The talent opportunity in Turkey’s startup ecosystem
TRVC #30 with Nihal Güngör (SistersLab)
Around the world, one topic that comes up in conversations about entrepreneurship and venture capital is that women founders receive a disproportionately small share of VC funding.
That naturally raises a broader question. How do we create an ecosystem that enables more women to become founders, engineers, investors and technology leaders in the first place?
That is exactly what my latest TRVC podcast guest Nihal Güngör of SistersLab has been working on for years.
In our conversation, Nihal shares the story of building a social enterprise dedicated to increasing the participation of women and girls in STEM, supporting women in technology careers, and creating stronger networks and role models.
One thing I particularly appreciated about this discussion is that it avoids easy narratives.
Turkey has produced remarkable women founders and technology leaders. Several of the country’s biggest startup success stories include women among their founding teams. At the same time, there is clearly much more untapped potential.
Rather than asking whether Turkey is doing “well” or “poorly,” we explore what practical steps can help build an even stronger ecosystem.
We discussed:
Why increasing women’s participation in technology benefits the entire startup ecosystem.
The role of mentorship, communities and professional networks.
Building and scaling a social enterprise from scratch.
The importance of visible role models.
Lessons learned from working with corporations, international organizations and public institutions.
Why ecosystem building is a long-term investment.
The episode is also one of the shortest we’ve published on TRVC—around 25 minutes—making it an easy listen if you’re short on time. I hope you enjoy it.
This episode is in Turkish. The YouTube video has machine-created English subtitles and dubbing.
Listen
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If you like these conversations about venture capital, startups and ecosystem building in Turkey and beyond, consider subscribing to the TRVC YouTube channel, or leaving a rating or a review in Apple Podcasts. I release a new episode every two weeks with investors and the people helping shape the Turkish startup ecosystem.