Burak Buyukdemir

Most founders think success comes only from strong connections—mentors, close partners, trusted allies. The truth is different. Weak ties—casual acquaintances, a friend of a friend, someone you met once—often unlock the biggest opportunities. Mark Granovetter proved this decades ago: weak ties bring fresh information, new markets, unexpected introductions. Your inner circle repeats what you already know. Weak ties give you what you don’t. Strong networks become echo chambers. Everyone thinks...

Day 0: Brutal TruthMost founders fail not because their ideas are bad, but because they waste months pretending. Pitch decks. Market size slides. Fancy logos.All noise. The only thing that matters: 👉 Will someone pay you? That’s why I built 10 Brutal Days. Every day for 10 days, you’ll get one sharp, simple task.Not theory. Not motivation. Just brutal actions that move you closer to a paying customer—or prove your idea isn’t worth chasing. ⚠️ Warning: most people quit by Day 3.That’s the...

The fastest way to fail is to build something nobody really needs. A painkiller product solves a burning problem: customers say “I need this now”, pull out their credit card, and ask “How soon can we start?” Decisions happen fast. Teams align quickly. Value is obvious. A vitamin product sounds interesting but isn’t urgent. Customers say “maybe later”, ask for more meetings, or need convincing. They already have a way to get by. You end up explaining why they need it—because the pain isn’t...

I confess—we ran pitch competitions for more than 10 years. Rooms were packed, trophies given, winners celebrated. But they were theater, not business. Winning means nothing if customers aren’t paying. Last Friday, I judged Pitch Challenge Istanbul. 59 founders pitched. By number 25, I had to leave—not because I didn’t care, but because the same mistakes kept repeating: jargon-stuffed slides, features over problems, and “change the world” visions with no traction. Here’s the reality: 3...

The "IKEA effect," described by Dan Ariely, shows how people overvalue things they've built themselves. That bookshelf you assembled? Worth gold to you, junk to others. For founders, this bias is everywhere. A feature isn't just code—it's late nights, lost weekends, and ego. In my experience with founders, I see this very often. They over-invest emotionally in their companies, treating them as extensions of themselves. This makes it hard to pivot, update, or even keep up with competition....