Last year I had the chance to be part of the first Istanbul Slush’d, moderating the opening session. I came away genuinely impressed. We have no shortage of startup events in Istanbul. But Slush’d brought something different: a young and energetic team, a strong founder focus, and most importantly, a real success in connecting the Turkish startup ecosystem with investors and technology leaders from around the world.
So I was very happy to have Şan Yalman, co-founder of Istanbul Slush’d and Investment Associate at Intera, as my guest for TRVC #35.
Şan has an interesting perspective on venture capital. He lives in London and, through his work at Intera, a Turkish family office, invests as an LP in VC and private equity funds in the US and Europe. We talk about what he has learned from sitting on that side of the table, the power law in venture funds, and why smaller and emerging funds can sometimes have particularly compelling economics.
But much of our conversation is about Istanbul Slush’d—and what Şan, Melisa Çağlar and their team are trying to build. Their ambition from the beginning was not simply to create another local startup conference. As Şan puts it in our conversation, Turkey has interesting talent and opportunities, but we need to bring in more global capital. That resonates with me.
I believe deeply in the quality of entrepreneurial talent we have in Turkey. But ecosystems don’t develop in isolation. Founders need connections—to customers, other founders, experienced operators, and capital. And the more bridges we can build between Istanbul and the major technology and investment hubs around the world, the stronger our ecosystem will become. Slush’d is doing a very good job of building one of those bridges.
This year they are going bigger. Investors and technology leaders from organizations including Accel, Index Ventures, OpenAI and NVIDIA are coming to Istanbul. There is a new Investor Day bringing together local and global GPs and LPs, AI hackathons with OpenAI and Manus, and much more emphasis on matchmaking between founders and investors.
I also really like the spirit behind the organization itself. Şan and Melisa aren’t paid to do this. The core team is largely made up of young volunteers, inspired by the model of the original Slush in Helsinki. Part of the idea is that helping build the event itself can become a way for young people to enter the startup ecosystem, build relationships and find opportunities. That is ecosystem building in a very tangible sense.
Istanbul Slush’d takes place October 12–14. If you’re an investor, or simply part of the technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem, I’d encourage you to attend.I’ll be there, and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there too.
And before then, have a listen to my conversation with Şan.
🎙️ TRVC #35 — Why Global Investors Are Coming to Istanbul | Şan Yalman, Istanbul Slush’d
▶️ Watch the full episode on Youtube, or Spotify etc.
As always, if you enjoy these conversations, please share the episode with someone who might find it interesting. It really helps TRVC reach more people in the ecosystem.
Yunus