers by offering something of value that will hopefully engage them enough to continue reading my work.
If your people don’t know what your personal brand is, the fault is yours and not theirs for not understanding what defines you as a leader and what that leadership solves for.
Which is why those who define and live their personal brands will more naturally demonstrate an executive presence and as such may find themselves advancing more quickly at work.
3 Key Characteristics of the Best Startup CEOs
3 Key Characteristics of the Best Startup CEOs.
When you look at the world’s top startups and then at their CEOs, you find similar characteristics across the board.
As a startup CEO, you’ll likely feel that your company’s weight is on your shoulders, while every decision you make can have a profound impact on your success.
Made the wrong hire and now feeling scared to fire him/her?
So, if you’re thinking of starting a company or already started one, see how you fit with the most common characteristics of startup CEOs described below.
As every startup CEO knows.
Laser focus If you’re thinking of starting a company, you probably won’t have the money, team or even the time to do everything you want to do.
This could also mean starting in one market and then expanding.
When Andy Altman was starting GigTown, an app that enables you to hire local musicians Uber-style, he knew he had to focus on one market.
For most Uber-like businesses, entrepreneurs focus on the business-to-consumer market.
Yahoo to Change Name, Lose Marissa Mayer as Board Member
Yahoo to Change Name, Lose Marissa Mayer as Board Member.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will step down from the board of directors and the internet giant will change its name to Altaba, Inc. after part of the company is sold to Verizon, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Verizon announced plans to acquire Yahoo in July for approximately $4.83 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the new name is a combination of the words “alternate” and “Alibaba,” citing a person familiar with the matter. “For me personally, I’m planning to stay.
I love Yahoo, and I believe in all of you.
In addition to Mayer, five other directors would also resign from the board after the deal closes, according to Monday’s filing.
Since the sale was announced, Yahoo revealed that two separate hacks compromised around 1.5 billion user accounts.
In Monday’s filing, Yahoo warned that its name change and board resignations were contingent upon whether or not Verizon decides to renegotiate the sale.
More from PCMag