Experiencing Startup Istanbul 2018

This article is written by Milambo Kabeleka, a Contributor Author at Startup Turkey.

Founder of MEET, a company that helps B2B growth companies effectively leverage trade shows and in-person events, Bill Kenney described his experience at the Startup Istanbul-2018, in an interview with one of our correspondents as Amazing. Running a company that creates strategies to improve its client’s event participation and return on investment has equipped him with the knowledge of measuring the success of an event.

“The idea that there are 90 000 companies from all over the world that want to come to Istanbul to show their innovation, connect with customers or investors. This can help drive entrepreneurship for many communities and countries.” He said.

“What I see at startup Istanbul is first class, as an event, it is competitive on every mark. What I see here compares very well to what is out there. Compared to the similar events that have been held in other countries with emerging startup hubs, Startup Istanbul is well organized and very impactful.”  The work that the Startup Istanbul team is doing is amazing.

Organization: The tremendous efforts of an incredible team were evident through the organization of the event. The program went on seamlessly, without a glitch. A speaker’s job is made easy when the event is well organized, and that’s what it was.

The speakers and Mentors: The type of Speakers and Mentors that attended the event gives an idea of the quality and depth of the knowledge you will get at an event. Hearing the quality and relevance of the talks given by mentors at Startup Istanbul was refreshing to both the new and old entrepreneurs.

The startups: The Founders that pitch are another way of measuring the quality of a pitching event. The maturity and stage of the startups show that it is a strong program. While chatting to most of the founders, you realize that there are those in the idea stage, then those that have more mature companies, have already paying customers and are receiving revenue. There are many businesses that fit that profile at Startup Istanbul.

Investor judging criteria: Of course Investors will find it easy to have more trust in those that have paying users and sales more than the ones that are pitching an idea. The criteria they use to pick the startups they will work with is straightforward; they will look at the team, the market potential, the revenue created so far, how many sales have been made. They will also check if the startup has some intangibles, like intellectual property or some barriers to competition such as patents.

When asked if He would come back, Bill Kenney gladly agreed to look forward to visiting Istanbul again for another Startup Istanbul event. “Istanbul is remarkable,” he added. “It is the center of the world and the best place to bring everyone together in this manner.”

Knowing that an event like this can influence the success of so many companies from so many different countries, and give them a strong opportunity to develop their own independence, is so inspiring. Now who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?