I recently completed Emre Sokullu’s “Grou.ps Silicon Valley Story” and his mini-biography.
Emre was a role model for me when I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey in Ankara, Bilkent in 2008-9. At that time, everyone was building Web 2.0 projects. We launched Marro.ws, a social networking site for intellectuals. Essentially, based on your book and website highlights, we aimed to connect you with like-minded individuals. Back then, I was extremely curious, reading voraciously and eager to share my insights, instead of sharing this individually do it together.
Emre’s story often featured on Webrazzi, which was, and perhaps still is, Turkey’s TechCrunch. We aspired to be like Emre. We aimed to secure an angel round of funding from Turkey and had a burning desire to relocate to San Francisco. Despite being named Webrazzi’s Startup and Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2009, we faced challenges. We couldn’t raise the angel round. While I continued my college studying International Relations, my co-founder took up another job, leading us to shutter the project.
However, my Silicon Valley journey didn’t end there. Two days after college gradudation, I came to San Francisco without knowing anyone and no plan. Just wanted to pursue my Silicon Valley dream. The rest, as they say, is history.
I believe I met Emre once or twice in the Bay Area after launching MobileAction, likely after our seed round. My initial impression of him, around 2015-16, was that he was a reserved and kind individual.
After spending a mere 2-3 hours reading his book, I realized Emre’s Grou.ps story was genuinely unique. He lived alone in San Francisco, often with little money, constantly striving to make ends meet, navigating the challenges of finding the right investors, managing a complex board structure, and pivoting the product several times. Despite all this, profitability remained elusive, a challenge many faced in that era when very few were focused on monetization.
Emre’s 14-15 years with Grou.ps were filled with both family and business dramas. As someone who appreciates biographies and learning from others’ mistakes, this book deeply resonated with me. Especially since, after Emre, I’m among the first wave of Turkish entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. After reading about his struggles, I count myself fortunate. From the outset with MobileAction, I was generating revenue, initially establishing it as an agency, then raising an angel/seed round to transition it to a product company. Since then, we’ve attempted to raise funds, but I’m content we haven’t. My co-founder, Yekta, and I continue to run the company, always prioritizing the best interests of our angel investors and ourselves.
Do check out Emre’s book and consider purchasing it. I read the English version on Kindle, but it’s also available in Turkish.
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