Although it is expected that every initiative will be successful, we cannot talk about an entrepreneur who reaches the top without failing in the world of entrepreneurship.
When you talk about entrepreneurship, you should first mention finding a solution to a problem. The entrepreneurship ecosystem in our country is currently showing great momentum. What we have observed in the last 10-12 years has been aimed at growth without requiring a professional infrastructure. For example, initiatives like e-commerce.
As Hello Tomorrow Turkey, which is the Turkish branch of Hello Tomorrow, the meeting point of the world's science and technology-based entrepreneurship, we focus on technology-based initiatives that produce technology. For this, research and development (R&D) is a prerequisite.
The first step is research. A technology needs to be produced through research. We can talk about many successful examples of this in our country. Our goal is to find, support, and help these successful but invisible technology-producing entrepreneurs achieve their goals on both a global and local scale. For instance, last year we organized a competition across Turkey and received more than 120 applications in a short period. Over 120 science and technology-based initiatives!
When we look at our database, we notice initiatives conducting R&D studies in energy, environment, health, biotechnology, and industrial fields. There are many initiatives in the areas of data, artificial intelligence, and software.
So, what are the essentials for an R&D-based initiative?
The technology must produce a solution,
It should find a solution to the problem,
The team must be strong,
Funding and business plans must be robust,
It needs to have a vision,
It must constantly research how the application should be done in the fastest and most appropriate way.
For technology entrepreneurs, the timing of bringing the product to market is very important. The faster they can release the product, the more critical it becomes.
While addressing such a broad area and gathering strong entrepreneurs, we also had the chance to observe some common mistakes. What are they?
Misestimating processes,
Processes of obtaining intellectual property,
Processes of obtaining investment,
Developing the prototype,
Going to a big company to reach a deal and facilitate its sale,
Failing to maintain dynamics within the team,
Not producing a solution to the problem,
When we look at the ecosystem in Turkey, we see a different growth trend. For example, in our competition last year, among the applications for Hello Tomorrow Turkey Finals, Istanbul ranked 8th. This is more than the applications from Boston and Toronto. We are aware of the strength of our potential. Therefore, it is crucial to bring together the most accurate and efficient factors during this period. We are closely observing the most successful R&D-based entrepreneurs in our country and have the opportunity to support their growth.
We see that entrepreneurs are more successful when they are collective rather than individual. Because the "team" we care about is a critical factor. Roles such as technology responsible manager, marketing team, etc. When everyone expresses their expertise in their respective areas, success comes faster. There should be disciplinary teams. Better technology and solutions are produced with different perspectives on the world, and they complement each other.
R&D, or what we call "deep tech" in our ecosystem, is approached in two ways: producers and consumers. Since our target entrepreneurs are deep tech producers, the opportunities we offer them are quite different from those offered to consumers. Mentorship in scientific and technical matters within the correct framework is one of these opportunities. Our competition provides non-equity monetary rewards, which is one of the most needed resources in the world. Likewise, we offer access/networking opportunities to over 200 VCs and corporate companies.
"Entrepreneurship has no age or gender"
When entering the world of entrepreneurship, many questions arise about what the criteria should be. We always emphasize: Entrepreneurship has no age or gender. Experience, the contributions of life and knowledge can transform into an idea at any moment in a certain context. In the deep tech ecosystem, when we look at global averages, we can say the average age is 37. Again, we have 14 verticals as our conditions for R&D-based entrepreneurship.
It must be beneficial to humanity, the company must be established, there should be a scientifically proven prototype, and it needs to be an early-stage initiative. The mentorship we provide to early-stage initiatives at Hello Tomorrow offers a more favorable environment for development.
